I firmly believe that we must do all that we can to protect this program. This is why I stood up to the President and told him that he does not have a mandate to cut Medicaid, and I would do it again.
Continue working to protect Medicaid from cuts.
Occurrences
Evidence
Congressman Al Green, alongside non-profits, Healthcare for the Homeless and The Arc of Harris County, expressed strong support for the Medicaid Matters Day of Action. The following statements come in response to the recently proposed Republican budget resolution, which threatened to impose a staggering minimum of $880 billion in cuts to essential healthcare services overseen by the Energy and Commerce Committee:
Green, Al (TX) | Green, Al (TX) | Democratic | TX | No
Mr. Speaker, and still I rise now, as I did during the Joint Address to Congress when I told the President and the nation that there is no mandate to cut Medicaid. The waste, fraud, and abuse argument is a façade, because no empirical evidence has been presented to justify cutting more than $1 trillion from Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act. ... I submitted an amendment to ensure that individuals who have had their SNAP benefits stolen are able to receive a reimbursement. I also submitted an amendment which would help raise awareness of the risk of renal medullary carcinoma...
Assessments
The promise was to continue working to protect Medicaid from cuts, not to guarantee that all proposed cuts would be defeated. The evidence shows Green publicly opposed proposed Medicaid cuts, participated in advocacy around Medicaid protection, filed related amendments during House debate, and voted against H.R. 1 after characterizing it as including major Medicaid and health care cuts. These actions fulfill the promised ongoing effort during the same term, even if the broader legislative outcome may not have fully protected Medicaid.