GOP plans $1 trillion cut to Medicaid

[one_voice]

House Republicans are planning to cut as much as $1 trillion over 10 years from Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled, when they unveil their fiscal 2012 budget early next month, according to several GOP sources.

Though Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has yet to lock in his final numbers, he made clear to POLITICO in February that he intends to target Medicaid and Medicare for savings. While Medicaid is easiest to win consensus on, Medicare is the biggest debt driver. It’s not yet clear how much Ryan hopes to cut from Medicare, and he and GOP leaders have been reluctant to discuss their plans for the other entitlement behemoth: Social Security. But they’ve made clear that they don’t consider Social Security to be as pressing an issue as Medicare and Medicaid.

The entitlement cuts represent a major battleground for the parties from now through the 2012 election: Democrats are already accusing Republicans of slashing benefits for the neediest Americans, but Republicans say the program needs to be reformed to give states more flexibility in how they use federal dollars — and to rein in the costs for both the federal and state governments, which are swimming in red ink because of health care costs.

To bolster their cause, GOP leaders point to years of requests from governors to reform Medicaid so that their states aren’t on the hook for so much money in the federal-state partnership.

*snip*

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/52314.html#ixzz1ICozns5o

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. *sigh* Of course they do.

[roguevalley]

17. my conservative sister-in-law almost fell out of her chair when I told

her this. Her mom, her sweet blind helpless mom was saved for a decade thanks to medicare and medicaid. She can't believe it. If she feels this way, they have lost everyone.

[rubberducky]

2. Are they in cahoots with funeral directors?

Funerals will become a fast growing industry under these pubbies.

[Newest Reality]

3. We know why they are "swimming in red ink"!

And that article is slanted, IMHO.

[Thunderstruck]

5. A slanted article from Politico? You've gotta be fucking kiddin' me.

[Newest Reality]

6. Oh, that's right!

Sorry. I didn't take that into account. Jumped the gun. ;)

[Rex]

4. FUCK

THEM.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. States are swimming in red ink because they haven't yet squeezed every dime

from the poor and passed it upwards to the rich overlords.

[exboyfil]

8. Biggest driver for Medicaid is Long Term Care

of indigent. Given nursing homes around here cost something like $72k/yr - a $11K/yr voucher is laughable. For my grandmother she is allowed to have no more than $2K in assets (excluding burial account) and gets to keep $50/mo. from her pension and Social Security. That money goes for extras (clothes, haircare, etc).

A large percentage of individuals are going to end up in Long Term Care in this country, and I do not see how society is going to keep up with the expense. The nursing home my grandmother is in is good, but it is nonprofit and has no frills. When you need two individuals to get you out of bed, into the bathroom etc, and they use expensive specialized hoist equipment to perform these functions it is going to be expensive. She even needs assistance to eat.

[demodonkey]

10. I heard stories from nursing home staff that they sometimes have to go to Goodwill...

...and buy used clothing for Medicaid patients because the $50 a month allowance for "extras" was causing some to be without clothes and shoes. These clothing purchases were on the staff's own meager pay but they couldn't stand to see their patients basically being allowed to go naked in hospital gowns, without shoes, etc.

This while nursing home corporate owners become richer by billions. Even most "nonprofits" make money and administrators (not hands-on staff) tend to be paid quite well.

WE NEED COMPREHENSIVE SINGLE-PAYER HEALTHCARE, and healthcare includes long term care that provides dignity for the aged and disabled. In their communities whenever possible, not a corporate (or even a so-called "nonprofit") warehouse.

BTW, that "expensive specialized hoist equipment" is called a patient lift and a basic, useful model can be purchased for around $500 bucks. http://www.phc-online.com/Patient_Lifts_s/45.htm These lifts are also covered by MediCARE when a patient has limited mobility. My mother, who lives at home, needs one and I know how to operate it. Not a big deal if you learn how to do so safely and carefully.

[jillan]

9. Pay your damn taxes you pigs!

[jwirr]

11. " program for the poor and disabled" - I think if anyone took a look

at this program they would rapidly realize that a great deal of the money spent goes to nursing homes for the elderly - not just the poor and disabled who cost less because they mostly live at home. Medicare pays for the first 180 days in a nursing home and then the patient must pay out of his/her own resources until they are depleted. For most Americans these resources cover about 4-5 months. When that is gone they apply for Medicaid and it pays for the rest.

Yet it is to the advantage of the rethugs that it be called the program for the poor and the disabled. That group are easier to hate than grandma.

[demodonkey]

14. Actually, Medicare will pay only up to 100 days in a nursing home...

...and that is ONLY provided the patient is getting ongoing skilled therapy and treatment to improve a health condition(s) and/or prevent deterioration of a patient's condition(s).

My experience is that you have fight like hell for your loved one to keep getting the treatment they need under Medicare. Rather than provide therapy and keep billing Medicare, apparently it is easier for these warehouses (nursing homes) to cut the therapy after a few days or weeks and then try to force the old bags onto Medical Assistance (Medicaid) and let 'em rot.

I could write a book about the absolute hell and agony my family has been through, and is still going through, to get treatment and therapy for disabled (senior and 'regular' aged) loved ones.... and maybe someday I will.

[jwirr]

16. The 180 day rule has changed then. As to the hassle I guess it depends

on the state. I did not have any trouble with either Iowa or Minnesota. However, both were non-profit. That may have made a difference. Sorry they made it so hard on you. My point was that the gop make the "poor and disabled" the scapegoats for the whole cost.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

12. They want us all to die, but when we are all gone, who are they going to get to do all the work?

Back during the plagues, the rich weren't concerned...until it came time to harvest the fields the year after they were over and they had to do it themselves because there was no one else to do it for them...

[Bandit]

13. Remember how much they complained about Democrats taking $500 million from Medicare

in the Health Insurance Reform Bill...Boy Howdy did they squeel. I would bet there are plenty of sound bites still available to play back to them when they introduce their budget proposal..

[Mimosa]

15. Kill the poor. Yes, that is the Christian way... n/t

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

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[Vinca]

19. Some day this country is going to be hit with a terrible epidemic of something

because all people are not guaranteed basic medical care.

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. State Medicaid also has a program which pays Medicare premiums for VERY poor seniors.

You have to meet Medicaid standards, which are pitiful.
So cutting this is one way to cut off Medicare costs..no premium, no insurance, no costs to the program.
And the Regressives know that, full well.