**
Dr. Eowyn posted: "Medicaid is pure welfare, as opposed to Medicare that
is at least partially funded by FICA. Medicaid was always intended to take
care of the downtrodden and unfortunate but has now ballooned into health
care for all. Obamacare expands the Medicaid roll" Respond to this post
by replying above this line
New post on *Fellowship of the Minds*
<http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/author/eowyn2/> 16 states begin
rationing Medicaid prescription
drugs<http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/16-states-begin-rationing-medicaid-prescription-drugs/>by
Dr. Eowyn <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/author/eowyn2/>
Medicaid is pure welfare, as opposed to Medicare that is at least partially
funded by FICA. Medicaid was always intended to take care of the
downtrodden and unfortunate but has now ballooned into health care for all.
Obamacare expands the Medicaid rolls by shoving more people onto the public
dime. Medicaid alone is now responsible for a quarter of many State budgets
and continues to financially drain federal and state government coffers at
an alarming rate. Worst of all, just like Medicare, Medicaid distorts the
insurance market, driving medical prices up for every single individual. [
Source<http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-mitt-romneys-selection-paul-ryan-sign-desperation>
]
But state governments aren't stupid. Already strapped for cash, with some
state governments in undeclared bankruptcy, 16 states have taken preemptive
action by trying to contain Medicaid costs via rationing the program's
prescription drugs.
<http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/meet-your-new-primary-physician1.jpg>
Melanie Hunter reports
for<http://cnsnews.com/news/article/rationing-begins-states-limiting-drug-prescriptions-medicaid-patients>CNSNews.com,
July 30, 2012:
Sixteen states have set a limit on the number of prescription drugs they
will cover for Medicaid patients, according to Kaiser Health
News<http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2012/July/25/medicaid-cuts-sidebar.aspx>
.
Seven of those states, according to Kaiser Health News, have enacted or
tightened those limits in just the last two years.
Medicaid is a federal program that is carried out in partnership with state
governments. It forms an important element of President Barack Obama's
health-care plan because under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act--AKA Obamcare--a larger number of people will be covered by Medicaid,
as the income cap is raised for the program.
With both the expanded Medicaid program and the federal subsidy for
health-care premiums that will be available to people earning up to 400
percent of the poverty level, a larger percentage of the population will be
wholly or partially dependent on the government for their health care under
Obamacare than are now.
In Alabama, Medicaid patients are now limited to one brand-name drug, and
HIV and psychiatric drugs are excluded.
Illinois has limited Medicaid patients to just four prescription drugs as a
cost-cutting move, and patients who need more than four must get permission
from the state.
Speaking on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal on Monday, Phil Galewitz, staff
writer for Kaiser Health News, said the move “only hurts a limited number
of patients.”
“Drugs make up a fair amount of costs for Medicaid. A lot of states have
said a lot of drugs are available in generics where they cost less, so they
see this sort of another move to push patients to take generics instead of
brand,” Galewitz said.
“It only hurts a limited number of patients, ‘cause obviously it hurts
patients who are taking multiple brand name drugs in the case of Alabama,
Illinois. Some of the states are putting the limits on all drugs. It’s
another place to cut. It doesn’t hurt everybody, but it could hurt some,”
he added.
Galewitz said the move also puts doctors and patients in a “difficult
position.”
“Some doctors I talked to would work with patients with asthma and
diabetes, and sometimes it’s tricky to get the right drugs and the right
dosage to figure out how to control some of this disease, and just when
they get it right, now the state is telling them that, ‘Hey, you’re not
going to get all this coverage. You may have to switch to a generic or find
another way,’” he said.
Arkansas, California, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi,
North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West
Virginia have all placed caps on the number of prescription drugs Medicaid
patients can get.
“Some people say it’s a matter of you know states are throwing things up
against the wall to see what might work, so states have tried, they’ve also
tried formularies where they’ll pick certain brand name drugs over other
drugs. So states try a whole lot of different things. They’re trying
different ways of paying providers to try to maybe slow the costs down,”
Galewitz said.
“So it seems like Medicaid’s sort of been one big experiment over the last
number of years for states to try to control costs, and it’s an ongoing
battle, and I think drugs is just now one of the … latest issues. And it’s
a relatively recent thing, only in the last 10 years have we really seen
states put these limits on monthly drugs,” he added.
*~Eowyn*
*Dr. Eowyn <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/author/eowyn2/>* |
August 14, 2012 at 8:39 am | Tags: Kaiser Health
News<http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?tag=kaiser-health-news>,
Obamacare <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?tag=obamacare>, Phil
Galewitz <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?tag=phil-galewitz> |
Categories: Health Care <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=20052>,
Obama <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=376320>, United
States<http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=5850>,
Welfare <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=35261655> | URL:
http://wp.me/pKuKY-g9n
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