Rob Portman: “this is a very simple amendment. It is a deficit-neutral reserve fund to help the most vulnerable kids among us to have…”

“this is a very simple amendment. It is a deficit-neutral reserve fund to help the most vulnerable kids among us to have better coordinated care under Medicaid. It allows health care providers to deliver health care services to medically complex kids through models that coordinate care between providers, resulting in better care but also lower costs, including helping with regard to a problem, including across State lines. These children with complex medical conditions make up about 6 percent of the children who get health care under Medicaid, but it is about 40 percent of the cost of pediatric care under Medicare and Medicaid. This is an opportunity for us on a bipartisan basis, I know, to be able to help these kids to get the necessary care they need and actually allow the Medicaid system to realize some savings through efficiencies, such as reduced emergency room stays, hospitalizations, and other procedures. I thank my colleague Senator Bennet, who will speak in a second on his cosponsorship. I urge all my colleagues to support this commonsense measure to help these vulnerable kids. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.”