Uproar as disability rights protesters in wheelchairs dragged out of House Medicaid meeting: ‘You're going to kill me!'
Disability rights protesters in wheelchairs clashed with Republican lawmakers Tuesday as they sought to discuss and debate their sprawling legislation on Medicaid, which led to police dragging advocates out.
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which governs Medicaid, began its 'mark up' for its part of the legislation that Republicans have taken to calling 'One Big, Beautiful Bill.'
At one point, one advocate shouted at Republican lawmakers saying: 'You will kill me!' As Capitol Police escorted the protester out, she shouted: 'Bulls***! Liar!'
Throughout the hearing disability rights activists interrupted discussions to protest the cuts.
Under the House Budget resolution that passed earlier this year, the House has to find $1.5 trillion in spending reductions to unlock $4.5 trillion worth of tax cuts. If Republicans fail to cut $2 trillion worth of spending, the amount of money left for tax cuts will be reduced by the difference between $2 trillion and the final number of savings.
Republicans claimed throughout the hearing that the legislation would not hurt people with disabilities. Under the bill, able-bodied adults without dependents must engage in at least 80 hours of either work, community service or education to be eligible for Medicaid.
Republican Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama pushed back against accusations that people with disabilities would lose their Medicaid coverage.
'The people who are legally eligible for Medicaid are not going to lose their Medicaid,' he insisted. 'We've all got family members, friends, we've got people in our districts, we all know these stories, people that are depending on Medicaid, and you will not lose your Medicaid.'
But the protester interrupted Palmer, identifying herself as from Youngstown, Ohio and said that her drugs cost $10,000 a month.
Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas tried to tamp down criticism as people with disabilities expressed fear that they might lose their coverage.
'Here's my apology to you: I am sorry that people lie to you, I am sorry that so many people in the media and the left have lied to you,' he said.
Many Republicans have said that the legislation would only cut coverage for able-bodied men, and specifically focused on undocumented immigrants.
But disability advocates say that the legislation's requirements to have states determine if patients are eligible for Medicaid every six months could cause some to lose benefits.
'There are lots of people with disabilities ... who may not meet the specific social security definition, but who absolutely do have disabilities,' Katy Neas, the CEO of the Arc, told The Independent.
Neas also said that the cuts to Medicaid could wind up causing states to cut optional programs such as Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services, which allows for people to stay in their homes rather than in nursing homes. Because it's an optional program, it has long waiting lists to apply, varying by state
'The choice is to go in an institution, or, more likely, people will just be put out, and their families will do the best they can for them, but isn't going to be sufficient for what they need,' she said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who joined the committee this Congress, praised the activists for their protests.
'First and foremost, I think that they have demonstrated a tremendous amount of courage and bravery putting themselves on the line in order to defend Medicaid for people across the country, and the Affordable Care Act,' she told The Independent. She feared that the 'able-bodied' requirement might exclude some people who desperately need Medicaid.
'Does it include people with varying degrees of mental health diagnoses?' she asked.
Ocasio-Cortez also pointed out that the legislation would also roll back a rule from the Biden administration requiring that a minimum number of staff work at nursing homes.
'This is definitely going to affect people who rely on nursing homes, the staffing that happens in nursing homes, this is all in the text of the bill, and on top of that, including people who are eligible and covered by Medicaid,' she said.
During the hearing, Ocasio-Cortez pointed out how many people in areas – including those represented by Republicans – depend on Medicaid.
Rep. Greg Landsman, a moderate Democrat from Ohio, questioned why people needed to be dragged out from the hearing.
'It seems strange that folks in wheelchairs would be arrested,' he said. 'Quite frankly, it's a life or death situation for them. I understand that they can't disrupt a proceeding, so they need to be removed. But why arrested?'
Numerous House committees are engaged in marathon markups of their parts of the bill. Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, hope to pass the bill that ramps up spending for immigration enforcement at the Mexican border and boosts oil exploration while also extending the 2017 tax cuts that Trump signed in 2017.
But the bill will face stiff opposition in the Senate, where many Republicans, including allies of the president, worry about steep cuts to Medicaid.
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