Medicaid's Fragile Beneficiaries (WaPo Article)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/17/AR2005111701877.html

Medicaid's Fragile Beneficiaries

As Congress Considers Budget Cuts, Services to Area's Disabled at Risk

By Mary Otto
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 18, 2005; Page B01

<snip>
On Capitol Hill, the debate over cutting the nation's social programs is framed in sums so vast as to become abstract. But barely two miles away, within the small, bright, preschool classrooms of the Easter Seals Child Development Center, there is no dispute about the usefulness of every federal dollar.

For this is where George Essel, 3, who could not walk eight months ago, now bustles about, helping his classmates with a simple science experiment. And this is where Cailin Meja-Santos, also 3, paralyzed from the waist down, eagerly explores the hallways wearing her new leg braces. These children and nearly every other child at the center are beneficiaries of Medicaid, the nation's $330 billion health care program for the poor and disabled. And Medicaid has become a prime target as Congress develops a broad fiscal plan to trim the federal deficit over the next five years.

Republican leaders in the House were pushing again late last night to find the votes for a $50 billion package of budget reductions that would slash spending on a wide variety of programs, among them food stamps, college loans, child support enforcement, farm aid and the enormous Medicaid program, which serves 53 million people -- about half of them children. Any cuts would need approval from House and Senate negotiators.

According to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, about $30 billion of the savings would be realized through reductions in benefits and increased cost sharing, said Leighton Ku, a senior fellow. Other analysts have predicted that the changes imposed upon the working poor could drive millions of families out of the Medicaid system entirely.<snip>

The rest of the article goes on to describe the Republican justifications for the proposed cuts and Democrats' concerns about the effect of the proposed cuts on the disabled, families, and children.

What a shame that we give 5.5 BILLION to Afghanistan's people for health care and forget our own people! Here in Orlando my 37 year old son has been waiting for over a year for SSI Medicaid claim and can't get a dime for help from Florida or the Social Security bureaucracy! When Katrina hit the Gulf States there cases that were in line there were moved to Florida! AND Florida won't help any adult! It is so shameful that adults are left out in the cold literally because they don't have dependent children! What is wrong with this picture? A person is responsible so they aren't given medical help?

My son has MS and Devic's Disease which effect's his eyesight, spinal cord and makes him weak and unable to walk over 4 feet at a time without falling and puts him in excrutiating pain. He has had 5 Dr's tell the SSI Judge this fact and still nothing! He should be in Rehabilitation right now but they kicked him out because he has no insurance. But the Repub's scream "no abortion" - save the babies! For what???? A life of pain and suffering! My son has gotten some med's for "free" but that doesn't pay the Dr. bills he should be going to! Will this ever end? I am so broke right now from buying medicine, paying dental bills for him and making sure he gets to Dr's appointments when I have the cash! But we can send BILLIONS to the Middle East and other places to make sure they have health care - and who ends up with this money in their pockets??? Of course, the corrupt politicians - Where is Hillary now???? Did she get amnesia??? Does anyone care???? Are there any TRUE Democrats out there any more?????:rant:

and pro corporate Dem's are basically social darwinists /eugenicists.

The government we have now HATES the weak and sees human worth in terms of $$$$ as in how much do the corps and state need to invest to get a return?

These inhuman bean counting, hypocrite,control freak, corporate welfare isn't welfare, golden parachute for the elites,fuck everyone else and use the taxpayers and bend law for government perks perks for themselves..pigs think this way..They will not change their thinking until they themselves suffer.For now it's not in their backyard so outta sight outta mind.
We are abstract masses draining THEIR profits in their greed controlled self absorbed arrogant minds..

I fear the only way to stop this class war is to fight this damn class war and we may have to crash their "gated communities"so they can't assume they are somehow too precious, good or too elite to never feel the pain of survival and failure of their overreaching for greed and power.

We need to get in their backyard and make them unable to escape reality or"invent a new reality".. if our issues are gonna be taken seriously by the insulated,arrogant,parasitic,immoral wealthy..

mad!:mad: Why don't they just cut off all foreign aid! They're cutting off aid to their own people!

Sometimes I wish we weren't forced to live here and had the money to immigrate
to another country (because that takes $$$$$money$$$$ too)
because if I could I would just leave this hell-hole in a heartbeat!

:rant: