FTP for TV stations of her remarks is available here.
Cortez Masto told the story of a constituent named Hannah whose Type 1 diabetes makes her dependent on Medicaid coverage she may now lose
Washington, D.C. – To mark the 60th anniversary of Medicaid and Medicare, U.S. Senator Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) took to the Senate floor to call out President Trump and Congressional Republicans for gutting Medicaid in order to pay for a tax giveaway for billionaires.
Below are her remarks as prepared for delivery:
Mr. President, as my colleagues have mentioned, today marks 60 years since Medicare and Medicaid were signed into law.
Democrats and Republicans alike should be celebrating the lives that have been saved as a result of these critical programs. Members of both parties should be sharing stories about Americans who have benefitted from the health care they’ve received thanks to Medicare and Medicaid.
Unfortunately, today, my Democratic colleagues and I are not celebrating.
We are angry.
We’re angry that President Trump lied when he said he would “cherish Medicaid” and that his allies in Congress wouldn’t touch this essential program.
We’re angry that President Trump and Congressional Republicans slashed nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid so they could hand billionaires a tax cut – and add $4 trillion to our national deficit.
And, we’re angry that their new law is about to kick 17 million Americans off their health insurance.
In my home state of Nevada, that means up to 120,000 people will lose their health care.
100,000 of those Nevadans will lose their access to Medicaid. And another 20,000 Nevadans will lose their affordable health coverage if Republicans continue to refuse to work with Democrats to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
There are a million reasons why this new law gutting Medicaid is terrible for Nevadans and for our country as a whole. But today, I just want to focus on one: Hannah.
Hannah is a young girl who lives in Nevada, and her parents shared her story with me. Now, I want to share it with you.
Hannah was diagnosed with a congenital kidney disease while still in utero. The first few years of her life were full of hospital rooms, doctors, and machines trying to keep her alive.
At just two and a half years old, Hannah underwent a major surgery that finally gave her the opportunity to live like a normal kid. And she did, for a few years.
But then, at age nine, Hannah fell into a coma. Imagine being her parents, watching completely helpless as your daughter fights something you can’t protect her from.
Hannah did eventually wake up, but with a new diagnosis: diabetes, a condition nearly 270,000 Nevadans manage every day – not just the disease itself, but the crushing weight of the costs associated with it.
Over the next two years, Hannah’s parents spent more than $5,000 out-of-pocket because their insurance refused to cover all the costs. Hannah and her family sacrificed so much just to be able to afford medication that would allow Hannah to lead a normal life.
But just when they thought they would never be able to financially recover, they were able to enroll in Medicaid and receive the support they need to care for Hannah at home.
Now, Hannah is able to live the life she wants to lead, without the fear of medical debt pulling her family back underwater. I want to read to you what Hannah’s parents wrote me next:
“But without Medicaid, her insulin would cost more than our mortgage. Let that sink in. The price of the medication keeping my child alive is higher than the roof over her head – even after insurance. How does that make sense? America should be about neighbors caring for neighbors. But instead, we are pushing people with disabilities to the back of the line, treating their lives as less valuable, their futures as an afterthought. I beg you – I beg you – to save Medicaid. Not just for my Hannah, but for every child like her.”
My Democratic colleagues and I worked hard to save Medicaid. And we tried to reach across the aisle to protect the 17 million Americans just like Hannah who could lose their health insurance because of this bill.
But President Trump insisted Congressional Republicans pass his tax cut for billionaires, and they did what they were told.
So now, Hannah and her family, and millions more like them, may be forced back into medical debt.
And to the proponents of this new law who insist kids like Hannah aren’t the ones they’re targeting to kick off coverage, I’d say they’re either being dishonest, or they simply don’t understand how Medicaid actually works.
These cuts shrink the entire pot of money states rely on to fund Medicaid. Nevada, and every state in the country, will be forced to stretch fewer dollars to cover everyone. That almost always means tightening eligibility or cutting services, so kids like Hannah end up losing coverage – even if they weren’t the “type” of person Republicans singled out for cuts.
This is shameful. It’s un-American. We are better than this as a country.
My Democratic colleagues and I will do everything in our power to restore the health care funding Republicans have gutted.
And we won’t let them forget what they did.
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