The reason prescription drugs are so important at the state level is because they're eating up the Medicaid budget.
Kentucky HEALTH will allow us to continue to provide expanded Medicaid coverage. But unlike the current Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, it will do so in a fiscally responsible manner that ensures better health outcomes for recipients.
The American people I talk to don't spend every moment thinking, 'How can I tax my neighbor more than they're being taxed?' They say, 'How can I get a good job? How can my kids get good jobs? How can seniors have a confidence in their future when they know that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are bankrupt?'
We have a failing Medicaid system, and you know who that's going to hurt in the end are the most vulnerable in people in our society.
Medicaid and the Child Health Insurance Program are the two most important safety net programs for children.
The Republican agenda is a radical vision in which Medicaid is slashed to the bone - in which we start to balance the budget on the backs of, literally, our most vulnerable citizens.
We got to protect Medicaid.
Originally created to serve the poorest and sickest among us, the Medicaid program has grown dramatically but still doesn't include the kind of flexibility that states need to provide better health care for the poor and disadvantaged.
Expanding Medicaid without fixing Medicaid is a terrible idea.
Ultimately, the decision to expand Medicaid is one of common sense and necessity; the facts make it clear that it is good for state economies, good for hospitals, and good for the people who need healthcare coverage.
If he'd been negotiating Obamacare, Lincoln would have made the infamous 'Cornhusker Kickback' deal - $100 million in Medicaid funds for Nebraska to secure a Senator's vote - in a heartbeat, even if the press howled as it did when Barack Obama agreed to it, forcing its cancellation.
It's not health care reform to dump more money into Medicaid.
No one was elected to Congress because he or she promised to cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.
What I support is moving Medicaid to block grants so that the states can drive that process.
If you got problems like unemployment, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and there's a guy that's always been there for you and for your family, then you say 'He's a nice guy. I don't know where he came from or how long he's been here, but Charlie Rangel's the man.' That's what I'm relying on.
While the Left seems obsessed with increasing taxes and spending even more money, conservatives have focused more heavily on the need for spending restraint and entitlement reform - primarily to preserve and protect the future of the Medicare program. Overlooked in all of this is the future of Medicaid.
You're entitled to Medicaid regardless of your income. Don't worry about your health care.
I don't think anybody should be expanding Medicaid. I think it's a mistake to create new and more expensive entitlement programs when we can't afford the ones we've got today. We've got to stop this culture of government dependence.
Simply expanding Medicaid does not improve health care outcomes. In Louisiana, instead we're helping people getting better paying jobs so they can provide for their own health care.
Florida is not going to implement Obamacare. We are not going to expand Medicaid, and we're not going to implement exchanges.
Anybody that's asked, I've counseled that they not expand Medicaid eligibility. I've been critical of any expansion because you know what Washington does. It promises something for a finite period of time, and then it leaves you on the hook.