OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Improving Medicaid Programs and Opportunities for Eligible Beneficiaries Act

Floor Speech

Date: Dec. 11, 2018
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Minors and Children Entitlements and the Safety Net Health and Health Care

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Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7217, the IMPROVE Act. This legislation contains several important policies related to Medicaid and Medicare.

First, I am a proud original cosponsor of the ACE Kids Act, and I am happy to see it included in H.R. 7217. The ACE Kids Act aims to improve care coordination for children with complex medical conditions served by Medicaid.

The legislation creates a Medicaid health home, State optional, specifically targeted for this population of children. It also requires the Secretary to issue best practices on coordinating out-of-State care for children with complex medical conditions.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the sponsors of the ACE Kids Act, Representative Castor and Congressman Barton, both members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, for championing this issue for so many years.

The IMPROVE Act also provides new funding for the Money Follows the Person, the MFP, program. The MFP program helps individuals transition from institutional care to care in their community, where they can live more independent lives.

MFP also helps support States' home and community-based services infrastructure. Without this extension funding, we would start to see many of these MFP programs end in short order.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the program, which provides thousands of Americans with the choice to receive services in their home or community rather than in an institution.

The committee will continue to work on providing long-term funding to the MFP program in the next Congress.

I also voice my support for the extension of spousal impoverishment protections until April 2019. These protections will help ensure that a person can maintain enough income and assets to meet their basic living expenses while still allowing for their spouse to receive long-term care in their home or community under Medicaid.

The expiration of this policy would lead to people losing their long- term care services and the unnecessary institutionalization of people currently receiving services in their homes or communities. The committee will continue to work on a long-term solution in the next Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support passage of H.R.

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