Memo to Matt Gouras, writer of the article: You need to explain to your headline writer the difference between Medicaid and Medicare.
Posted on 01/28/2005 8:33:39 PM PST by SmithL
NASHVILLE -- A judge Friday blocked Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen from removing 323,000 adults from the state's expanded Medicaid program, cuts the governor says are necessary to keep the roughly $8 billion program from bankrupting the state.
The state said it was immediately appealing U.S. District Court Judge William J. Haynes' decision to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"The federal courts do not have the right nor the power to dictate the fiscal policy of the state of Tennessee," Dave Goetz, state finance and administration commissioner, said in a news release. "This is an emotional and difficult enough process without the federal courts inserting themselves in a state matter."
The ruling comes days before Bredesen is expected to release his budget for the coming year, a budget that relied on saving hundreds of millions of dollars in TennCare. Bredesen has blamed earlier federal court settlements for raising the cost of the program.
The governor's plan would end coverage for working poor adults who make more than the Medicaid cutoff, but retain it for more than 100,000 children whose families fall in that range. Remaining adults would face prescription limits and other benefit caps.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
This should have always been the case, but becomes more so each day. Judges decisions that set tax and spend policies should not be appealed. That is wasting tax dollars on nonsense. Judges who set tax and spend policies from the bench should simply be ignored. People responsible for implementing the policies should not even waste time reading the judges decisions.
Bredensen could try to be helpful by finding out where the judge lives and getting for him the work phone number af the judge's representative. He could suggest the judge give the representative a call if he has any suggestions about a direction the law should move.
I don't think that's right. It would be better stated as "Tenncare currently covers over 1 million poor, disabled and uninsured Tennesseans, and probably around a quarter of million parasites and con artists." People have flocked from all over the nation to take advantage of TennCare's generous coverage and lax checking on eligibility.
The Judiciary is getting very close to the edge......
Amen!
"Judges who set tax and spend policies from the bench should simply be ignored"
You took the words out of my mouth. Unless there's some firm legal basis for his decision, the clown needs to be impeached (and ignored).
Is this what liberalism has become? A bunch of dictators who wear robes?
Since when does a federal judge tell the Governor of a sovereign state what, or what not, to do about a state's budget?
The federal judiciary has now taken upon itself the mantle of overseer of what an elected governor may,or may not, do in his own office.
Governor Bredesen should tell this arrogant judge to keep his nose out of state politics. The people of Tennessee didn't elect a judge to rule over them.
Kindly peruse my tagline.
Memo to Matt Gouras, writer of the article: You need to explain to your headline writer the difference between Medicaid and Medicare.
This is a state issue...not a federal issue. This is the one part about US law that I totally disagree with. For a federal judge to step into this...he needs authority to approve or deny the state budget and veto cost over-runs...which the judge does not have. What this joker is setting into place...is a massive tax bill to be handed to the state population...every adult in the state will likely have to cough up $500 in tax revenue to help them get through 12 months of this garbage. If this was a federally forced program...fine, but its not. It was a state "experiment" that failed...simple but sweet.
Pull the plug on TennCare. Go back to Medicaid. That's what Bredesen first proposed, then I think he got scared it was political suicide. Why should Tennessee provide more than the Federal Government does? I've never understood it.
HillaryCare. Coming soon, to a State where you live.
Denny Crane: "I want two things. First God and then Fox News."
Denny Crane: "I want two things. First God and then Fox News."
Medicaid is a joint federal state program. The federal government splits the costs even as to medical care that the states add in. Consequently, the entire program is subject to federal law and potential federal administrative and judicial review. I am not saying that is what ought to be, only that is how the program is organized and what federal courts have consistently held about their power over it -- and without Congress saying otherwise.
The sordid truth of Medicaid is that it is loaded with fraud, waste, and dishonest practices, most of which are insulated from scrutiny by the complexity of the program and the rationale that poor people ultimately benefit. Somehow, when hospitals and doctors call for expanded Medicaid, most everyone is eager to see them as noble knights of medicine battling against illness among the poor -- even when their Medicaid contracts provide for lush reimbursements, and especially so for complex medical procedures and treatments that are commonly barred under all but the most expensive private insurance.
There are many hard pressed taxpayers -- and many affluent doctors and health provider executives who would see their standards of living fall if Medicaid were pruned back for the sake of those taxpayers. You do not think this is fair? Dear taxpayer, are you so greedy and cruel as to deny the poor all the health care that the best doctors can provide -- even when those millions of those poor are here illegally from Mexico?
And don't forget granny's Medicare and prescription drug benefit. Of course, the Devil take the hindmost when today's young retire. Benefits will have to be cut back and there will be a crushing load of debt and taxes required to pay for the past cost of Medicaid and other welfare state programs.
But don't forget there are folks who quality for both programs :)
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