GOP Senator: Medicaid Is Broken. Republicans Are Trying To Save It
I've said it many times: Medicaid is the most broken program in the country. Having Medicaid does not mean you have access to health care. Only 74 percent of physicians accept Medicaid, and many of those who say they do never see patients on Medicaid. Others string out appointments and limit the number they will see. Many specialists use the "busy schedule excuse" and give Medicaid patients appointments months and months out; for all practical purposes, they exclude them from their practice.
Over the past five years, Medicaid spending has increased by hundreds of billions of dollars while American health outcomes have declined. Our plan will strengthen and save Medicaid for those who need it the most. By keeping the program fiscally solvent, Republicans are protecting seniors in nursing homes and all those with disabilities. We are ensuring funding will remain available for pregnant moms and prioritizing funding for children. In fact, almost half of all the children in the country—37 million—are now on Medicaid's CHIP program. We must prioritize every dollar we have for those who need it the most.
US Senator Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas, testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled "Breaking the Visa-Mastercard Duopoly: Bringing Competition and Lower Fees to the Credit Card System" on Capitol Hill in Washington,...
US Senator Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas, testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled "Breaking the Visa-Mastercard Duopoly: Bringing Competition and Lower Fees to the Credit Card System" on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on November 19, 2024. More
ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP/Getty Images
Over 60 percent of Americans support work requirements for Medicaid; a job is the best safety net out there, not to mention a great treatment for mental health and addiction issues.
I believe there are better solutions out there than throwing more money at a program that doesn't work well. More block grants to federally funded Community Health Centers, which are developing a broad-based, more holistic approach to health care—which I believe will become a big part of the "Make America Healthy Again" movement.
Another is block grants to rural hospitals, which are struggling. The best thing we can do for rural hospitals is strengthen our agricultural economy, which last year suffered its largest drop in net income in my lifetime. The GOP-led farm bill will help do just that; provisions related to biofuel production, taxes on farmers, and crop insurance will boost rural America's economy. Rural hospitals are a reflection of their local economies, and with populations declining in many rural counties, the financial base to support rural hospitals is no longer there. Any hospital that builds its financial survival based on dependence on Medicaid is bound to fail.
We hope that this GOP bill spurs the economy, and expect that if anyone loses Medicaid, it'll only be because they found a good job with benefits. A good job is the best safety net out there.
Roger Marshall, M.D., a Republican, is the junior U.S. senator from Kansas. He sits on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
3 hours ago
- CNN
What are your questions about lowering blood pressure and the latest advice about how to do it?
Recently updated blood pressure guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology make some new recommendations around prevention and treatment. What are the risks from high blood pressure? How do you know if you need to make changes and what can you do to get your numbers to a healthier level? Share your questions with CNN below.
CBS News
8 hours ago
- CBS News
How to get back to a regular sleep schedule on time ahead of back-to-school season
Back-to-school means getting back on a regular sleep schedule, which isn't so easy after a summer of fun. Doctors said getting a good night's sleep is critical for students, and getting back on their sleep schedule should happen before school starts. Nikkya Hargrove's family has their back-to-school strategy all tucked in. "So, the week before school starts, we push back their bedtime about 30 minutes," she said. Gradually recalibrating that bedtime, doctors said, is crucial after a fun-filled summer when schedules are often looser. "I know as we're preparing for this, it's a stressful time for families. Your whole schedule is going to change as your kids get ready to go back to school," said Dr. Christopher Cielo, medical director in the Division of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "We know that sleep's really important in the lives of children," said Cielo. "It can affect their mood, can affect their behavior, and can affect other health conditions that they have. And it affects virtually every aspect of their everyday life." The amount of sleep kids need depends on their age. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, preschoolers need up to 13 hours a day, including naps. Children aged six to 12 should sleep nine to 12 hours and teenagers benefit from eight to 10 hours a night. Doctors said it's important to keep a consistent evening routine, going to bed at the same time and staying away from electronics. "The light that comes out of the screen, and this is true for computer screens, televisions, mobile phones, can actually wake your brain up and sort of trick your brain into thinking that it's daytime and make it harder to go to sleep," Cielo said. Doctors said it's good advice for kids and parents alike. Hargrove said her twins have learned what happens when they stay up too late. "They get to recognize how they feel the next day when they wake up," she said. "And if they're groggy and they don't like how they feel, then they know, OK, I have to go to bed earlier."
