House Dems Demand Answers On Why GOP Govs Rejected Medicaid Expansion

[cal04]

Source: TPM

House Democrats are demanding that some Republican governors, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry, provide the documents behind their decision to reject Obamacare's Medicaid expansion.

House Oversight ranking member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) sent requests Wednesday to Perry, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) and North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R).

“In order to better understand the basis for your opposition, I request that you provide ... copies of any state-specific analyses, studies, or reports that you ordered, requested or relied on to inform your decision,” Cummings said in the letters.

(snip)
"In contrast to your Republican colleagues," he continued, "you have strongly opposed expanding Medicaid for the constituents of your state, stating: 'It's like putting 1,000 more people on the Titanic when you know what was going to happen."



Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/house-dems-gop-governors-medicaid-expansion-letters

[RKP5637]

1. Since most of them pull stuff outta their ass, it might be hard to read!

[Duval]

6. They can hire a

proctologist to help them read out of their butts! Now that shouldn't be so hard, since our NC Gov is a perfect A-hole anyway.

[mindwalker_i]

23. Yeah it would be just like

having your palm read, except, not.

[hue]

28. They're enforcing an ultrasound wand for Womens' vaginas, I think a proctoscope for each Repuke

may be fair!

[McCamy Taylor]

2. They want to know how much Kochs money Perry's presidential campaign was promised

if he would reject the Medicaid expansion.

[Uben]

3. Dumbases don't call themselves dumbasses.....

...they just go through the motions of being a dumbasses. So, I doubt they hear a word from the igno-governors.

[Indydem]

4. Unfunded Liability

The federal government does not guarantee funding for the program in perpetuity, therefore, it is forcing a liability onto the states that some states do not want to endure.

This is just one, among many, of the problems with the original bill. If it had funded the expansion at 100% the SCOTUS could not have given the states the option to opt out.

Or, you know, if we'd just gotten single payer.

[savalez]

7. 10% is not too shabby.

The 100 percent match rate from the federal government will decrease after the first three years: in 2017, the federal government will pay 95 percent of the cost, and in 2020, the federal government will cover only 90 percent of the bill.

That's a lot of federal dollars coming into the state. Some hospitals will actually close without it. That's how bad things had become before the ACA.

[Indydem]

9. And what of 2021?

The problem is that it wasn't funded at 100% forever, so the states fear (rightly or wrongly) that they will end up picking up the tab.

The problem is with the bill it is a piece of shit.

[Scuba]

11. Yeah, we'd hate to help people for only seven years. Better to not help them at all.

[savalez]

13. My understanding of the law

is that it will stay at 90% from 2020 on.

Under the Affordable Care Act, states that cover the new adult group in Medicaid will have 100 percent of the costs of newly eligible Americans paid for by the federal government in 2014, 2015, and 2016. The federal government’s contribution is then phased-down gradually to 90 percent by 2020, and remains there permanently.

source: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2013pres/03/20130329a.html

[Indydem]

16. So if a republican house/senate/president get elected.

And pass a budget cutting the funding for the medicaid expansion to 0, the states can't just cancel the program. They will be on the hook for it.

Should have been single payer. Problem solved.

[savalez]

17. Wouldn't the same group of

repukes (house/senate/president) have the ability to end single payer?

[Indydem]

22. Well, there have been many occasions of republican control

of both houses and the white house.

Have they ended Social Security? Medicare? Medicaid?

Once you start a program, it is essentially impossible to end it.

ACA is essentially a package of rules and subsidies. There is no program to it. They can (and will) end it if they regain control.

[savalez]

26. Seems to me that's why

Red States do not want to expand medicare. If they do, and then threaten to take it away, they'll never get re-elected. My guess is that's why scrotus made it optional, they were throwing repukes a lifeline. The ACA is helping a lot of people.

[atreides1]

31. No they haven't ended those three programs

Because those Republicans weren't as batshit crazy as the current bunch of drooling idiots that seem to be able to get elected by brain dead, knuckle dragging, religious fanatics!

And that's the difference!

[QuestForSense]

41. So very true!

[EC]

24. That 90% is still

better than the 100% they are paying now without the extension.

[savalez]

27. Yup.

Not only will the State save money, expanding Medicare translates to a lot of new money funneled into its economy.

[SunSeeker]

32. It is not a bill, it is the law. And it's saving thousands of lives.

What is a "piece of shit" are the Republican governors letting their poor people die, not the ACA.

Calling a law that is saving thousands of American lives a "piece of shit" says more about you than the law.

[riqster]

38. If it isn't perfect, it's shit.

At least, that's the rationale of such posters.

"Here, I got you a pony".

"Waaaaaah, I wanted a unicorn! This pony is a piece of shit!"

The idea of incremental progress is anathema to them. Sad.

[1StrongBlackMan]

36. That seems a fallacious argument ...

At worst, in 2021, the non-expanding states will be faced with insuring the same set of poor that they HAD BEEN insuring, with 100% state dollars, prior to the ACA.

