State Medicaid Expansion

Floor Speech

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Madam Speaker, as cochair of the State Medicaid Expansion Caucus, I rise this morning to talk about how important expanding Medicaid is for my State and for the country.

First, I want to thank my good friend from North Carolina, Congressman G.K. Butterfield, for agreeing to cochair this caucus. He is the driving force behind Medicaid expansion, that portion of the Affordable Care Act. There are few people in Congress who understand this issue as well as G.K. does, and it means a lot that he would agree to work on this issue with me.

I am also proud that 33 Members of Congress have joined the State Medicaid Expansion Caucus. We want to have an ongoing conversation about why it is so critical that every State expand Medicaid. Medicaid expansion is a choice that States can make because of the Supreme Court's ruling. However, when the Court struck down the requirement and gave States the choice to expand Medicaid, it did not strike the facts that make Medicaid expansion the correct budgetary, economic, health, and, yes, moral choice. Twenty-seven States, a majority of the States of this great country, looked at the facts and made the choice to help their people become healthier and therefore better able to lead productive lives. Expanding Medicaid in those States provided health coverage to approximately 10.5 million people who otherwise wouldn't have had it, according to Families USA.

Despite the political winds that swirl around the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion should be a bipartisan issue. The Republican Governor of Arizona, for instance, pushed her State legislature to expand Medicaid because Governor Brewer and her allies knew that expansion would allow the program to help 300,000 low-income Arizonans who otherwise would not have had health coverage.

In Ohio, that State's Republican Governor expanded Medicaid, grounding the move in his faith and his belief that Ohioans should benefit from their Federal tax dollars. Because of the Governor's action, Ohio will see $13 billion from the Federal Government over the next 7 years to cover those newly eligible Medicaid recipients, and approximately 366,000 Ohio residents are thus eligible for coverage beginning this year. According to some estimates, as many as 789,000 people will ultimately benefit from the Governor's decision.

In California, almost 3 million people have benefited by getting access to health care when that State expanded Medicaid. These are just a few of the success stories.

The Federal Government will cover 100 percent of the cost of expanding Medicaid during the first 3 years, and 90 percent of the cost for the duration of the program in every State. Like in Ohio, this investment will bring billions of Federal tax dollars back into the State, which will help States develop their health care infrastructures and, thus, improve those States' economies. It will also help low-income Americans access our health care system. We must remember that the people who will benefit from expanding Medicaid are no less deserving of health care than anyone else.

According to a recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report, States that have expanded Medicaid have seen 17 percent more people enrolled in the Medicaid and CHIP programs. Those are children across the country who now have the option for a healthier life. Unfortunately, millions of low-income Americans are being denied health care by their State legislators and Governors. They are being punished for being poor and for living where they do.

The New York Times recently ran a story entitled, ``In Texarkana, Uninsured and on the Wrong Side of a State Line.'' It describes the harsh realities for those who live on the wrong side of the State line. The author wrote:

Texarkana is perhaps the starkest example of how President Obama's health care law is altering the economic geography of the country. The poor living in the Arkansas half of the town won access to a government benefit worth thousands of dollars annually, yet nothing changed for those on the Texas side of the State line.

In my home State of Georgia, expanding Medicaid would mean access to health care for 684,000 people, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. My Governor reacted to this news by signing a bill eliminating his authority to expand Medicaid. I can't think of anything better than the State of Georgia going ahead and insuring our people with Medicaid.

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