Trump administrations under-the-radar attack on Medicaid is picking up speed

[Hermit-The-Prog]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/03/06/trump-administrations-under-the-radar-attack-on-medicaid-is-picking-up-speed/?utm_term=.1d8d20c679fe


For now, congressional Republicans appear to have set aside efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Yet, it’s increasingly clear that the Trump administration is doubling down on its attempts to seriously weaken the ACA’s Medicaid expansion by making it more difficult for millions of low-income people to get health coverage. The administration’s strategy is now focused on state waivers, which do not require congressional approval. On Monday, the administration approved a sweeping new waiver in Arkansas that could jeopardize coverage for many low-income adults.

Trump administration officials Mick Mulvaney (budget director) and Seema Verma (administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS) both oppose the Medicaid expansion, and Verma approved state proposals that will make it much harder for many who gained coverage under the expansion to maintain it.

Thus far, the Trump administration has approved three broad, restrictive waivers — in Kentucky, Indiana and now Arkansas. All three waivers include a work requirement that will, for the first time, allow these states to take coverage away from those who aren’t working or participating in work-related activities for a minimum number of hours per month, without providing any new job search assistance, job training, transportation, child care, or other services that could help people find and hold a job. CMS calls this “helping people rise out of poverty and live the American Dream”.

This policy is backward for many reasons.
[...]

[Ohiogal]

1. "Helps people to live the American Dream"???

My God these people are insane! Yeah, threatening to take away someone's health care unless they work 20 hours a week at the Dollar Store ...yeah, boy, that's the American Dream, all right. Lands you right into the Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous!

This whole corrupt and hideously cruel administration is the American NIGHTMARE!

[secondwind]

2. Damn this Administration! Evil, cruel bastards, each and every one of them! 😡

[Marthe48]

3. And don't forget the Medicaid estate recovery

More and more states are going after the patients' assets after they die. Instead of heirs or family getting the assets, the state will file a claim to recover costs related to Medicaid care. My dear mother-in-law passed away in October and as her executor, I just got a letter about it. She paid out her assets on her care before she went on Medicaid, so there is nothing to recover. People should be aware. I had heard that you can sign your property over to someone, but the state will look back 5-10 years. It can affect the patient's amount of Medicaid or what heirs can claim. Medicaid recovery has been legal for many years, but until recently, not many states acted. I imagine in these times, you'll see an state agent come around the funeral home with a pair of pliers and remove the gold teeth from a corpse.