Or at least that's what convinced Brewer (here in AZ) to buck her party and move to expand.

[dotymed]

10. FREE HEATHCARE FOR ALL

should be a constitutionally guaranteed right.
Anything less is sick.
Our constitution already guarantees the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," which has been twisted into "just for the wealthy."
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren would change that.

[Archae]

14. But donchu know?

The umpty-billion $$$ hangar queen F-35 is WAYYYYY more important than health care...

[tclambert]

21. But, but poor people might benefit! That's so unfair to the rich.

If poor people want better health care, they should just become rich. It's really easy. Just get born to rich parents.





because I just read about Poe's law.

[lark]

18. That's their excuse, but it's lame.

They could always cancel it after 10 years, but instead will let the poor get sick, have bad health, lose productivity amd pay, and in same cases die young, rather than taking care of them now.

Scott actually put the Medicaid expansion in the budget, but Repug (non health affiliated) legislators voted it down. Scott knew his wife's company would make a killing from the expansion and would hurt without it, so he was in favor of it for personal reasons only. No compassion there, that's for sure.

[pnwmom]

34. You -- and they -- are ignoring the fact that the 10% was supposed to be obtained

from the savings they would have by not needing to reimburse hospitals for routine care obtained via expensive emergency room visits.

And that even if that were NOT the case, it's an incredibly good deal to get 9 federal dollars back for every 1 dollar you are willing to pay.

[cheapdate]

42. Change "...the 10% was supposed to be obtained"

to "...the 10% WILL be obtained several times over from the savings resulting from the elimination of un-reimbursed emergency room visits."

[Bandit]

5. I wonder if the Governors are actually required to respond to this inquiry?

[Archae]

15. Bush and Cheney and their cronies set the standard...

"A subpoena? So?"

[LannyDeVaney]

8. Because of reasons ...

specifically, black reasons.

[Scuba]

12. We all know the answer to this one: Spite.

[vkkv]

19. Go Elijah !!

THANK YOU!

[tclambert]

20. Reckless endangerment and/or depraved indifference resulting in death? Can't they be charged

with manslaughter or second degree murder?

NOT sarcasm. People will die because of these assholes acting like assholes. Real people. American citizens. They will die because of the actions of these depraved individuals. In Texas alone, it could result in a few thousand needless deaths every year. And they know it. It's deliberate. Somebody should file charges.

[Fred Sanders]

25. Fox News experts told them what to do, or else no media coverage for them.

[hue]

29. Repukes do as they are told, according to the 1%'ers' playbook! Wanker included!

I don't see Scotty Wanker's name there but he did the same thing. I doubt he has the capacity to think at all for himself...

[valerief]

30. And the request will be ignored like a subpoena. nt

[1StrongBlackMan]

39. And that's the beauty of this trap ...

especially going into the election cycle ... Cummings, already has the data on states with Democratic Governors, so Ignore the request and the campaign ad writes itself placing the blame and harm, squarely on conservatives ... where it belongs.

[1StrongBlackMan]

33. There are two Black Men in D.C., that ...

folks really should fear, when it becomes clear that you are in their sights ... President Obama and Elijah Cummings. These are two masterful strategist/tacticians. {ETA: I've thrown in the "Black men" part because as Maher observed about Tyson ... it hurts conservatives to have to face the fact that they are being bested by a Black person(s) that are clearly smarter than they.}

First:

He specifically asked for how much funding the states would forgo by rejecting Medicaid expansion, how much the states themselves would have had to pay, how many jobs would have been created with Medicaid expansion, and how many residents would have to forgo "preventive services and other medicare care" without expansion.

and, this:

At the same time, Cummings asked three Republican governors who decided to accept Medicaid expansion -- Arizona's Jan Brewer, Ohio's John Kasich and New Jersey's Chris Christie -- for the same kind of information, to help explain why they did elect to adopt a key provision of Obamacare.

It must be really scary to see the trap and know that it is a trap; but, see no way not to step in it. Any reply, and even no reply, will leave a huge mark. The request of the obstructing Governors will produce evidence that their actions are purely partisan; but more damaging, are actually HURTING their citizenry. And the request of the expanding Governors will prove the point, beyond question.

[calimary]

35. TAKE IT to them!!!!

MAKE THEM justify. MAKE THEM show and tell. MAKE THEM explain. PUT THEM ON THE RECORD. FORCE THEM TO DEFEND THESE SHITTY POSITIONS!!!!! FORCE THEM TO EXPLAIN THEMSELVES to ALL the voters they're personally hurting. And FORCE them to do it on OUR TERMS and using OUR LANGUAGE and OUR FRAMING.

GO. ON. OFFENSE!!!!!

[DallasNE]

37. Good For Cummings

But I'm betting that every GOP Governor will ignore his letter.

[1StrongBlackMan]

40. Probably so ...

but Cummings already has the data from the expanding states with Democratic Governors.

[blkmusclmachine]

43. Good luck getting any (honest) answers from the lying dogs over at GOP Central!