Posted on 06/30/2012 5:33:56 PM PDT by Lorianne
It's no secret there's a health-care crisis in Texas. The state has the biggest uninsured population in the country with around 6.2 million—or a quarter of all residents—lacking insurance. As a Kaiser Health News report highlighted, poor and uninsured Texans must sometimes wait more than 24 hours in emergency rooms, where treatment is most expensive, while more cost-effective health-care options, like preventative care, are out of reach.
The Affordable Care Act was supposed to change all that. It offered new avenues for health-care coverage to people at all income levels by expanding Medicaid. But yesterday's Supreme Court decision made it optional for states to expand their Medicaid coverage. "There's going to be a donut hole in the middle if a state doesn't proceed," says Edwin Park, vice president for health policy at the D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. In Texas, if the state chooses not to expand its services, almost two million people may be stuck in limbo—without access to Medicaid, but too poor for the subsidies.
First, a little background about the Court's decision: A key element of the ACA was expanding Medicaid to provide insurance for those making up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line; those who make above that amount can receive subsidies to help pay for their insurance. Prior to the ruling, states had little choice but to expand their programs by January 2014; if they did not, they risked losing all their Medicaid dollars. Now, however, the Court has ruled that states can only lose the extra dollars they would get through expansion, meaning they'll keep the Medicaid dollars they're already getting.
(Excerpt) Read more at prospect.org ...
Please know that my stories are not unique. Most, not all, but most physicians, nurses,..try to do the right thing. My lament is for our children and grandchildren. Liberty is very hard to regain once it is lost.
and how many of them are ILLEGALS???
It used to be about health care. But from now on, it will be about votes and who controls the Government.
Somehow, making my health care a political football and slashing repayment to Doctors is supposed to increase the quality of my care.
I’m totally unimpressed with the sophomoric logic of liberal arguments.
I should have included HICFA in my rant. Please add at the appropriate places.
How would they know? She is hired for a bit, paid, and the money is paid back for the billing..how the hell would they know?
We have done the latter...to no avail. Many will not even look at the Xrays and refused to even see her.
So sadly, she waits till she gets on medicare next Feb. What a GD scam this all is.
All we want is to get her hip resurfaced, since they cant do a typical hip joint operation on her. She has had her femur broken twice and it isnt straight enough to get the pin in.
You should see the XRays.
The state has the biggest uninsured population in the country with around 6.2 million—or a quarter of all residents...
I welcome anyone to come down here to South Texas and see just how many ADULT men and women DON’T work. They don’t work because their welfare bennies are worth a hell of lot more than they would ever make if they actually got off their butts and produced some effort to fend for themselves.
Next, drive around all of the hovels they live in (including apartments) and you will quickly notice that these non-working adults have the latest fads in automobiles. How do they do that without working???
The common practice is for them to live in what I call “hives.” Hives consist of the crack dealer boyfriend, his girlfriend with 8 children, the Mommasita and a few cousins. They pool the EBT purchases and sell them to relatives and others who are not on the dole. This process goes on in most of the population down here. Go to the HEB food store here and you will see that about 7 out of 10 are on the dole.
The best thing is that our welfare system is so corrupt and most are related to the local Commandant who runs the local program.....so no one is actually convicted of any wrongdoing or has to worry about an unannounced inspection.
My gut just turns every time some naive bleeding heart starts to whine about the injustice of these poor people being mistreated by those who (1) work for a living and (2) are being raped to pay for these low-life parasites.
The uninsured can move to another state, like, Californication.
Regarding how they would know....you must understand it is a violation of law. If, for example there was a bad outcome, and you and your wife became disgruntled, all it would take is a call to the State Board of Medical Examiners and your physician is under investigation immediately. Or you could call HICFA and initiate an investigation. It is a shame, but it is no longer as simple as trying to help someone in need. It should be, but it is not.
I believe your statement to be true regarding most in the medical profession to try to do the right thing.
To have the ability to cure and heal is a gift.
Being hampered by current and upcoming regulations is a travesty. I fear that a lot of people in the future simply won’t want to spend the time or money to become a doctor or nurse. To the general public’s detriment.
I fear for our children and grandchildren as well. As you have said, liberty lost is hard (if not impossible) to regain. They may never know the liberty we have enjoyed in this country.
Funny thing is the Rats said this would give those uninsured dignity as they would no longer go to the emergency room.
Guess they missed the boat on that one.
Funny thing is the Rats said this would give those uninsured dignity as they would no longer go to the emergency room.
Guess they missed the boat on that one.
Why not make those who don’t have insurance pay a penalty (at the door) when they use the emergency room?
Medicare and Medicaid are not profitable as is. The amount paid by these “insurers” frequently does not cover the cost of care let alone a reasonable profit. The rest of us pick up the difference by paying higher rates to keep docs and hospitals afloat. Medicare and Medicaid patients will not find any practices accepting new patients. Thebpractices literally can’t afford them
Yes, that would explain why this article is pro-Medicaid expansion wouldn’t it?
Is there some rule that I don’t know about that says you can’t go to the doctor if you don’t have health insurance? I actually don’t think there is.
When I was young and occasionally (but rarely) sick, I didn’t go to EMERGENCY. I went to the DOCTOR. Not very often. Certainly not often enough that I would have ever thought that it was something that I needed to get INSURANCE for. Times change. And not for the better.
AMEN!!
Use that state tax money to buy one way bus tickets for those deadbeats to states that do take the bait.
Actually I’d like to see some REAL community “service” at least as a starter, with proportional simultaneous mandatory retirements for public workers. (No duplicity where practical)
Private forced pay and free handouts cannot be reconciled due to the decline of the U.S. manufacturing/industrial base.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.