Kennedy pushes back on misleading CBO Medicaid report: ‘All salt and no tequila’

Watch Kennedy's comments here.

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) delivered the following remarks on the U.S. Senate floor:

"The Congressional Budget Office is a bipartisan entity, as you know, Mr. President, that advises us on fiscal and financial matters. I appreciate their good work. A lot of smart people over there.

"The CBO, as we call it, has issued a report that says, as a result of our reconciliation bill-the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill-that 10.5 million Americans are going to be thrown off Medicaid. . . . I don't want to be unfair to CBO, but sometimes CBO makes these statements, and they don't give you the context in which they're making the statements.

"If you say, 'We're going to throw 10.5 million people off of Medicaid,' and don't explain, in detail, why they've come to that conclusion, that's not fair. You're not getting the full story. You're not getting reliable information. That would be like asking a nun for advice about sex.

"So, let me tell you the other half of the story. . . . CBO says we're throwing 10.5 million people off of Medicaid. They weren't eligible for Medicaid in the first place. . . . For example, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services just came out with a report. Of those 10.5 million people that we're throwing off of Medicaid, 2.8 million of them are double-dipping. They're double-dipping. That's illegal. That's a violation of the rules. That means that a person has signed up-I'm from Louisiana-that means some people are signed up in Louisiana and Mississippi, for example. You can't double-dip. And the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also found that of that 2.5 million people, 1.6 million of them are double-dipping by joining Medicaid and Obamacare.

"So, yeah, they're going to lose their Medicaid. They should. That double-dipping costs us $14 billion a year-$140 billion over ten years. . . . So, yeah, my friends at CBO, those people are going to lose their Medicaid. Did I mention that they weren't entitled to in the first place?

"Now, point two: the main determinant for Medicaid is income. . . . States are not supposed to sign up people for Medicaid who make too much money. I regret to say this-I don't know why, but it's human nature-some people don't tell the truth. Under President Biden, he encouraged the states not to check income eligibility. Just take everybody's word for it. . . . If the president sends a message to the states, 'Don't worry about checking if people are making too much money.' Guess what: some people are going to cheat, and they do. I wish they didn't, but they do.

"Back in my state of Louisiana, our legislative auditor . . . did an exhaustive audit of our Medicaid program. They found in 2019 that 1,600 people had been signed up for Medicaid making over $100,000 a year. That's 1,600 people making over a hundred grand a year. . . . This is Louisiana. Our median family income is only $56,000. These folks aren't qualified for Medicaid. They're taking money away from people who deserve it. . . . They're not qualified for Medicaid. They're cheating. . . .

"Now, we also put in our reconciliation bill . . . a work requirement. Sometimes, not always, but sometimes the best way to get back on your feet is to get off your ass.

"Now, the American people are the most generous people in the world. We spend trillions of dollars helping our neighbors. In our country, if you are hungry, we will feed you. If you are homeless, we will house you. If you're too poor to be sick, we will pay for your doctor. That's why we have Medicaid. That's why we have Medicare.

"But those who can work should work. Our social programs were not meant to be parking lots. They were meant to be bridges. Sometimes. It's not always. If you're disabled, you should be on Medicaid. If you're too poor, you should be on Medicaid. But we've got a lot of people on Medicaid-we're not sure exactly how many-who could work. They choose not to. . . .

"We don't know exactly how many people are on the Medicaid expansion who can work who aren't working. There have been some estimates. They're all over the map. I was looking in 'The Economist' recently. They estimated that 6% of the 71 million people on Medicaid are able-bodied and could work but choose not to. That's 6 million people. The average amount spent per person on Medicaid is $9,000 a year. So, if we could get all of those 6 million people to work-and we'll help them find a job-we'd save $54 billion a year. That's a half a trillion a year over a ten-year period.

"So yes, CBO. It's true that if someone is covered by the work requirement, and they say, 'I don't want to work, I choose not to work,' then they're going to lose their Medicaid. And again, we're not talking about somebody disabled or somebody pregnant. We're not talking about a mother with three young children. We're talking about able-bodied adults, 19 to 64, they're healthy, and don't have kids at home. All we're saying is, 'Come join the American dream and get a job.'

"So . . . the CBO report, as far as I'm concerned, is all salt and no tequila. They don't tell us why 10.5 million people are going to lose their Medicaid. And unless you have an opium habit, you'll see if you drill down and understand and try to understand that those 10.5 million people, God bless them, but they weren't eligible for Medicaid in the first place.

"These reforms we're making to Medicaid are going to be able to provide much more money for the disabled Americans, the truly impoverished Americans, the truly sick Americans, the children who are too poor to be sick in our country. We're going to take this money we're saving and give them the quality health care they deserve.

"And even after all these reforms, guess what? Hope you're listening, CBO. We aren't cutting Medicaid. Even after all these reforms, Medicaid is going to go up 20% over the next ten years. And that's the rest of the story, Mr. President."

Watch Kennedy's speech here.