U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison Takes Minnesota Mother’s Concerns Over Medicaid Cuts to the House Floor
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Kelly Morrison (MN-03) joined the Democratic Women’s Caucus in taking to the House floor to highlight stories of the millions of Americans who will be impacted by the Congressional Republicans’ proposed budget.
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 shared the story of Alicia, a Minnesota mother whose daughter gets essential health care coverage through Medicaid.
Watch Rep. Morrison’s full floor speech HERE.
Read Rep. Morrison’s full floor speech remarks below:
Mr. Speaker,
Today, I rise on behalf of Minnesota families who will lose access to health care if the Republican budget passes.
I want to tell you about one of them: Alicia and her daughter.
Alicia’s oldest daughter is 11 years old. She’s a happy, active, and confident 5th grader. But she’s also faced a lifetime of medical challenges: an immune disorder, a blood disorder, and a spinal condition.
Alicia and her family didn’t ask for this. Nothing they did caused this. They work hard, they pay their taxes. They love their daughter fiercely. But they simply cannot afford the care that she needs without Medicaid.
Medicaid is what allows Alicia’s daughter to go to school, to regain her motor skills, and to run a 5K with her classmates—something unthinkable before her treatment. It’s the reason she’s not just surviving, she is thriving.
But now, Republicans are working to gut the program that she – and half of all American children – get their health care coverage through.
This isn’t about politics. It’s about our values. It’s about protecting the health and future of our children. We must protect Medicaid. Our kids are watching, and they’re counting on us.
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
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