Debbie Dingell: “I am pleased to see that the House and Senate have finally worked out their differences to extend two programs that…”

“I am pleased to see that the House and Senate have finally worked out their differences to extend two programs that provide important health care assistance for low-income elderly and working families. The Qualified Individual, QI, program provides assistance with the cost of Medicare premiums for certain low-income individuals. The Transitional Medicaid Program, TMA, provides temporary Medicaid coverage to families moving off of welfare to the workforce. This legislation considered today merely provides a short-term extension. I continue to believe, however, that these programs should be made permanent. First, they are good programs that provide much needed assistance. Second, we should avoid the situation we find ourselves in now, particularly with respect to the QI program, where States and CMS were unsure whether or how to continue the program as funding expired on September 30. We must also consider making program improvements to both programs that would simplify enrollment and retention of eligible individuals. I recently reintroduced legislation, H.R. 3980, the Medicare Beneficiary Assistance Improvement Act, to address this matter in the QI program. And I have also included such provisions for the TMA program in H.R. 2071, the Family Care Act of 2005, which I reintroduced earlier this year. Finally, I have concerns about the provision we are using to pay for these extensions.…”