The Republican’s new plan for Medicaid patients – Bootstrap or die
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Another reminder that the GOP’s hatred for poor people of all races runs a close second to their racism and xenophobia. And the party is becoming less subtle about it every day.
But remember – Class warfare is only waged when people object to tax cuts for billionaires!
After allowing states to impose work requirements for Medicaid enrollees, the Trump administration is now pondering lifetime limits on adults’ access to coverage.
Capping health care benefits — like federal welfare benefits — would be a first for Medicaid, the joint state-and-federal health plan for low-income and disabled Americans.
If approved, the dramatic policy change would recast government-subsidized health coverage as temporary assistance by placing a limit on the number of months adults have access to Medicaid benefits.
It’s all too easy to imagine King Kumquat and his Kourtiers discussing how soon they can kick people off Medicaid for failing to stop being poor or in need of health care. However, it is incredibly generous to assume that they would think months of coverage is acceptable.
“We must allow states, who know the unique needs of their citizens, to design programs that don’t merely provide a Medicaid card but provide care that allows people to rise out of poverty and no longer need public assistance,” said a statement posted on Twitter on Monday by Medicaid administrator Seema Verma.
How does someone conclude that access to medical care through Medicaid causes poverty? That’s the wrong question. No one in this administration thinks being able to receive affordable, appropriate medical care keeps anyone poor. Some, like the DOPUS may not have given it any thought, but that’s because he doesn’t give a fuck.
However, it is the sort of thing that the press will dutifully copy down when Republicans put on their Solemn No Really We’re not Fucking Over the Poor We Want to Help Them Faces and repeat it.
Then other people who hate poor people will read it and nod, even though two picoseconds of reflection would tell any semi-demi-quasi-intelligent being that the No Health Care = Less Poverty is a very thin layer of bullshit designed to satisfy people who are looking for ways to attack people who are poor, but don’t want to be too obvious about it.
Meanwhile, it is time to call state representatives and governors and say No to this bullshit.
At least five states — Arizona, Kansas, Utah, Maine and Wisconsin — are seeking waivers from the Trump administration to impose lifetime Medicaid coverage limits. The Department of Health and Human Services said it could not comment on the pending applications.
This fact sheet from Kaiser Family Foundation helps illustrate the impact this could have in each state.
This one gives a breakdown of non-elderly Medicaid recipients by state and race.
When the whites who support the GOP in those states express reservations about a three week limit on their health insurance, the GOP will flip back to their We Have to Burn Down the House to Chase out the Blahs message. When poor whites continue to object, they’ll ignore them and do it anyway.
