Something a certain person said last year after they ended their presidential run has really stuck with me, as I also believe a government has a responsibility to its people.
We live in a Robin Hood world. I don’t find what you call Robin Hood objectionable … the question is how much Robin Hood.”
— Howard Dean, speaking in Rockland County about school aid reform (Albany Times Union, 12/3/04)
From what I understand, the federal government is turning the financing of Medicaid over to the states. This is in addition to the huge amount each state must send in to the Federal government for the new Medicare bill which starts in 2006.
Perhaps we should remember this is happening in part because of the tax cuts and tax shelters for the wealthiest among us. These are only 3 states in my diary, there are others in which it is occurring right now: Pennsylvania, Texas, Mississippi. Still others.
A New and Heavy Burden: Missouri and Medicaid
A New and Heavy Burden
“Tim…has neuroblastoma, a cancer that strikes young cells that were destined to become part of the body’s nervous system. Tammy’s health insurance from her cashier’s job at Moser’s Discount Foods in Columbia covers only part of the treatment. The family’s Medicaid benefits cover most of the remaining costs, which sometimes total $5,500 a month. But those benefits could soon end.
The Missouri legislature, responding to a proposal by Gov. Matt Blunt, is cutting 90,000 Missourians from Medicaid rolls and reducing benefits for many more. Tim and his family might or might not be among them. They’ve found getting a straight answer is not always easy.
TennCare: A Ripple Effect (and a human face on it)
“For two years, Brenda Derryberry, 61, has been glad to pay TennCare $600 a month for health insurance, including co-pays for medicine.”
“She has a serious heart condition, diabetes and a bad back, among other ailments, and she takes 21 different prescription drugs a day. The medicine alone would cost her $1,000 a month without insurance.
She is among 67,000 ”uninsurable adults” on the TennCare rolls, at least for now. The state said it is cutting those folks to help rein in the program’s staggering costs of $8.7 billion a year. Unless Derryberry can qualify as a ”medically needy” enrollee, she appears certain to lose her insurance. And the ”medically needy” category is no sure thing. A federal court will ultimately decide the TennCare fate of those 97,000 adults.”
And of course in Jeb’s Florida, another heartless cut.
Mentally ill face Medicaid cuts, AHCA limits drugs prescribed
Taking the Mentally ill off their prescriptions
“Zoloft, Paxil, Zyprexa.
These pills commonly taken for depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar disease did not make the recommended list of prescription drugs available to the 2.2 million Floridians on Medicaid.
Because of legislation passed this spring, Medicaid patients with mental illnesses for the first time are subject to limits on which medications they can be prescribed.”
That same former candidate also said:
The Republicans are the reverse Robin Hood party — steal from the poor and give to the rich —
And that is happening right now.
