Republicans are making America safer and more prosperous. As a part of that, we are strengthening Medicaid.
I’m a doctor. I practiced medicine in Wyoming for over 20 years. I’ve cared for Medicaid patients my entire career. I understand Medicaid’s importance for the people it is intended to serve. I have also seen its shortcomings.
Medicaid became law in 1965. It was meant to be a safety net for the poor, pregnant women, children, and the disabled. Today, Medicaid has stretched beyond its intended purpose. It covers 71 million people. Many are able-bodied and working age.
As a result, Medicaid is broken, bloated and ballooning. It will go bankrupt if we don’t strengthen it now. The Republican reconciliation bill will strengthen Medicaid for those it was originally intended.
First, our bill ensures taxpayer-funded healthcare does not go to illegal immigrants. Fourteen Democrat-run states currently give free, taxpayer-funded healthcare to illegal immigrants. California is the biggest offender. They set up a money laundering scheme to siphon money out of the federal Treasury to pay for healthcare for illegal immigrants.
The 1.4 million illegal immigrants on Medicaid strangles Medicaid. They are filling up waiting rooms and clinics. They make it harder for Americans to receive the care they need. Our bill will end liberal states’ magnet for illegal immigration. Medicaid benefits cannot continue to be a reward for open borders.
Second, our bill roots out waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption. The federal government has spent $1.1 trillion in improper Medicaid payments in the past 10 years. In 2021, for example, 666,000 people were enrolled in Medicaid in more than one state. The Wall Street Journal estimates these improper double-payments alone cost taxpayers $2 billion. Republicans will not allow scammers to continue to game the system and steal from taxpayers.
Third, our bill puts in place work requirements for able-bodied, working-age adults. Today, 21 million able-bodied adults are on Medicaid. An American Enterprise Institute study recently found able-bodied adults on Medicaid who don’t work spend 4.2 hours every day watching TV and playing video games. That is 125 hours per month. They ought to be working – or at least looking for a job.
Our bill requires able-bodied, working-age adults to work or train for 80 hours each month to remain on Medicaid. Senate Republicans are proposing a responsible path to self-reliance for able-bodied, working-aged people. No more taxpayer-funded coddling.
A man whose son relies on Medicaid wrote about his family’s needs in the Wall Street Journal. He titled it, “My Son is Counting on Medicaid Work Requirement.” This man’s son has autism and epilepsy. Medicaid was designed to serve individuals like him. Yet today, his son is stuck on a 10-year waiting list for in-home care. Medicaid is often called a lifeline. Years of waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption have pushed those who truly need it to the back of the line.
Republicans are fighting for families like this. Meanwhile, Democrats are fine with healthy, working-age adults continuing to stay home, play video games, and receive Medicaid forever. Democrats are willing to leave the truly needy with less care.
Work requirements work. In the 1990s, President Bill Clinton promised to end welfare as we knew it. Clinton partnered with Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich to pass bipartisan welfare reform. It lifted millions out of poverty. Even President Barack Obama admitted “We have to have work as the centerpiece of any social policy.” President Obama was right then. Republicans are right now.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and every Democrat in the Senate have vowed to fight our common-sense reform “with every fiber of our being.” Democrats’ wasteful approach drains Medicaid.
Medicaid is for struggling mothers, children, and the disabled. It is not illegal immigrants or able-bodied, working-aged men addicted to video games.
Republicans are rescuing this lifeline so that it serves those who need it most – now and in the future.
Mr. Barrasso of Wyoming is the Senate Majority Whip.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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