Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 5613, the ``Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008,'' a bill that I proudly cosponsored. The bill would place a 1-year moratorium on proposed Medicaid regulations by the Bush administration intended to save money.

Unfortunately, these cuts would take Federal funds from States at a time that many are struggling to meet obligations within Medicaid and other programmatic areas. By limiting access to rehabilitation and targeted case management services, the administration cynically attacks the poorest and weakest members of our society. Eliminating the reimbursement for transportation services for certain special needs students would deny them the basic right to an education. The regulations halt important payments to hospitals at a time that many across the Nation and within my home State of Hawaii are actually losing money.

Placing the 1-year moratorium would help us better asses the full impact of these disastrous cuts, and come up with a plan that controls the growing costs of Medicaid without harming quality, as these regulations seem to do. The extent of the unpopularity of these cuts is clearly shown by the expedited move by the Committee on Energy and Commerce to report the bill unanimously to the House floor, in contravention of the President's veto threat.

Medicaid provides medical coverage for the poorest and neediest of our country. It is the insurer of last resort for many who have either lost jobs or are barely subsisting. To take away these funds at this time is cruel and undermines the intent of the very program. I urge my colleagues to support this important piece of legislation.

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