Sanders: Wall Street, War And Tax Breaks Caused Deficit

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) declared before an audience in the Dirksen Senate office on Thursday that there certainly is a deficit, but it was caused by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, tax breaks and Wall Street, not by Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. (0:30)

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(Broken Link) DeMint Asks Supercommittee To Look At Welfare Cuts

During a press conference Wednesday, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who authored the “Welfare Reform Act of 2011,” said the Super Committee should look at cutting welfare spending, not just Medicare and Medicaid.  (0:30)

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Conyers To Super Committee: Hands Off Social Security, No Exceptions

During a rally on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) urged the Super Committee to not cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, adding that there can be no exception to the demand. (0:15)

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House Bill Mandates The Purchase Of Health Insurance

Health care expert Trudy Lieberman says the main thing the House health care bill does is require people to get health care insurance. She says if one is not already insured by an employer or a government program, such as Medicare or Medicaid, one will be required to purchase insurance exchange. (0:35)
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Medicaid Expert Warns Against Individual Health Insurance Mandates

The Heritage Foundation's Dennis Smith says that healthy Americans, particularly young folks, are not going to embrace being forced to spend their money on something they don't think they need. (:40)
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Medicaid Expert Says Program "Unsustainable"

Dennis Smith with the Heritage Foundation says he fears that current healthcare reform legislation would place an undue burden on Medicaid, a program he calls "unsustainable." (:44)
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Americans May Have To Visit Welfare Office To Qualify For Medicaid, Claims Analyst

Dennis Smith, the Senior Fellow in Health Care Reform at the Heritage Foundation claims that after health care reform passes, Americans may need to visit the welfare office to claim eligibility for Medicaid. (0:35)
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Biden Announces That Hospitals Will Help Fund Cost Of Health Care Reform

Vice President Joe Biden announces Wednesday that hospitals from all over the country will hep raise roughly $155 billion for health care reform. The funds will be created through spending cuts on Medicare and Medicaid. (:33)
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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) Calls For Medicare And Medicaid Reform

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) claims health care reform cannot happen without first reforming Medicare and Medicaid. He says the two government programs are on an unsustainable growth path (0:22).
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Without Health Care Reform, Medicaid Spending Could Surpass Defense Spending

During a speech on health care reform today, President Barack Obama warned that without proper reform Medicaid spending could surpass defense spending (0:19)
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Expert supports increase in FMAP funding

Gene Sperling, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, expressed his support for an increase in Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage.
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Combining stimulus with Medicaid

U.S. Representative Peter King (R-NY) comments on the benefits with going forward with a second stimulus legislation and combining the bill with a medical relief package. (1:09)
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New Yorkers appeal to stimulus in the face of budget cuts

Policy analyst Denise Soffel from Medicaid Matters NY comments on Medicaid as a public health measure and the situation for New Yorkers if medicaid eligibility will be forced to reduce. (0:23)
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Disabled community deserves better

The Democratic National Committee hosted a conference call to discuss Senator John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) position on the Community Choice Act. The Community Choice act is a top priority of the disability community that would allow people with disabilities the chance to choose home-based or community care with in-home services over being forced into nursing homes or institutions. The act would increase the percentage of Medicaid that goes toward in-home care.

Marca Bristo, former Chair of the National Council on Disability, said that McCain has opposed this legislation over many years. According to Bristo, McCain has refused to listen to the disabled community and has ‘robbed them’ of the dignity of living in homes of their choosing as opposed to nursing home. Bristo continued to say that the disabled community could not afford another eight years of status quo and of failed policies. Bristo urged that the disabled community ‘can wait no more’ for change and that is ‘deserves better’ treatment.

Bob Kafka, President of the American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT), said that the Community Choice Act is a bill that almost every national disability group and aging groups has supported. Despite repeated requests to support or co-sponsor the bill, McCain has refused continuously. Kafka said that the disabled community needs health care reforms that should include reforms of long term care. Kafka emphasized the considerable force that the disabled community has in the up-coming election. According to Kafka, the disability vote could be very instrumental. Bristo agreed and said that disabled people form a tight community which pays close attention to issues that directly affect their lives. (17:28)
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Rep. Deal: Medicaid needs more than superficial change

Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) allocating $15 billion additional tax dollars towards Medicaid without increasing accountability concerns him, saying Medicaid funding needs reform instead of superficial measures that will not fix “entitlement spending.” (0:46)
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Rep. Pallone: More Medicaid will save health care jobs

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) promotes increasing federal funding to state Medicaid programs by saying that jobs in health care are put at risk when states are forced to cut their Medicaid programs, causing increased unemployment and economic instability. (0:34)
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"Medicaid reimbursements and terrorism preparedness" not necessarily related

At the second of a two-day hearing on how reduced Medicaid funding may impact trauma center emergency response, Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) says that the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has been “conflating the issues of Medicaid reimbursements and terrorism preparedness” which “simultaneously simplifies and obscures both issues.” (0:59)
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Reduced Medicaid funding could be crucial in "golden hour" of emergency situation

At the second of a two-day hearing on how reduced Medicaid funding may impact trauma center emergency response, Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) says that “if the unthinkable happens,” whether or not emergency care is readily available will determine how many lives are lost and saved in the "golden hour" of such a situation. He says that the Federal government “should not be taking actions that undermine the prospect of an effective emergency response” by cutting Medicaid funding. (0:45)
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Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Dr. Peter Orzsag, Director of CBO, Discuss Urgency of Health Care Spending Crisis at Budget Committee Hearing

Dr. Orszag reports on the potential for a severe crisis of health care spending and Chairman Conrad implores his fellow committee members to join him and Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) in taking bipartisan action to resolve it. (1:11)
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Congressman Cohen Critiques Stimulus Package

Responding to the President's State of the Union Address Monday night, Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) discusses the shortcomings of the economic stimulus package pending in the congress, stating that the tax rebates agreed to do not follow the principles of "timely, targeted, and temporary" suggested by leading economists. (0:29)
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