Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague from California for his leadership on this issue and for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of H.R. 1839, the Medicaid Services Investment and Accountability Act. This bill includes two provisions that are very important to seniors and the disabled. It makes improvements, but, as you have heard my other colleagues talk about, not enough and not for long enough. First of all, it has a provision that I worked on with my colleague, Mr. Upton, that extends the spousal impoverishment protections for seniors in Medicaid through the end of the fiscal year. These critical protections ensure that individuals are not forced to spend down almost all of their resources and potentially go bankrupt to get the care that they need. No American should be forced into poverty just to receive adequate healthcare. In addition, this bill contains a provision that I worked on with my colleague, Mr. Guthrie, to extend the highly successful Money Follows the Person program, again, just through the end of the fiscal year. This program provides grants to States to help individuals voluntarily transition from an institutional setting to a community care setting, their own home. All Americans, regardless of income, deserve to receive long-term care in a setting that they prefer. While I am pleased that these programs will be extended through the end of September and not allowed to lapse--and that is critical--this is only a partial victory.…”