"State Facing Huge Deficit on Medicaid"

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, D-1, Nov. 30, 2001 | Jim Tharpe

[SteamshipTime]

Mr. Tharpe:

According to your article, the State of Georgia is fighting to keep a funding loophole open to avoid losing "$240 million in enhanced [federal Medicaid] payments." This is necessary, according to the State, because it is already having to request "$320 million in additional Medicaid funding to provide existing services for the remainder of [July 2001 - July 2002]."

Further on, we read that "Georgia's $3.4 billion Medicaid program continues to grow. The number of Georgia recipients has nearly doubled to 1.2 million since 1990."

Did I read that right? $3.4 billion? For 1.2 million people? That's $2.833 million per person. Per year. Enough to pay $7,700 in medical expenses. Per person. Per day.

And yet, the State says it urgently needs another $320 million for the remaining 240 days of its fiscal year. Or, stated another way, one point three hundred and thirty three million big ones. Per person. Per day.

And that's just the State of Georgia.

The conclusions to draw from from this are too obvious to bother listing.

[SteamshipTime]

This is the text of an E-mail I sent to the AJC reporter who wrote this story. P.J. O'Rourke has a good quote for this sort of thing, but this is a pro-family forum.

[Daus]

Wow. And I thought I had trouble with math. Try $2,883 per person which is pretty typical in these state programs.

[SteamshipTime]

Nope. 3,400,000,000 dollars (that's billion) divided by 1,200,000 people (that's million) equals $2,833,333 (as in million dollars).

[Daus]

You just keep working on that.... I'll check back later. OK, no I won't.

[Uncle Fud]

Sorry Steamship, you're still wrong. The way my daddy used to divide those big numbers was to strike out an equal number of zeroes:

$3,400,000,000 for 1,200,000 people

there are five zeroes in 1,200,000 so strike five zeroes on each side to give

$34,000 for 12 people which should pretty obviously lead to $2,800 and change per head.

[SteamshipTime]

Well?

[Daus]

I think he's working of 3 billion billions? Who knows. :)

[Daus]

Trust me on this one. Step away from the keyboard and don't come back till you get a calculator. :)

[SteamshipTime]

Thanks folks. I'll go crawl under my rock now. Jim, please pull this thread so I can show my face in decent company. In about a year or so.

[harrowup]

S'okay, steamer. I is a liberal and I says I likes yur math...and don't take no abuse from dat dirty capitalist pig DausFoot...he refuses to feed starving children in the first three grades...so they'll eat less when they grow into welfare queens.