U.S. Gives Florida a Sweeping Right to Curb Medicaid

The compassionate conservative plan gives you no right to ANY level of health care - from now on the government will allot a specific dollar amount for each person needing Medicaid (50 million at last count) and when that runs out for the predicted 5% (could be much higher) of the poor population, 2.5 million people minimum, "you're on your own -If you die, you die", as the Bush folks bring "predictability to Medicaid spending" and reduce Medicaid's rate of growth.

For each beneficiary, Florida pays a monthly premium to a private plan which then limits "the amount, duration and scope" of services so as to make a profit. If a recipient does not choose a private plan, the person will be automatically enrolled in one that the state selects. Medicaid recipients can "opt out" of Medicaid altogether and receive subsidies to help pay the employee's share of the premium for employer-sponsored health insurance, giving up Medicaid limits on co-payments and deductibles - sort of a WalMart health plan. A totally inadequate pool of money will be set aside to pretend to offset the cost of hospitals and other health care providers treating "uninsured" people.

Every industrialized nation in the world has a better and CHEAPER plan for taking care of the heath needs of its citizens -- and their populations are HEALTHIER - and the GOP does not care as yet another unqualified crony, Michael Leavitt,head of the Department of Health and Human Services, former Governor of Utah and former director of an insurance brokerage, with no actuarial expertise and indeed no medical or scientific training or experience whatsoever approves the death of poor folks by approving this plan.

U.S. Gives Florida a Sweeping Right to Curb Medicaid
by ROBERT PEAR
The New York Times
October 20, 2005

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 - The Bush administration approved a sweeping Medicaid plan for Florida on Wednesday that limits spending for many of the 2.2 million beneficiaries there and gives private health plans new freedom to limit benefits.

The Florida program, likely to be a model for many other states, shifts from the traditional Medicaid "defined benefit" plan to a "defined contribution" plan, under which the state sets a ceiling on spending for each recipient.

Children under the age of 21 and pregnant women will be exempt from the limits.

The Florida plan says, "The state will set aside a specific amount of money for each person enrolled in Medicaid," based on the person's medical condition and historic use of health care.<snip>

Under the waiver, Florida will establish "a maximum per year benefit limit" for each recipient and fundamentally change its role. The state will largely be a buyer rather than a manager of health care.
<snip>
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/20/national/20medicaid.html?pagewanted=print

Whose fault is it that so many Americans are fat and lazy?

While we worship the rich. The GOP culture of Corruption. Certainaly not a Christian country. W an his ilk are sick puppies.

care? Quickly, we are realizing that the present system means that we can keep people alive longer than we have money for.

Putting aside the underfunded nature of the proposal above and assuming a more humane level of funding, when that funding runs out it would seem that they are attempting to structure the blame to be on the patient, for not having enough Funds.

(whoever pulls the plug, insurance company or government, won't be too popular, I'd say)

patients. If they don't have money for the treatment, they die. Period. It's the GOP thing. I guess the right wing values lives of the rich only. They call themselves Christians?

in a state full of low-income retirees.

:eyes:

This comes after the "Medicare discount card" bungle that was so confusing most people didn't use it at all.

Are you sure it's three years until these ******** have to leave?!

:cry:

lets a HUGE segment of its WORKING population go without health care. Where's the outrage?