HHS Sebelius Throws the Poor Under the Bus

In order to "help" states save money when Obamacrap expands the Medicaid roles by 16 million people, HHS Sebelius gave states the right to cut benefits as a cost saving measure.

The folks at New York Times give us this tidbit.

While state Medicaid programs must cover hospital and doctors’ services, Ms. Sebelius said, many other services are classified as optional. The optional services, she said, include prescription drugs, physical therapy, respiratory care, optometry services and eyeglasses, dental services and dentures.

I am all about saving money, and while one may argue that any medical service is a necessity, I would submit that dental and speech are nice benefits but not totally necessary. There are plenty of people with full time jobs that don't have dental or vision insurance.

As for eliminating coverage for prescription drugs, one has to wonder why seniors on Medicare were given a drug benefit in 2006 after going for years without one, and now Medicaid says poor people will have to buy their own meds.

Given the way Medicare Part D (prescription drug coverage) operates, I fail to see that as a real benefit for most but I also realize some will disagree.

But I have to question the logic behind improving benefits to seniors for Medicare Part D while cutting benefits for the same coverage when it comes to the poor. Is Washington now deciding who is more deserving of prescription drug coverage?

“Just 1 percent of all Medicaid beneficiaries account for 25 percent of all expenditures,” Ms. Sebelius said, and 5 percent of the recipients account for more than half of Medicaid spending.

Well there you go.

Find those 1 and 5 percenters and kick them off the plan.

Seriously, those numbers are not just indigenous to Medicaid. You will find similar inequities in any health insurance program for individuals under the age of 65.

In addition, Ms. Sebelius said, states could save large sums by reducing premature births and medically unnecessary Caesarean sections, by reducing hospital admissions and by using proven techniques to improve the care of children with asthma.

I can't speak for other states, but over half of all births in Georgia are paid for by taxpayer dollars through the Medicaid program. Many of those are unmarried females under the age of 20.

Many who deliver here under Medicaid are not US citizens and they pay little if any taxes.

As difficult as these decisions may be, the few that actually do pay taxes in this country cannot continue providing unlimited medical care for anyone in this country legally or otherwise.