The Democrats will likely order anyone over 60 to join the Hemlock Society so they can spread the wealth to housing projects.
On Dec 27, 6:22�am, "mike [never forget] 532" <[email protected]> wrote: > The GOP dream of killing �medicare is coming true ! > States Cut Medicaid Coverage Furtherhttp://www.truthout.org/122608E > States from Rhode Island to California are being forced to curtail > Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor, as > they struggle to cope with the deteriorating economy. > > � � With revenue falling at the same time that more people are losing > their jobs and private health coverage, states already have pared > their programs and many are looking at deeper cuts for the coming > year. Already, 19 states - including Maryland and Virginia - and the > District of Columbia have lowered payments to hospitals and nursing > homes, eliminated coverage for some treatments, and forced some > recipients out of the insurance program completely. > > � � Many are halting payments for health-care services no > > � � "It's not a pretty list at all," said Michael Hales, Medicaid > director in Utah. > > � � Medicaid, a central piece of the Great Society safety net created > in the 1960s, is the nation's largest source of government health > insurance. It covered 50 million Americans last year. The program is > a > shared responsibility of the federal government and the states, with > federal money paying an average of 57 percent of the bills and states > providing the rest. > > � � Federal health officials set minimum rules about who can enroll > and what care must be covered, but states are free to add to the > basics. Those optional patients and services are what many states are > rethinking now. > > � � With the program the largest or second-largest expense in every > state's budget, governors and state legislators have been pleading > with Congress and the incoming Obama administration for help. The > Democrats, who hold majorities in the House and the Senate, are > sounding sympathetic for now. They are considering close to $100 > billion to increase the share of Medicaid's costs that the federal > government would pay during the next two years. > > � � President-elect Barack Obama also is open to extra help for > Medicaid as part of a broad strategy to spur the economy. "We are > considering a number of proposals . . . including helping states meet > Medicaid needs; reducing health-care costs; rebuilding our crumbling > roads, bridges and schools; and ensuring that more families can stay > in their homes," said Nick Shapiro, an Obama transition spokesman. > > � � According to a Washington source who is in close contact with > lawmakers, some in Congress also are beginning to entertain the idea > of allowing unemployed people who have lost health benefits to sign > up > for Medicaid, with federal money paying the entire bill. > > � � In the meantime, uncertainty over how much help may come, and > when > it might arrive, is prompting many states to make the biggest > reductions to their Medicaid programs in years - and in some cases, > ever. > > � � Diane Rowland, executive director of the Kaiser Commission on > Medicaid and the Uninsured, said the pressure on Medicaid programs is > particularly acute because the economy has deteriorated so soon after > a milder recession early in the decade. States already "have taken > the > cuts that were making the program more efficient. . . . Now they are > making ... cuts into the core," she said. > > � � Nineteen states and the District have cut Medicaid for the > current > fiscal year, according to a survey this month by Families USA, a > liberal consumer health lobby. All but one, plus six other states, > are > drafting deeper reductions for the coming fiscal year that they hope > to avoid. Florida's Medicaid officials have just handed the governor > and legislature a blueprint for a 10 percent reduction; it would > eliminate coverage for 7,800 18- and 19-year-olds and 6,800 pregnant > women. > > � � Among the states with the gravest financial problems - and > pressures on Medicaid - is California. In July, Medi-Cal, as the > program there is known, slashed by 10 percent the rates it pays > hospitals, nursing homes, speech pathologists and other providers of > health care. It tried to lower payments to doctors and dentists, too, > but they have sued to block the decreases. > > � � Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has asked the state legislature to > approve other cuts, including an end to dental care for adults, about > 1 million of whom use it now, and a sharp reduction in care for > recent > immigrants. > > � � At two hospitals run by NorthBay Healthcare, midway between San > Francisco and Sacramento, about one patient in five is on Medi-Cal. > The rate cuts translate into a $4 million loss this year. In > September, the health system closed a rehabilitation program for > children that provided physical therapy, speech therapy and other > help > to about 300 young patients at a time - with 100 more usually on the > waiting list. > > � � "It was heart-wrenching to have to go out an > > � � The strain has spread through the Washington area. The District's > Medicaid rolls have risen by 5,000 in the past year to nearly > 150,000. > To cope, the District made $20 million worth of changes to the > program > and a separate fund for people who are uninsured, including > postponing > an increase in payments to primary-care doctors. > > � � In Maryland, Medicaid enrollment has jumped by 8 percent in the > past year, and the state has pared $82 million from the program for > this year, reducing planned increases in payments to nursing homes, > managed-care organizations, private nurses and home health aides. > With > a larger state deficit forecast for next year, Gov. Martin O'Malley > (D) is expected to propose deeper cuts in his budget next month, > probably including a lengthy delay of the state's biggest Medicaid > expansion in years: a planned extension of coverage to 100,000 > parents > and other adults. > > � � In October, Virginia eliminated a small fund for indigent > patients. For the coming year, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) has just > proposed $245 million in cuts from the nearly $3.3 billion that the > commonwealth devotes to Medicaid, including reduced payments to > hospitals and new limits on home health care. > > � � Rhode Island's approach has been the most far-reaching to date. > This week, it announced an agreement with U.S. health officials that > would, if the state legislature consents, change the entire financial > basis of the program. The state would forfeit its Medicaid > entitlement > and accept a total of $12 billion in federal money over the next five > years. In exchange, Rhode Island would win uncommon freedom from > federal rules, allowing it to enroll all its Medicaid patients in > managed care, cover less treatment and expand care for elderly > patients at home, instead of in more-expensive nursing homes. > > � � In South Carolina, Medicaid officials last week announced the > third round of cuts since August. They are "real unpleasant stuff," > said Jeff Stensland, spokesman for the state's Department of Health > and Human Services. The program will stop paying for most dental care > for adults, eliminate nutritional supplements, cut home-delivered > meals from 14 a week to seven, curtail mental health counseling, stop > building wheelchair ramps and pay for fewer breast and cervical > cancer > screenings. > > � � Edna McClain, founder of Hospice Care of Tri-County in Columbia, > S.C., helped coax state health officials to expand Medicaid to cover > nursing care and other support for dying patients in the mid-1990s. > > � � She was stunned this month when an e-mail arrived from South > Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services informing her that > as of Jan. 1, Medicaid no longer would pay for new hospice patients. > And after March 31, it would stop covering most people on Medicaid > already in hospice care. > > � � With a $500,000 hole in her budget, she worries about how to care > for low-income hospice patients, including a 47-year-old man whose > weakened body is dangerously retaining fluid as he awaits a liver > transplant. > > � � The day after she received notice from the state, McClain > composed > a letter and fired it off to 107 state legislators. "They can at > least > hear from me," she said. But she knows, she said, her protest is too > late to make a difference. > > � � --------- --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
