Fighting For Increased Funding for The MED
February 3, 2010
Congressman Cohen has been working with the White House, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebellius, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Congressional Leadership, and his colleagues in Congress to secure increased funding for the hospital. In January, Congressman Cohen raised this issue with President Obama during a question and answer session with House Democrats.
To view the Congressman’s floor speech, click here . The following is Congressman Cohen’s statement as prepared for delivery:
“The President is concerned about health care and jobs, and in my community in Memphis, we need both. Each is represented in The MED, our charity hospital, our community hospital, which is in danger of closing.
“The MED is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in the Mid-South. Because of the cuts to TennCare and the lack of disproportionate share funding for our state, The MED is in danger of closing. While I’d hoped Tennessee would have been given equality with Hawaii, who had their disproportionate share funding addressed in the Senate health care reform bill, that didn’t happen, and now our state is the only one in the nation without a full disproportionate share solution.
“Closing the MED will have a ripple effect throughout the health community and the hospital community and entire Mid-South. In our District it will threaten health care is jobs.
“This administration and our government need to put our economy in the right direction and preserve health care and trauma centers and emergency rooms like The MED.”
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Steven Broderick
Communications Director
Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9)
1005 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Direct: 202-226-7916
Main: 202-225-3265
steven.broderick@mail.house.gov
Issues:Health Care