Medscape
9 hours ago
- Medscape
Vaccine-Preventable Disease: Could the Sky Fall?
It's been a tempestuous 2025 for the nation's healthcare infrastructure. I think the worst is yet to come, given cutbacks to Medicaid eligibility and coverage and the devolving recommendations by government healthcare agencies. Concern is also arising that third-party payers (Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance) and Vaccines for Children may not cover some scientifically proven vaccines or some parts of scientifically based schedules. Vaccination rates and public trust in vaccines had been dropping since the pandemic, and only 69% of families trusted CDC vaccine recommendations in January 2025, even before recent shakeups in CDC committees. Declining postpandemic national vaccine rates now hover just above thresholds for losing herd immunity (Figure 1) also in part because of increasing vaccine exemptions (Figure 2). However, some local rates have dipped below thresholds in what I call 'vaccine deserts,' those geographic pockets where vaccine deniers comprise larger parts of the population — the measles outbreak being the poster child for this. In addition, discussions are emerging about limiting or removing school vaccine requirements or expanding exemptions. Other factors that imperil herd immunity have always reduced vaccine uptake, even in families that want to vaccinate their children: time and resource limitations for working parents, language barriers, limited or no medical care coverage, limited transportation, rural or inner-city residence, and uncovered vaccines. Some may say, 'So what?' We still have more than 90% uptake for most vaccines. Evidence suggests that even with relatively high uptake, vaccine-preventable disease still occurs in subpopulations, including vulnerable children. For example, a Boston group recently reported that, even before the drop in vaccination rates over the past 5 years, vulnerable children were more likely have more invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). So, cracks in the proverbial dam existed in populations (those with comorbidities or lower socioeconomic status) even pre-pandemic and before current cutbacks. Massachusetts IPD data (ie, Optum Clinformatics DataMart and Merative MarketScan Medicaid Multi-State Database) from a time of Medicaid expansion (January 2015 through December 2019) were analyzed by insurance type and comorbidities. As expected, children younger than 2 years and particularly those younger than 1 year had the highest IPD rates regardless of insurance status, but children with Medicaid had higher IPD rates than commercially insured children. Of concern, these differences occurred despite statewide pneumococcal conjugate vaccine vaccination rates reported previously as being fairly high (92% with three or more doses by 2 years of age). Relative IPD rates for children with Medicaid vs those with commercial insurance were higher in infants (1.3, 95% CI, 0.9-1.9) and adolescents (3.4, 95% CI, 1.5-7.1). Among children with comorbidities, the IPD rate was about four times higher in infants and 10 times higher in 6- to 10-year-olds, regardless of insurance type. The authors cite three prior studies showing lower vaccine uptake in Medicaid recipients, suggesting that, among factors affecting Medicaid patients' IPD burden, lower vaccine uptake likely has a role. It seems logical that these prepandemic, pre-cutback data foreshadow darker times ahead due to a combination of increasing postpandemic public distrust, vaccine fatigue, and cutback-era policies. Not only is vaccine confidence still dropping and Medicaid becoming more restrictive at the federal level, but states may change Medicaid coverage when more costs are reassigned to them. The bottom line is that vaccine availability and access will likely decrease, even in non-economically vulnerable children. So, all children could be exposed to increased types of circulating infectious disease — resulting in increased IPD, particularly in vulnerable children. And here we are only considering one among many vaccine-preventable diseases. As pediatric providers, can we close the anticipated vaccine gaps as vulnerable families deal with healthcare cutbacks and likely become more economically vulnerable? One way is to rededicate ourselves to getting as many children as possible vaccinated (eg, reminder texts, emails, phone calls before vaccine due dates) according to schedules recommended by organizations that are politically independent and science-driven, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. It's not a time for 'business as usual.' We need to proactively confirm our belief in scientifically based vaccine schedules to the families of our patients. While I strongly believe in patient medical homes, there may be room for flexibility if vaccines become available from alternative sources that are economically helpful to families. We can hope charitable organizations, foundations, and some altruistic individuals will ramp up funding to fill the evolving voids. The answers are not simple nor are potential fixes easy. Yet, pediatric providers have always answered the call when children are in jeopardy. Let's keep as many children safe as possible.
