Hickenlooper: “They are making the people who suffer the most suffer more. That is not the America that I believe in.”
Hickenlooper helped introduce new legislation to repeal Republicans’ health cuts, protect rural hospitals, seniors’ nursing care
WASHINGTON – Today, on Medicaid’s 60th anniversary, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper spoke on the Senate floor to call out the Republicans’ disastrous budget bill that slashes more than $1 trillion in funding for Medicaid and health care services to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. He also joined his Senate Democratic colleagues to introduce two new bills that would repeal the Republicans’ health care cuts in their “Big Beautiful Betrayal.”
“They cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and food stamps – the programs that help struggling Americans meet their most basic human need for food and health care. Again, just so they could pass the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in the history of our country,” said Hickenlooper.
Earlier this month, Republicans narrowly passed their extreme budget bill that will increase prices for Coloradans, lead to 15 million Americans losing their health care, increase the deficit by $4 trillion, and hand out tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans.
Specifically, their bill slashed more than $1 trillion in Medicaid funding and failed to extend the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits. As a result, an estimated 15 million people will lose health benefits.
In his speech, Hickenlooper highlighted how these cuts to Medicaid will disproportionally hurt rural hospitals like Sunrise Monfort Community Health Clinic in Evans, Colorado.
“Sunrise’s network of 14 rural health clinics serves 43,000 patients across a broad swath of Northern Colorado. [50%] of them are enrolled in either Medicaid or Medicare,” Hickenlooper continued. “They estimate that those cuts in Medicaid will force between 7,000-14,000 of their patients off of health care. That’s ¼ of their patients. Again, all because lawmakers in Washington had decided to give still bigger tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy.”
Hickenlooper voted NO on the bill after Republicans voted down critical Democratic-led amendments to prevent cuts to Medicaid, extend the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits, and safeguard small businesses and nursing homes from Medicaid cuts. He fought against the bill in the Senate and has continued to raise alarm about its impacts after Republicans passed it.
Hickenlooper introduces bills to reverse health care cuts
Today, Hickenlooper joined the entire Democratic caucus to introduce two new bills that would rollback the Republicans’ disastrous health cuts in their budget bill and protect health care for millions of Americans.
The Protecting Health Care and Lowering Costs Act would repeal all of the provisions in the health section of the Republicans’ dangerous bill. Specifically, it would prevent millions of Americans from losing their health care and rural health clinics from closure. The legislation would also extend the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax cuts which lower health care costs for millions of Americans.
The Restoring Essential Health Care Act would specifically repeal the provision in the Republicans’ reckless bill that defunds Planned Parenthood. The Republican provision restricts Medicaid reimbursements for organizations that offer abortion services, even though it is already illegal to use federal funding for abortion. This week a federal judge blocked the provision.
To download a full video of Hickenlooper’s remarks, click HERE. A full transcript of his remarks is available below:
“Mr. President,
“The United States is the wealthiest country on earth.
“I think it’s fair to say it’s the wealthiest country in the history of the world. Probably in the history of the solar system.
“What we do with that wealth speaks volumes about who we are as a country.
“And about the responsibility we feel to our fellow Americans. It defines us.
“Earlier this month, Republicans passed, what I would call, a truly devastating budget bill that gives many of the wealthiest people in this country – many of whom don’t want a tax break – but gives many of the wealthiest people in this country and corporations a $4.5 trillion tax break.
“That was their goal. They just needed to find a way to pay for it. Well actually, they only paid for a small part of it.
“But in doing so they cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and food stamps – the programs that help struggling Americans meet their most basic human need for food and health care.
“Again, just so they could pass the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in the history of our country.
“That speaks volumes about who this administration values.
“But what does the bill mean for Americans?
“Over time, 15 million Americans are going to lose their health care. Are likely to lose their health coverage. 241,000 of them live in Colorado. Hundreds and hundreds of hospitals around the country are at risk of closure, many of them in Colorado.
“Take the Sunrise Monfort Community Health Clinic in Evans, Colorado.
“We were there in May, and Sunrise’s network of 14 rural health clinics serves 43,000 patients across a broad swath of Northern Colorado. [50%] of them are enrolled in either Medicaid or Medicare.
