After decades of trying to screw up the Medicaid program the GOP may get its wish now that we have a president and the GOP has a strangle-hold on the Congress.
They, the GOP, wants to kill any and all provisions of the ACA…when they are done fucking that up they will turn to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid…..
Let’s start with their plans for Medicaid….”Block Grants”……
It’s called “block granting.” Right now, Medicaid, which was expanded under the 2010 health law to insure more people, covers almost 75 million adults and children. Because it is an entitlement, everyone who qualifies is guaranteed coverage and states and the federal government combine funds to cover the costs. Conservatives have long argued the program would be more efficient if states got a lump sum from the federal government and then managed the program as they saw fit. But others say that would mean less funding for the program —eventually translating into greater challenges in getting care for low-income people.
Block granting Medicaid is a centerpiece of health proposals supported by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Rep. Tom Price, Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services. This weekend, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway emphasized the strategy as key to the administration’s health policy.
Republican plans to transform Medicaid could help set debate on the role of government and entitlements. Here’s an explanation of how it could work.
It all sounds so idyllic…..but the GOP has never been one to really care about the health of others….plus this smells like something other than a “good deal”…..
But as with any health program….there is someone waiting to rape the people/states out of their money.
Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.
Your Ping is much appreciated…thanx….chuq
George W Bush killed Medicaid coverage for mental health in 2002 – the year I closed my 25 year psychiatric practice and moved to New Zealand. I was the last private psychiatrist in Seattle to accept Medicaid clients – due to reimbursement levels that were 1/3 of our usual fee. It’s time to end the charade that Medicaid provides quality medical care for low income patients. Bill Clinton started the major assault against the Medicaid program in 1993 when he championed a bill to shut down the New Deal program Aid to Dependent children and replace it with a workfare program called TANF. Under the new program women and children were required to enroll with private insurance companies – the Federal government hands over to insurance companies the Medicaid money they previously provided the state. The insurance companies, in turn, routinely denies services and pockets the money.
Clinton did a lot of damage as prez…a friend moved to NZ 20 years ago and love it…thanx for the comment….chuq
Whatever provisions for medical care are put in place in any country, there will always be wealthy people who want to pay for ‘something better’. Or to jump queues, be seen in plush offices, or stay in luxurious hospital rooms. As long as Private alternatives exist, the state-funded programmes will always take second place.
Best wishes, Pete.