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Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-06) opened today’s Energy and Commerce Committee Markup on the Republican budget proposal by sharing the story of a Michigan family from Warren whose six-year-old son, George, has Down syndrome, and relies on Medicaid to get the care he needs.

The independent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) determined that at least 13.7 million more Americans will go uninsured on Trump and Congressional Republicans’ watch.

New analysis from the nonpartisan CBO found the health provisions in Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans’ bill will cut at least $715 billion and will result in at least 8.6 million more Americans going uninsured because of cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. In additional analysis, CBO determined 5.1 million more Americans will go uninsured as a result of Republicans refusing to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, as well as full implementation of the Marketplace Integrity Rule.

Watch Dingell’s remarks here, and read them below.

“Thank you, M. Chair,

Please meet George, who I met this morning, who is full of energy – and my office somehow survived.

Welcome, George. Here’s the letter I got from his mom:

'Our son, George, is six and has Down’s Syndrome. We adopted him at 3 weeks old. Losing Medicaid would cripple our family, absolutely destroy us. We’ve been very lucky until now because of Medicaid. It’s been very instrumental for our family’s ability to survive. My husband and I both primarily do gig work, both employed full time, but we don’t have workplace insurance. It’s not super reliable for the kinds of jobs we do, so we have marketplace insurance. It’s a huge fear that we’d lose Medicaid, because it’s necessary for our family’s lives.

'The disability world, our community, is really worried about cuts to Medicaid. The general narrative right now is one of terror.

'It’s a death sentence to cut Medicaid. It’s intrinsically and undeniably tied to disability rights and justice in our country. If we’re not serving our most vulnerable children, what are we even doing as a country? You’re leaving families with no options and putting us in an impossible position. It’s so obvious that they don’t care about disabled people or poor people.'

They cared strongly enough to come.

There’s a poll this week that shows 83% of people in Michigan support Medicaid. 2.6 million people get health insurance through Medicaid in Michigan, representing approximately 1 in 4 Michiganders. Medicaid provides coverage for 38% of births in Michigan, 2 in 5 children, 3 in 5 nursing home residents, and 3 in 8 working-age adults with disabilities.

And I want to say to my colleagues, Michigan’s Medicaid program is efficient with per-enrollee costs among the 10 lowest in the country. To all my colleagues who say you’re cutting waste and fraud, Medicaid is 22% more cost-effective than any private insurance plan. We have to protect George, other children, seniors in nursing homes, and people with disabilities.

Please don’t say you’re not going to hurt them, because many things in this bill are a back-door way of doing so.

Thank you and I yield back.”

Watch a live stream of the Committee markup here.