US Rep. Kelly Morrison Highlights Local Nursing Home Resident’s Fight to Protect Medicaid

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Kelly Morrison (MN-03) spoke on the House floor to recognize 85 year old Bob Christensen, a local nursing home resident in Bloomington, Minnesota. Mr. Christensen bravely served his country in the U.S. Marine Reserve and now gets his nursing home coverage through Medicaid. 

House Republicans, who hold the majority rule in the U.S. House of Representatives, have proposed a budget that would gut Medicaid, which millions of seniors across the country rely on. 62% of all nursing home residents in the United States are covered by Medicaid. Mr. Christensen is deeply concerned about the threat Congressional Republicans are posing to Medicaid and has been speaking out to protect the program that he and millions of seniors depend on.

Watch Rep. Morrison’s floor speech here.

Read the full transcript of Rep. Morrison’s floor speech below: 

Mr. Speaker,

Today I rise to recognize Bob Christensen, a resident of a local nursing home in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Bob is 85 years old.

He bravely served our country in the U.S. Marine Reserve.

And he – like millions of seniors across the country – gets his nursing home coverage through Medicaid.

When I met Bob, he said he would not be here today if it weren’t for Medicaid.

But now, Congressional Republicans are proposing to gut Medicaid in order to pay for tax cuts for billionaires – which would mean less access to services, less access to care, and worse quality of life for seniors everywhere.

Bob told me he is fighting this proposed budget “with all the effort he can muster” – calling his representatives, joining local organizations, going to protests…. 

All at 85 years old. 

It should not be this way. Bob should not have to be spending his days protesting just to get the health care and nursing home coverage he needs. 

Remember: 62% of all nursing home residents in the United States are covered by Medicaid.

We cannot put our seniors’ care on the chopping block to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.

I implore my Republican colleagues to work with us on a budget that will give our seniors the care they need and deserve.

As a Congresswoman and a doctor of more than 20 years, Rep. Morrison has been outspoken against Congressional Republicans’ plan to gut Medicaid in order to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. More than one in four Minnesotans get their health insurance through Medicaid, including over 650,000 children. From new moms and babies to over half of all long-term care costs in Minnesota, Medicaid is essential to Minnesotans’ health and well-being. Read how Rep. Morrison is fighting to prevent these cuts below: 

Rep. Morrison visits local nursing home to raise alarm on healthcare cuts

Transcript: 

Reporter: Senator Amy Klobuchar and Representative Kelly Morrison spoke out today on proposed Medicaid cuts and their potential impact on Minnesotans. This was at the Martin Luther Senior Living Campus in Bloomington. The lawmakers say more than a million people in the state use Medicaid, including seniors and people with disabilities.

U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison: We must do everything we can to support our seniors. To support our caregivers, not take it away.

Rep. Morrison speaks on the House floor to criticize Medicaid tax cuts

Transcript: 

Mr. Speaker, today I rise on behalf of the nearly 80 million Americans across the country who get their health insurance through Medicaid.

I rise as a physician who has cared for patients for more than 20 years and I implore my colleagues to recognize that health insurance is not just a throwaway line item that you can scratch out in a budget – it is the difference between being able to receive the lifesaving health care you need or not.

Medicaid is the single largest source of health care coverage in the United States.

Medicaid covers nearly half of all children, and is the largest insurer of kids with disabilities.

Medicaid is a vital source of prenatal and postpartum care for women, and covers more than 40% of all births in this country.

The Republicans’ dangerous proposal today is selling out the health and wellness of kids, families, seniors in nursing homes, and people with disabilities. And why? To make room for tax breaks for millionaires?

This is wrong. We cannot stand for this.

To my colleagues across the aisle: We need you to stand up for our children and families. 

Rep. Morrison visits Gillette Children’s in Maple Grove, highlighting over 650,000 Minnesotan children on Medicaid

Rep. Morrison on WCCO Radio’s Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar: Medicaid cuts will hurt Minnesotans

Transcript: 

Sawkar: You were highlighting this week in your visit to Gillette Children’s Maple Grove concerns about Medicaid cuts, and you would understand that more than a lot of us, because you are a medical doctor.

Rep. Morrison: Well, Medicaid is a really important program across the country. You know, more than a million Minnesotans get their health insurance through the Medicaid program. 650,000 children in Minnesota get their health insurance through the Medicaid program. More than a third of our births in Minnesota are covered by Medicaid. 

We still don’t know exactly what is being proposed, but House Republicans had sort of a skinny budget resolution that came out that proposed at least 880 billion dollars of cuts to Medicaid. So a lot of patients and families and healthcare providers have been reaching out to me to make sure that I knew what all this would mean for people. 

I went to Gillette Children’s in Maple Grove yesterday to meet with patients and families, nurses and doctors, speech and occupational therapists, the people who make prosthetics when there need to be healing after orthopedic surgeries and sometimes amputations; these guys take care of really medically complex kids, they take care of children with disabilities, and the large majority of their patients are Medicaid eligible. And so, they are really concerned about the implications of these huge proposed cuts to the Medicaid program.

Rep. Morrison on the upcoming vote to slash Medicaid

Transcript:

Today’s Number of the Day is 2: the number of Republicans we need to stand up and stop massive cuts to Americans’ health care coverage.

The budget that Republicans are bringing to the House floor today would gut funding for Medicaid. But we just need two Republicans to stop this. 

I’m calling on my colleagues across the aisle: Stand up for children, families, and seniors. 

Listen to the American people, not the tech billionaires.