Ciscomani says maintaining Medicaid and Pell Grants for "truly vulnerable population" among top priorities

Danyelle Khmara spoke to Ciscomani just ahead of President Trump's address to Congress. The full interview is below.

Republican Congressman Juan Ciscomani reiterated Tuesday that he does not support cuts to Medicaid for people such as disabled individuals or single moms, despite budget vote that could lead to significant cuts to social programs.

Just days before voting yes on the budget resolution, Ciscomani signed a letter with the Congressional Hispanic Conference that said Medicaid was expected to bear the brunt of $880 billion in proposed cuts, which would have serious consequences, especially in rural and predominantly Hispanic communities.

“It does call for the ENT committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee, to find $880 billion in reduction in spending in that department. Now, obviously, there are several areas where that could happen within that committee… there were several plans that were presented to us … how we can get to that number without harming the main recipients of Medicaid that need to be on those programs.”

Ciscomani said his priority is protecting programs such as Medicaid and Pell Grants for what he calls “the truly vulnerable population.” He sees the budget negotiations going in the right direction, which he said was enough for him to vote yes.

The full interview:

Danyelle Khmara: Yeah. So I'll just jump right into my question. So my first question was, you know, I wanted to understand a little bit more about why you voted to advance the budget resolution, which would mean cuts to Medicaid, after you said that slashing Medicaid would have serious consequences, particularly in rural and predominantly Hispanic communities.

Juan Ciscomani: Well, the budget resolution doesn't say anything about Medicaid cuts, and it's not specific on that at all, actually. It's a guideline. It's a blueprint of how much the goal needs to be within the budget reconciliations, which is the process that we're in now to reduce the expenses in government, which I think everybody can agree that there's a lot of waste and abuse going on in government spending, especially at the federal level.

Just days before voting yes on the budget resolution, Ciscomani signed a letter with the Congressional Hispanic Conference that said Medicaid was expected to bear the brunt of $880 billion in proposed cuts, which would have serious consequences, especially in rural and predominantly Hispanic communities.

JC: So the budget resolution was step one. That only basically gets us to the game, per se. Now we have four quarters to go, which is where we're going to discuss in depth where these cuts need to come from, and how we're going to get to them.

JC: The letter that I wrote the speaker along with the Hispanic Congressional Conference was to let him know and leadership and my colleagues as well, and everyone where I stand on this. And it wasn't just about Medicaid, which I was specific on, but it was also about Pell Grants. It was about programs that people have been depending on, and we want to make sure that we protect these programs, specifically Medicaid, for the people that need it the most.

JC: What we're going to be looking at in the reconciliation process is, how do we get to a point where there's transparency and accountability on these programs, and we can eliminate the abuse and the wasteful spending on that, the improper payment in these programs many times, because those kinds of practices actually endanger the people that need it the most to receive those programs and that we want to avoid.

JC: So when we look at able-bodied adults with work requirements, with no children, these are some of the people that we can look at and see where we can make some adjustments to make sure that it's protected for the people that I said in the letter we want to protect, which is, of course, many of the disabled individuals or single moms. These are the people we want to protect.

DK: I’m just going back to your letter; the letter pointed out that the legislation that you just voted yes for calls for the House Energy and Commerce Committee to find $880 million [sic] in cuts, which you said in the letter that Medicaid was expected to bear the brunt of those reductions. So were any of the concerns in the letter addressed before you voted yes on the legislation?

The letter said the House Budget Resolution proposed $880 billion in cuts, not $880 million, to programs under the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, with Medicaid expected to bear the brunt of these reductions.

JC: Yes, absolutely. I had several meetings with the speaker and with leadership on this. That letter opened the path to have those very frank and open conversations with the leader along with the other signees on that letter where we expressed the concern on this.

JC: As you pointed out, it does call for the E&C committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee, to find $880 billion in reduction in spending in that department. Now, obviously, there are several areas where that could happen within that committee, and it's not just about reducing that spending, but it's also finding revenue in other areas that could offset that. So there are a lot of options out there. At that time, there were several plans that were presented to us, preliminary plans and reviews, how we can get to that number without harming the main recipients of Medicaid that need to be on those programs.

DK: So what would that look like?

JC: Well, we're exploring different options right now. There are several plans out there, and this is what the next five to six weeks are going to be looking like in terms of getting into the details of where that's going to happen. That's going to happen as you mentioned in the Energy and Commerce Committee, I sit in the Appropriations Committee, so we're doing our own work with the CR that we have to pass next week, and also the new budget that we're going to be working on as we play a role in reconciliation as well. So a lot of conversations still to be had. The resolution that we passed last week was nowhere near the final product. It was just the blueprint and the first step into this very long process. So there's gonna be a lot of negotiations going on.

The CR is a Continuing Resolution, which is a temporary measure used by Congress to fund federal agencies and prevent a government shutdown when the regular appropriations bills have not been enacted on time.

JC: So I've been meeting with hospitals, with rural health community centers, with many of the individuals that are impacted by this, well could be impacted by all this. And we're taking notes and carrying the message, so a lot of work still to do, a lot of listening, a lot of more information on it, and I'll be happy to keep reporting back as it’s moving through the process.

DK: All right. It seems like a lot of people are pretty freaked out that this is going to lead to cuts to Medicaid, especially since that was written explicitly — not Medicaid, but for the Energy and Commerce Committee in what was voted for. And so, you just said that the changes that you guys called for in your letter were addressed. Can you say anything specific to sort of ease some of your constituents worries about what was said as far as protecting Medicaid and some of these other important services that you expressed in the letter.

JC: I just had a conversation on the House floor with the majority leader Steve Scalise yesterday about this same thing. Because unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation.

DK: Like what?

JC: There are very misleading ads either online or on radio saying that we're going to cut Medicaid, and that was with the bill that was passed yesterday. And with all due respect, that's how you posed the first question that you asked me regarding cutting Medicaid out of 880 billion. So that's not the nature of this. That's not the right premise.

DK: I based that on what your letter said. Your letter said that Medicaid would bear the brunt of it.

JC: There's a lot of misinformation out there, Danyelle, that are playing into people's emotions on this.

DK: Like what?

JC: Well whenever we talk about reducing spending anywhere, there is going to be concern, and I understand that, and that's why it's important to communicate the truth, and that's what I'm telling you right now. Right now, the specifics of the reduction in spending haven't been determined. That's still in process. So that's what we're working on right now, and that's why this is a long process, to make sure that we listen to all parties, make sure that we protect the ones that need these services truly, the true recipients of the services, the ones that Medicaid was created for.

JC: Has there been improper payments, and is there waste and abuse in the program, as there is all across the federal government? Yes, and that's what we have to find to make sure that we protect it for the truly vulnerable population. That is my priority, and that's what we're working on. Before the budget resolution vote, we had these initial conversations. I think it's going in the right direction on this. It was enough for me to vote yes on the resolution, and now we're at the table having these discussions. So again, I look forward to sharing more details as we have them and as we go on with this, with this process of negotiation.

JC: So thank you so much for the call, Danyelle. I look forward to talking to you soon again .

DK: Thank you, Congressman. I appreciate you making the time.