On the recordMarch 1, 2011
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about how ObamaCare will hurt my State and ultimately hurt my patients. And I would like to start with an example of the Medicaid program. As a cardiothoracic surgeon in Evansville, Indiana, I see a lot of patients from neighboring States because we're right in the corner next to Illinois and Kentucky. Many of these patients are Medicaid patients and, without treatment, face grave results. However, every year the Illinois Medicaid program runs out of money in September, October. They don't have enough money to fund the entire year. And what does that mean? That means that without denying any patients care that they need and deserve, my practice was forced to delay billing to the Medicaid system of Illinois. And then once the new fiscal year came into play, about 50 percent of those claims were subsequently denied by Illinois Medicaid. So those patients that came over for our services, they don't have quality health insurance, Mr. Speaker. Some physicians in my community don't even bother to bill the Medicaid program in some States at all. This is an example of the broken Medicaid system, a system that has many issues focusing on the access to quality health care.
