On the recordMay 4, 2017
I thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, what I want to talk about is what is underlying in this bill in the traditional reform in Medicaid. Medicaid currently costs State and Federal Governments $600 billion. It is estimated in 10 years--a decade--to cost a trillion dollars. It is a system that is set up to implode on itself. So we want to fix the problem before we get to the critical point where it is going to implode. Let's fix it now, and let's make it right. What we do is allow States to have the same money they had in 2016-- the exact same money--with growth. The growth would be the CPI, medical, and, in some categories, plus one. They also have growth in demographics. We have some people who retire to other States. They have a concern. What if I am from a State where somebody lives in an area and then they move to my State when they are older and typically cost more in the Medicaid system? We adjust for that. It is in the per capita allotment. As they move, they would transfer. It is not a traditional block grant, unless the State chooses to do so. We are here reforming an entitlement program for the first time since the 1990s. It is a very sound, solid way, and a way that preserves and protects the program and prevents the program from imploding on itself within a decade.