“And we spoke with their CEO back in May, and we were told point blank that gutting Medicaid… will force them to dramatically cut services.
“They estimate that those cuts in Medicaid will force between 7,000-14,000 of their patients off of health care. That’s ¼ of their patients.
“Again, all because lawmakers in Washington had decided to give still bigger tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy, and again many of whom don’t want or need tax cuts.
“It’s nuts.
“The administration knew taking health care away from many Americans would be unpopular.
“So they crafted and snuck in a provision to solve that: most of the Medicaid cuts won’t take place until 2027.
“Why wait until 2027, you might ask? Well because it’s after the midterm elections at the end of 2026.
“They basically gutted our social safety net system, and then they found a way to make sure that Republicans would be insulated from the immediate political costs, from their voters.
“That’s why right now they’re building a massive public relations campaign to go out and sell the bill to Americans.
“They, so far, completely deny that this bill is going to harm Americans in any way. Instead, they say it’s about government “efficiency” and cutting out waste, fraud, and abuse.
“Well listen, I’m all for making government more efficient. When I was Mayor of Denver, we made the city smaller. We had a hiring freeze for 2 ½ years. We asked workers to do more with less and they did that. But we did it in increments and we worked to make sure that people knew how much they were valued, and that they could make a difference.
“When I was Governor of Colorado, we balanced our budget every single year. We went through every board and regulation that we could find on the books – 24,500 rules and regulations. And we simplified or eliminated 11,000. We did all this without cutting services and without cutting resources that people rely on.
“Now Republicans knew they were going way beyond “waste, fraud, and abuse” – that’s part of the reason it took 24 hours of voting and arm-twisting to pass this, what we call in my family, god-awful bill. They knew they were going to be hurting their constituents, and Americans.
“The bill itself is a prime example of, what my grandfather used to call, a drunken spending spree – it’s gonna cost the American people more than $4 TRILLION when you consider the interest payments on the national debt.
“And none of the arguments that the Republicans have used have legs.
“Ultimately, the bill isn’t just $1 trillion in cuts from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act – it really, through these rules and paperwork, creates new barriers to access. That means more paperwork, more hoops for families to jump through.
“Under Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, government “efficiency” just means rolling out the red tape. Miles and miles of it.
“And who pays the price?
“Well, rural Coloradans are going to pay some price. People living in Cortez, Lamar, or Rifle will pay a price when their closest health care center closes.
“Pregnant women who have to drive 50 miles to get to their closest hospital…
“Kids who lose their health care because their parents had to navigate so much red tape to prove they do in fact meet the requirements will pay the cost.
“Adult children who can’t provide sufficient “proof” that their full-time job is taking care of a disabled parent.
“Now, listen to this. If you’re a single adult in Colorado, you don’t even qualify for Medicaid if you earn [more] than $1,735 a month. That means making less than $10.01 an hour.
“If you make $10.02 an hour you already don’t qualify for Medicaid. So people making less than $10 an hour have to fill out reams of paperwork to demonstrate that they qualify.
“They should be able to show their W2 and say ‘Hey, I’m making $9.50 an hour’ and that should be enough.
“But somehow there’s a worry that people making less than $10 an hour should have to fill out all of this other paperwork. What kind of a bizarre world do we live in?
“Bottom line: Republicans are cutting costs by punishing the poorest and most needy in our country when they can’t keep up. They are making the people who suffer the most suffer more.
“That’s not the America that I believe in.
“The Medicaid system isn’t perfect.
“It exists in our country, because that country decided that no matter where you live, or how little money you make, working Americans deserve basic health care.
“Who knows, someday we might get everyone covered. It’s a vow we need to make.
“And certainly when we created Medicaid it was a vow we made to help take care of many of the neediest people in our country.
“Because our country is measured not by how we treat the people at the very top, but how we treat large numbers of Americans who start at the bottom, striving for a better life.
“That’s how our country should be measured.
“And that’s the dream we are all chasing.
“And ultimately, it’s the American people who will have the final word.
“Thank you, Mr. President, I yield the floor.”
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