Senator Tom A. Coburn, M.D.Medicaid VIDEO

SERVICE MEMBERS HOME OWNERSHIP TAX ACT OF 2009 MOTION TO PROCEED. Text From the Congressional Record. Mr. COBURN. Probably not. But the Senator sparks one question. Think about this, and I have experienced this as a physician. I care for patients and they lose their job, they have a financial catastrophe, and all of a sudden they become dependent on Medicaid. We continue to see those patients. But do you know what normally happens?

You lose your insurance, you loss your job, you come on hard times and go on Medicaid. You can't go back to the doctor you had before because they are not taking new Medicaid patients. So somebody you have been with for 15 years, all of a sudden you can't get back in because they are not going to pay enough for them to care for you. It is a discriminatory system that says we will send you down the line.

That doesn't mean there are not truly caring physicians in this country, but it has to be said, outside of pediatrics, if you want to look at quality parameters, the Medicaid population ends up going to the less-qualified, the less-experienced, the less-good-outcome physicians in this country.

The video and text of the congressional proceedings are in the public domain.