Lincoln Chafee: “under our amendment, we make sure that no low-income mothers and children who are eligible for Medicaid under current…”

“under our amendment, we make sure that no low-income mothers and children who are eligible for Medicaid under current law, under the existing law, will lose their health care coverage under Medicaid if the State lowers its eligibility standards for cash assistance or AFDC. Now, this is not some open-ended lifetime entitlement to Medicaid coverage. I am sure that will be raised, and we are ready for that one. All this amendment does is apply current law income and resource standards and methodologies in determining eligibility for Medicaid. If a family's income increases, if there is no longer a dependent child in the home, these folks will lose Medicaid eligibility under our amendment, just as they would under current law. Exactly who are we talking about, Mr. President? First, the individuals we are talking about, their incomes, on an average, are about 38 percent of the poverty level. Some will argue that we do not need this amendment because children under 100 percent of poverty are already covered. In other words, we are worried about these children. Some will say, oh, do not worry about them because if they are at 100 percent of poverty or less, they are covered. But that is not true, Mr. President. By 2002, they will all be covered up to the age of 18, but not until then. Thus, children between the ages of 13 and 18 will not be guaranteed coverage. Their mothers, unless they are pregnant, will lose the guarantees as well.”