Committee member says Republican cuts are leaving patients sicker and straining providers

A committee member said Republican-led funding cuts to health programs are harming patients and straining providers, with uninsured and underinsured people presenting sicker and hospitals weighing which services to keep open.

"While Republicans are crying waste, fraud, and abuse on the individual families who are trying to navigate a complicated system that is getting defunded as we speak, they are getting richer," the committee member said. The speaker warned that providers are "having to make tough decisions about which service lines to close and whether or not they're going to be able to keep delivering babies because Medicare and Medicaid patients are at risk." The member added that the rising cost of uncompensated care among the uninsured "is going to do damage to a health care system that was already struggling."

The committee member framed the remarks as a call to protect access to care and urged continued advocacy for affected families. The speaker concluded by thanking public-serving staff: "Thank you so much for what you do."