I think it is going to be very difficult to do any of these new innovations if we see a 21 percent cut.

Obviously I would prefer that they not be in nursing homes.

Its mission is to gain some much-needed efficiency within the system for this group of beneficiaries.

I support efforts to get duals into better care relationships but we need to be careful not to take away Medicare protections for the lowest income Medicare beneficiaries.

In total, there are 9.2 million Americans who rely on both Medicare and Medicaid.

In Medicare, we have always maintained the principle that enrollment in managed care plans is voluntary for all Medicare beneficiaries.

I really welcome today's hearing on a critical issue: the coordinating and improving of health care of those dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid programs.

We mustn't set a price tag on their care nor should we shape policy with the goal of only saving money.

In fact, in 2007, they comprised only 15 percent of enrollees but represented 39 percent of Medicaid spending.

The reality is that dual eligibles are a vulnerable population. Their care is both costly and frequently uncoordinated.

I am listening to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and I am really saying to myself, who are they kidding? They are saying that this effort to cut the CFTC is for deficit purposes because, of course, all agencies have to be cut…

I think it is easy for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to forget that this bill deals with programs on which the most vulnerable in our society rely. My Republican colleagues are proposing about $650 million in cuts to the WIC…