U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison Joins Democratic Doctors Caucus in Condemning Cuts to Medicaid on House Floor

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Kelly Morrison (MN-03) and her fellow members of the Democratic Doctors Caucus took to the House floor to condemn proposed cuts to Medicaid in the Republicans’ budget, which would rip health care away from nearly 14 million Americans. 

In their proposed budget, Congressional Republicans are gutting Medicaid, which provides health insurance to 80 million Americans and covers nearly half of all children nationwide. The Republican budget is the single largest transfer of wealth from working class people to the ultra-wealthy elite in our nation’s history, and includes the single largest cut to Medicaid in history. The budget is also deeply fiscally irresponsible, and explodes the national debt.

On the House floor, Rep. Morrison highlighted how this budget would also be devastating for maternal health care, and worsen our existing maternal health crisis in this nation.

Watch Rep. Morrison’s full floor speech HERE.

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See below for a transcript of Representative Morrison’s remarks: 

For more than 20 years, I have had the honor and privilege of taking care of patients as an OBGYN.

And one of the great joys of my job is caring for my patients during their pregnancies and helping them grow their families. 

I carry my patients and their stories with me and they inform my work here in Congress. 

I think about them and all the challenges new parents face during pregnancy and then after they head home with their new baby: recovering from the delivery, adjusting to life with a little one, accessing the care they and their family need, balancing care-giving and work, making ends meet, the cost of raising children in the United States. It’s a lot!

And I think about all the babies I’ve delivered whose moms got their health care through Medicaid and how critical that was to help them get off to the best possible start.

And it is because of those patients, and patients all across our country, that I stand here today both incredulous and outraged that the Republican majority in Congress is shoving a budget through that will gut Medicaid – the very health insurance program that covers 40% of ALL BIRTHS and insures almost half of all children in our country. 

As an OBGYN, as a mother, as a member of Congress, as an American, this is unconscionable to me. 

We already have a maternal health crisis in our country. 

Let’s look at the facts about that maternal health care crisis we face now… and remember, that is BEFORE we gut Medicaid:

In more than half of our country, women do not have a place to go to get obstetric care.

Among our peer nations, the United States has the highest rate of both maternal AND infant deaths. 

In 2022, there were more than double, and sometimes triple, the rate of maternal deaths in the United States compared to most other high-income countries.

And unacceptable disparities exist: Black and American Indian and Alaska Native women are three to four times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause compared to white women.

And most of these deaths — more than 80 percent — are preventable.

So what is the Republican majority doing to address this unacceptable crisis?

Instead of working to find ways to improve women’s health and to help moms and babies, they are shoving a budget through that will devastate our nation’s maternal health care and decimate many of our hospitals and clinics.

It will unequivocally make our nation’s maternal health crisis worse.

And why in the world are they doing this?

Why are they choosing to harm women and children?

They are doing it to pay for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthiest among us. 

That is literally why. 

To make the math work to cut taxes for billionaires.

They are choosing to sell out the health of women, moms, new babies, the future of our country – to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. 

Choosing to take health care away from moms and their babies.

And let’s be clear: this won’t just be devastating to the moms and new babies who get their health care coverage through Medicaid – it will be devastating for maternal health care across the country.

All of this coming from the party that calls itself “pro-life” and “pro-family.” 

It is hard to imagine a more anti-family policy. 

So instead of wasting time musing around ridiculous ways to “persuade women to have more children” like giving medals for having six or more babies… I would like to remind my Republican colleagues that they could start with something real, meaningful, and impactful right now by not gutting the health insurance program that covers almost half of all births and half of all children in our country.

The Republican majority needs to make their “pro-family” rhetoric match their policy, put America’s moms and babies first, and stop these proposed cuts to Medicaid. 

Additional Background:

More than 1.4 million Minnesotans – including 650,000 children – get their health insurance through Medicaid. 

Over the past several months, Rep. Morrison has been ringing the alarm and speaking out against the Republicans’ proposal to gut Medicaid, including:

• Holding a press conference with North Memorial Health, Hennepin Healthcare, and the Minnesota Hospital Association to highlight how gutting Medicaid would lead to cuts to services and hospital closures in Minnesota
• Calling out Medicaid cuts with the Democratic Doctors Caucus
• Holding a press conference with Governor Tim Walz to emphasize threats of Medicaid cuts to Minnesotans
• Taking Minnesota Republicans’ pleas not to cut Medicaid to the House floor
• Highlighting constituents’ concerns about Medicaid and nursing home coverage on the House Floor
• Holding a press conference with Hennepin Healthcare and Medicaid recipients to underscore Medicaid’s importance to Minnesota
• Visiting North Memorial’s Family Birth Center, highlighting how more than 40% of births are covered through Medicaid
• Visiting Gillette Children’s Maple Grove Clinic, where the vast majority of patients get health care coverage through Medicaid

Earlier this year, Rep. Morrison joined together with all six Democratic physicians serving in the U.S. House of Representatives to launch the first-ever Democratic Doctors Caucus. The caucus is dedicated to promoting the health and well-being of Americans, advancing pragmatic health care policy, and providing fellow Members with insights on critical health issues.

Members of the Democratic Doctors Caucus include:

• Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-06) – Internal Medicine
• Herb Conaway Jr., M.D. (NJ-03) – Internal Medicine
• Maxine Dexter, M.D. (OR-03) – Pulmonary & Critical Care
• Kelly Morrison, M.D. (MN-03) – Obstetrics & Gynecology
• Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-25) – Emergency Medicine
• Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08) – Pediatrics

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