THE FOLLOWING RELEASE IS FROM CONGRESSWOMAN ROBIN KELLY’S OFFICE
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (IL-02) forcefully pressed Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regarding budget cuts to Medicaid at today’s Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing. Secretary Kennedy refused to recognize the $900 billion cut to Medicaid in the Big Ugly Law, doubling down on his statement that “there are no cuts to Medicaid.”
Rep. Kelly slammed his response as absurd.
“The American people are not falling for what you’re saying,” Rep. Kelly lectured Secretary Kennedy. “Your attacks on minority health, women’s health, LGBTQ+ health, and basic preventative medicine through illegal funding freezes and mass firing will lead to decades of consequences for all Americans. You have failed at your job and failed the American people.”
Secretary Kennedy claimed the country’s maternal mortality rate was improving.
Rep. Kelly quickly corrected him and stated Black women are still three times more likely to die due to pregnancy-related causes than white women. Secretary Kenned eliminated critical maternal health programs, like the Centers of Disease Control’s Safe Motherhood Initiative.
“You don’t have to show me the data,” said Rep. Kelly. “I’m the one who brought the issue [of maternal mortality] to Congress.”
Since President Donald Trump signed the largest healthcare cut into law last July, healthcare systems are already dealing with the consequences. In Elk Grove, Illinois, a 28-bed obstetrics unit closed earlier this year, forcing pregnant and postpartum women to drive further to seek care, change providers, and face longer wait times.
