‘I Don’t Personally Think They’re Disabled’: House Republican and Doctor Questions His Patients’ Medicaid Eligibility
Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC), who is a physician, said he believes some of the Medicaid patients he sees do not qualify for the program.
Medicaid is a government-subsidized health insurance program for low-income individuals and those with disabilities. Republicans have long railed against the program, which they claim is beset by fraud and abuse. They have called for the program to be contingent on work requirements, which 11 states have already implemented.
On Tuesday, Murphy appeared on Newsmax, where host Rob Finnerty about work requirements.
“The Congressional Budget Office estimates the work requirement would save around $140 billion over the next 10 years,” Finnerty said. “That’s a lot of money. That’s a good place to start. What does that mean?”
Murphy responded by saying that he believes some of his Medicaid patients should not be on the program.
“I still see patients, so this is very real to me,” the congressman replied. “I see a fair number of individuals who are on Medicaid and I can give you two instances – happened on the same day about six weeks ago in the office. One was a 35-year-old on Medicaid, and he was on disability. And he was no more disabled than you or I. And another one was a 48-year-old woman that was disabled because she couldn’t hear. But she could hear me ask the questions and she had hearing aids in. These are difficult challenges to overcome, but there’s no reason somebody should be on Medicaid disabled and not working.”
“Are you saying that they should both not be on Medicare [sic]?” Finnerty asked.
“Medicaid is the one that that does disabilities,” Murphy responded. “No, I don’t personally think they’re disabled. And I’ve seen this time after time again, working the system. And sometimes physicians, physicians are guilty of putting people on disability who shouldn’t be. And I’ve seen also patients who should be who are not. So, the system really is broken, and thank God we have a president with an attitude towards fixing it.”
Watch above via Newsmax.
