AOC has heated exchange on Medicaid coverage for miscarriage
A tense exchange played out overnight in Washington when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's sparred with House Republicans during a House Energy and Commerce committee meeting over Medicaid.
The fiery debate between Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX) came during a conversation about how the future of Medicaid will play out for people who lose a pregnancy. The proposed Medicaid legislation would allow people who are pregnant or receiving care after a baby's birth to receive Medicaid services without having to be employed. It does not explicitly say people who experience miscarriages will be covered if they do not work.
That didn't sit well with Ocasio-Cortez.
On May 14 around 3 a.m., Ocasio-Cortez argued at the House hearing that people experiencing a miscarriage shouldn't need to be employed to receive Medicaid services.
Weber yielded his time to Ocasio-Cortez seemingly so she could speak to it, encouraging her to speak to him and Republicans instead of the camera.
"Pregnancy is covered, correct?" she said. "I have a question. Given the Dobbs decision and the fact that many women in many states are forced to be –"
Weber then interjected and said he was reclaiming his time.
"I just wanted to make the point that we'd like you to address the Republicans and let's have a dialogue this way and not to a camera," he said.
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Georgia) called on Ocasio-Cortez to stop speaking since her time was up.
Ocasio-Cortez was later heard saying "But what about a miscarriage? ... We don't want (inaudible) for women having miscarriages and bleeding out in parking lots? OK."
She said she was addressing the camera because "there are 13.7 million Americans on the other side of that screen there."
"They deserve to see what is happening here because there are plenty of districts, including Republican ones, where 25 percent of your constituents are on Medicaid, 40 percent of your constituents are on Medicaid," she said.
The heated exchange comes after the Trump administration directed the committee to cut billions from Medicaid, which will result in a sweeping overhaul of the program.
The GOP counsel for the committee later said that people who have miscarriages would be required to work to be covered by Medicaid services unless a loss of pregnancy was defined by their state's definition of "postpartum coverage," POLITICO reported.
Contact Kayla Jimenez at kjimenez@usatoday.com. Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.