The Ghost of Ronnie: Haley Barbour sees Medicaid Queens

[marmar]

from the WaPo:




Governors differ on extent of flexibility for Medicaid

By Amy Goldstein and Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writers

Sunday, February 27, 2011


Democratic and Republican governors, burdened by crushing budget pressures from Medicaid, said Sunday that federal officials should allow them more freedom to change eligibility rules and other aspects of the public health insurance program for the poor. But they displayed sharp ideological differences over how far such flexibility should go.

After a series of private conversations at the National Governors Association's semiannual meeting over the weekend, leaders of the group formed a bipartisan committee to explore in detail what kind of flexibility over Medicaid the governors can agree to seek from federal health officials.

It remains unclear whether they will be able to forge such common ground, given their partisan disagreements over both Medicaid and the new federal law to reshape the health-care system. "The closer governors get to Washington, the more they start acting like members of Congress," said Oregon Gov. John A. Kitzhaber (D), vice chairman of the NGA's Health and Human Services Committee, referring to the rancorous debate over health care that persists on Capitol Hill.

......(more).....

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) said states should also be free, for instance, to compel Medicaid patients to pay for part of their medicine, saying, "We have people pull up at the pharmacy window in a BMW and say they can't afford their co-payment." ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/27/AR2011022703688.html?wprss=rss_health

[OHdem10]

1. Now they drive BMWS instead of Cadillacs. Oh, Haley how

could you blunder so?

[Johonny]

2. I once saw a squirrel on water ski's

if rodents can afford aquatic gear then we need to stop funding the department of the interior.


I see drug company execs driving BMWs and getting government grants to create new medicines. If they can afford a moderate end car clearly we as a nation shouldn't give them money to create new drugs. Heck I've seen politicians driving even better cars. We should cut their pay too.

[Raine]

3. So what IF they were in BMWs

often people who once could afford a certain type of car hit on hard times and get wiped out due to job loss, illness etc. Doesn't mean that they are scammsters or cheats!

[rfranklin]

4. Pssst! He's just making this shit up...just like Reagan did...

perhaps Reagan had an excuse since he was suffering dementia.

On edit: Apparently there was a case that was the basis for Reagan's story. However, it was a rich woman who owned hundreds of apartments and other property which is why she was able to drive a Cadillac.