Remarks: Cutting Medicaid is Not an Option

Watch my remarks at the joint press conference hosted by Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Kelly Morrison at Hennepin Healthcare System.

[Remarks as prepared]

Thank you, Representatives, for joining us here today.

I am Commissioner Irene Fernando, but you can call me Commish. I use she/her pronouns and am really grateful we are gathered here together today about this important issue that affects us all.

Medicaid was established in 1965, Minnesota implemented the program in 1966. So, for 60 years, it has served as an essential government service to ensure low-income people receive good healthcare.

Medicaid offers life-saving health support, which allows over 20% of all Hennepin residents to live healthier and more productive lives—neighbors and families who will be devastated if suddenly cut off with no warning or no plan.

  • That is why we must preserve and expand Medicaid, cutting it is not an option. It is our collective responsibility to come together on behalf of our shared health and humanity.

  • Medicaid funds comprehensive health care through Medical Assistance for 1 in 5 Hennepin County residents. Over 260,000 children and adults in our County rely on Medicaid to cover both routine and emergency health care needs from birth to death.

  • Medicaid supports elders and people with disabilities to live with supports in their communities. That support reduces reliance on institutional settings, such as hospitals and nursing homes.

  • Medicaid funds behavioral health supports for over 30,000 Hennepin County residents every year. 69% of the residents we offer Behavioral Health supports to are Medicaid eligible. These services preserve quality of life and prevent the kinds of crises that can lead people to need more significant interventions, such as hospitalization.

Medicaid is a critical investment in the health and wellbeing of our communities. Any federal cuts would not only impact hospitals – but also undermine many other services that allow our residents and our communities to live healthy and productive lives.

And every dollar cut from Medicaid shifts that financial burden to local governments, emergency rooms, and ultimately taxpayers.

  • By our values, we cannot afford losing Medicaid access.

  • By the numbers, we cannot financially afford it either.

In Hennepin County, residents received Medicaid health care benefits worth $2.6 billion in 2020 which is the most recent year we have data for.

Thank you again to our members of Congress for joining us today and for your leadership on this issue.

  • We are here TOGETHER to reiterate our unwavering commitment to ensure continued services for all Minnesotans.

I serve on the Board of Hennepin Healthcare System as well so it is my privilege to introduce my colleague Mohamed Omar, Chair of the Hennepin Healthcare System Board of Directors.

Akhilesh Menawat