BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor, as I do each week, as a physician who practiced medicine in Wyoming for a quarter of a century, taking care of so many families there, to give a doctor's second opinion about the health care law that has now been found constitutional by the Supreme Court. Although it may not be unconstitutional, it is still unworkable, it is unaffordable, and it is very unpopular.
Today I wish to talk about one of the specific components of the health care law; that is, the issue of Medicaid expansion.
Most of the discussion of the Supreme Court's health care decision has been focused on the individual mandate, that incredibly unpopular portion of the law that forces every American to buy a government-approved product, government-approved health insurance. The Supreme Court has ruled it a tax. It is a tax. Still, the American people know it is a mandate coming out of Washington that they buy a government-approved product for the first time ever in American history.
Today I would like to talk about another important part, which is the Supreme Court's ruling that the law's Medicaid mandate is unconstitutional. As many Americans know, Medicaid is a government program that is jointly funded between States and the Federal Government. The President's health care law contained a huge expansion of Medicaid, and more than half of the new insurance coverage provided by the health care law was supposed to be delivered through the Medicaid Program.
The President's health care law forces States to expand their Medicaid eligibility or face the loss of all of their Medicaid matching funds. Currently, the States put up some money, and the Federal Government puts up some--it varies from State to State. In my State of Wyoming, the State puts up half, the Federal Government puts up half, and 15 States are in that 50-50 range. In some States, it goes up to 70 cents from the Federal Government and 30 cents from the State. Across the board, the average is about 57 cents from Washington, 43 cents from the home State.
Many States believed that this expansion, this forced expansion, this forced mandate on them was unconstitutional, that it was expensive, and that it would essentially leave States with no choice but to participate in the program. That is why 26 different States filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government to stop this massive Medicaid overreach.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts and a majority of Justices agreed with the States. Chief Justice Roberts described the Medicaid expansion as a ``gun to the head'' that would leave States no choice but to participate in the program. The decision of the Supreme Court made clear that States cannot be forced by Washington--cannot be forced by Washington--to participate in the health care law's Medicare expansion.
In response, after the Supreme Court announced its decision, a reporter asked senior White House officials how they would entice States to participate. According to Kaiser Health News, the White House officials responded with laughter. Apparently it seemed almost inconceivable to these White House officials that States would want to opt out of the Medicaid expansion. In fact, Washington Democrats have argued that it is a good deal for States since the Federal Government is paying for the entire expansion through 2017, and then it will cover 90 percent of the cost of the States. But, again, that is not of all of the people on Medicaid, that is only of these newly eligible individuals. Never mind that the Congressional Budget Office predicted that the Medicaid expansion would cost the Federal Government over $900 billion between 2014 and 2022. Apparently Washington Democrats, who have not passed a budget--Members of this Senate--in over 3 years, believe the Federal Government has extra money to spend. It is completely irresponsible.
While this might be a laughing matter for the White House, people who work in State governments take this issue much more seriously. The concerns of Governors of both parties was recently highlighted in a Washington Post article. Not only are Republican Governors concerned about the expansion, but at least seven Democratic Governors have been noncommittal about expanding the program in their own States as well. Governors are concerned because they know Medicaid has been the fastest growing part of the State budget for over the past decade. In fact, Medicaid spending has expanded twice as fast as spending on education, and this is according to the bipartisan National Governors Association.
In addition, State leaders worry that the Federal Government will not keep the promises Washington has made to the States regarding Medicaid's payment rates.
The Wall Street Journal referred to the matching rate this way:
This 100 percent matching rate is like a subprime loan with a teaser rate and a balloon payment.
When asked to comment about the Medicaid expansion, Jay Nixon, the Governor of Missouri, who is a Democrat, said:
This deals with hundreds of thousands of Missourians, it deals with their health Ðcare .....
He went on to say:
..... it deals with billions of dollars, and we will be involved in the process that defines the best fit for our state and respects the sovereignty of our state and the individuality of our state.
Brian Schweitzer, Democratic Governor of Montana, put it best when he said:
Unlike the Federal Government, Montana just can't print money. We have a budget surplus and we are going to keep it that way.
Unlike this current administration, Governors of both parties recognize the importance of controlling government spending.
Washington cannot expect States to simply trust that the money will come through in the future. States basically do not trust Washington, and they are right to not trust Washington. States and Governors across the country are much smarter than trusting Washington.
It did not have to be this way. If the White House and Democrats in Congress had actually focused on lowering costs--that was supposed to be the concern of the health care law, lowering the cost of care--if the White House and Democrats in Congress had actually focused on lowering the cost of care, States now would not be facing this bad choice.
We need to repeal this bad health care law. We need to replace it with legislation that will make it easier for States to work with Washington without going bankrupt. We need to move forward. We need to move forward with legislation that will allow Americans to get what they have been looking for, which is the care they need from a doctor they choose at lower costs.
I point out that the Republican Governors Association has a lot of questions about this Medicaid expansion. As a matter of fact, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who is chairman of the Republican Governors Association, sent a letter to the President seeking answers to a number of questions dealing with Medicaid and dealing with the exchanges that are part of this health care law. There are 30 specific questions in the letter Governor McDonnell sent. I suggest that possibly the President has not thought of these issues as they relate to the health care law and does not have answers. But these are answers Governors of both parties continue to seek because they want to know what the impact of this Medicaid expansion is going to be on their own States and their own budgets.
The health care law may not be unconstitutional. It continues to be unworkable, it continues to be unaffordable, and it continues to be unpopular. You say: How unpopular is it? In a poll done just after the Supreme Court ruling, just last week, July 9 to July 12, a Gallup Poll talked to Republicans, they talked to Democrats, but then they focused on the Independents, and what they have shown is, of Independents in this country, how they think this health care law will affect different components of our society. They think it will actually make things worse for doctors, make things worse for people who currently have health insurance, they think it will make things worse for hospitals, they think it will make things worse for businesses, it will make things worse for taxpayers and, most importantly, they believe it will make things worse for them personally.
That is where we are today, which is why we need to repeal and replace this health care law. My advice to Governors around the country would be to wait a minute until after the election to decide what you want to do about Medicaid expansion because we are continuing to work to repeal and replace this broken health care law.
I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT