Edolphus Towns: “balancing the budget is important, but the debate has taken the wrong turn. We should be focusing on saving lives and…”

“balancing the budget is important, but the debate has taken the wrong turn. We should be focusing on saving lives and the quality of care, not just balancing the budget, balancing the budget at the expense of losing people, and at the expense of creating turmoil in the lives of so many. For the past 30 years, Mr. Speaker, America has prided herself on protecting those vulnerable populations who, because of many circumstances, are not able to afford the health care they desperately need. Last week, Mr. Speaker, the Committee on Commerce which I serve on, held a hearing on the Medicaid proposal by the National Governors Association. During the recess, we had a hearing in which six Governors came to testify. Due to the fact that many Members could not be there, we required another day of hearings. The Governors' proposal is a bipartisan consensus which I must admit has done a lot to contribute to the debate and finding solutions to reforming the Medicaid program. I applaud them, Mr. Speaker, for trying to help. However, I am still concerned with several very, very important issues which, in my opinion, must be further reviewed. Under the NGA proposal, not only will the recipients of the Medicaid safety net program suffer, but so will the inner cities, which house many of our great teaching institutions that train the majority of our Nation's physicians. New York alone trains 15 percent of the Nation's physicians.”