Political Quotes

“Thank you, Senator. I mean, I think what we are all here talking about into the dead of night is this idea of whom we want to be as a nation when it comes to providing healthcare. Do we believe that the greatest country in the world should be able to treat the people who need help in our country or are we OK with the poorest among us, the weakest among us--those who are disabled, those who are elderly, those who are children--just not having access to care? As the Senator said, when you look around at the math--right?--this isn't a political statement. The math of needing to find $880 billion with a ``b''--the math just doesn't work without gutting Medicaid. I think it is important to understand, at least in my State, that this isn't just about people who have Medicaid as their primary insurance, right? We have 10 million people in Michigan, and 2.6 million people are on Medicaid. The vast majority are children, right? They are people who can't live up to work requirements, people who just happen to be young, people who happen to be born where they were born. Thirty-seven percent of all of our births in Michigan are handled and covered by Medicaid, and two out of every three of nursing home elderly are covered by Medicaid. So it is not just about the people who are receiving direct care; it is about what Medicaid reimburses in funds. It is the idea that 65 percent of our nursing homes could potentially go under if they don't get this funding.…”