On the recordJune 22, 2017
I rise today to join my colleagues to speak out and ask for a normal process, for hearings, and for debates. The Presiding Officer and I have talked about this issue. I know the Presiding Officer has many good ideas to contribute, and I am hopeful that we can start over with a bill that would consist of a number of changes in our existing healthcare system. That is what I think we need to do, instead of this repeal bill that came to us without hearings. It is just not the right way to do this. I have already gotten reactions from my State. Just to use some quotes from an article in the Minneapolis StarTribune that was just posted--we have our health plans saying that what matters is Medicaid, and they are the leaders in our healthcare community, calling this bill disappointing because of the continued insistence on significantly cutting Medicaid, the federally paid health insurance program for those who are the most vulnerable. They have said things--the big story has been, What is it going to do to Medicaid? But, in fact, what our experts in our State are saying-- our health plans--is that this is really more of the same from what we have seen in the House bill, but over a different time period. There is an argument that in the end, it involves even deeper cuts.…
