This issue really sets me off
The Kentucky "work requirements" for Medicaid
When are these arrogant Republican politicians going to get it through their thick heads that making poor, chronically ill, and in some cases, uneducated, people, jump through all these complicated hoops and keep up with complicated paperwork, isn't going to help anyone? Is it their goal to make it so complicated that these folks will just give up rather than try to navigate all the new requirements and restrictions? Don't they realize not everyone has online access, smartphones, or transportation? Cutting you off for six months if you miss your premium payment? I thought Republicans abhorred the idea of government red tape and paperwork, Oh, unless it's to punish poor people who just want to see a doctor.
You have to accrue "rewards dollars" just to get your teeth cleaned or your vision checked? This isn't healthcare, this is punishment and unnecessary bureaucratic nonsense. I wish these arrogant Republicans would come out of their towers some time, go to a low-income health care clinic, and actually see what kind of people are in need.
And, stop calling it "reshaping" Medicaid. Call it what it is ... Republican bullshit for the poor!!!!
************
From the New York Times
On a recent rainy Monday, Bill Wagner, who runs primary care clinics in poor neighborhoods here, listened tensely as a state health official explained how the state would enforce the complex and contentious new rules.
The 20 hours a week of work, job training or volunteering? Ten regional work force boards will monitor who complies, said the official, Kristi Putnam.
The monthly premiums of $1 to $15 that many will now owe? The managed care companies that contract with the state will collect them.
The “rewards dollars” that many will need to earn to get their teeth cleaned or their vision checked? They’ll be tracked through a new online platform, where Medicaid recipients will also be expected to upload their work, volunteer or training hours.
“I know it sounds a little bit complicated,” Ms. Putnam conceded as the group meeting with her, which has overseen efforts to enroll Louisville residents in health insurance in the Obamacare era, jotted notes. Someone heaved a sigh.
While the work requirement is unprecedented in the history of Medicaid, Mr. Wagner and others say they’re just as concerned about other new rules that will be confusing and hard to follow. For example, many adults who don’t pay their small premiums can be locked out of Medicaid for six months, unless they complete a financial or health literacy course. Others will lose access to dental and vision care.
For Kimberly Dandridge, who overcame breast cancer and addiction to crack cocaine earlier in her life, Medicaid is a bridge while she works toward a job that comes with benefits. Ms. Dandridge, 53, works 30 hours a week as an administrative assistant, and said she would have no trouble meeting the premium and work requirements — but could relate to those who might.
“I remember there was a time I was just down, in the gutter, so low and broken,” she said. “If people like that need medical attention, just let them get it.”
Please read the whole article!
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/health/kentucky-medicaid-work-requirement.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
= new reply since forum marked as read
Being a Republican means promising Tax cuts ( which are actually only for the top 1%, the middle class is going to eventually lose out).
which means Budget cuts.
which means less money going to Federal programs like Welfare, etc.
which means more people not qualifying for these programs.
which means more people doing without the basic necessities.
which means more people dying from inadequate housing, food, clothing, medicine.
which means a change in the voting base and Republicans get elected more often.
which means everyone in the middle class and below are screwed from the starting point.
The loathing the Republicans have in giving aid to the poor is not unlike the attitude during the Great Famine in Ireland. The English could not bring themselves to give direct aid, as in providing food for a starving nation because of basic ideology: relying on government was a bad, bad thing and would weaken the Irish people's ability to be self-reliant (better dead than dependent sort of thing). And besides, it was bad for free trade. There was also more than a touch of bigotry involved with these decisions.
Remedy?
Hand out shovels and build roads to nowhere. The Irish workers could then eat though many died in the process. But they died knowing they earned their supper.
Tying basic healthcare benefits to work is no less cruel or wrong-headed. There's a basic disregard for the poor, the down and outers, and more than a touch of bigotry involved. Not simply race but class-related bigotry. Poverty is viewed through a moral lens, a self-inflicted condition. We hear it all the time: the poor want everything for free, they don't want to work, they won't get off their lazy asses, they're all drug addicts, yada, yada.
Same old, same old.
You don't need to be a bleeding heart liberal to know that a starving person or someone in ill health (regardless of cause) is not going to have the energy to work any job effectively. This decision is just to underscore the Republican viewpoint that anyone in need is merely a moocher and by withdrawing the safety nets and/or requiring work, poverty will magically vanish. Poof!
No. What will happen is what happened in Ireland 150+ years ago. The bodies will start piling up.
Whatever's old is new again. Some people never learn. And then, some people have no interest in learning.
Response to Ohiogal (Original post)