MAGA Republicans, though many claim to be Christians, have absolutely zero empathy for their fellow Americans. ZERO. Adding red tape to discourage people from enrolling in health insurance serves only to add pain to people who are just getting by, while adding costs to state governments.
MAGA Republicans are promoting cruel laws to fund a tax cut for wealthy Americans who can easily afford the best healthcare on the planet.
It’s necessary for less fortunate people to have access to basic healthcare if nothing else. Being able to get treatment for a common infection strep throat for example, means the difference between a couple days of recovery with prescription antibiotics or a very serious illness such as endocarditis that will put you in the hospital on intravenous antibiotics or scarring of the heart valves if the infection goes untreated for too long and results in a permanent disability.
Thank you for the article. It stimulated me to read more about the past work programs that were either stopped by the courts, or failed for the same reason these programs will fail. And, while there is so much information about why these cuts are bad and wrong, what brothers me the most is that Democrats aren't getting this information out to voters.
Take Mike Johnson, an evangelical conservative from District 4, who became the Majority Leader. Approximately 22,000 people in his district live in poverty, 38% are on Medicaid. He has defended the cuts, by saying that Medicaid is “not for 29-year-old males sitting on their couches playing video games.” And, yet he knows that's a lie. As of August 2024, 59% of adults on Medicaid were working. 62% of non-elderly adults on Medicaid are people of color. Since 2018, Johnson has been opposed to the SNAP program, although 20% of the people in his district receive SNAP benefits."
Out of all the states in the country, Louisiana ranks second highest in Medicaid enrollees, because 32% of the population is on Medicaid. "When KFF Health News spoke with two dozen Medicaid enrollees in Johnson’s district, most said they were unaware their congressman is leading the Republican charge to upend the program. Those informed of the Republican plan said it scares them."
It's inconceivable to me that Johnson is pushing so hard to gut a program that is so important to the people in his district, and his state. While Democrats have spoken out in Congress about the importance of Medicaid and SNAP, I wish they would have read the list of Republicans who care more about tax cuts for the rich, than healthcare and food for their constituents.
"The administration and its allies appear to be trying to solve the problem that the rich have too little and poor have too much."
This is closely related to another Conservative/capitalist shibboleth; that the way to get rich people to work harder is to give them more money, and the way to make poor people work harder is to take away what little money they have.
It’s crazy that with work requirements, states have to create a structure where people report compliance. So they are spending money to make it possible to give LESS money for health care. I know, it’s the point. But it’s both cruel and just bad policy.
Now retired, I was a Medicaid Waiver case manager for several years and visited the homes and work places of dozens of Medicaid recipients. A hand out to these people was a helping hand up in living standards for many whose financial earnings were only on the first rung of the ladder of success. The program was a hand up, not a hand out and also added pride of accomplishment, a feeling of independence and self -respect as opposed to dependency and helplessness.
As I served a population entirely through Medicaid, I know that the addition of some new mechanism to verify that individuals are working will not only cause people who ARE working but still too poor to lose coverage because of the additional red tape; it will also cause people who are disabled--people who cannot afford to lose their health coverage the most--will be even more vulnerable to coverage loss. At minimum this requirement will mean that states will have to develop systems to verify this--and that will mean stuff like software, people to process the verifications, etc. There does not seem to be a plan for how that will be accomplished, presumably the expectation is that the states will just work that out; but these systems are underfunded and under staffed already. The naked, vicious cruelty of this effort is astonishing. Do these politicians really believe that if you have SNAP and access to medical care when sick--you just relax and don't work because you don't need a place to live, clothes a vehicle, a phone...???
Thank you Barbara for your concise comments about Medicaid and unnecessary requirements for more staff and more paperwork. I totally agree. "Ignorance is bliss" is a saying applicable to all unnecessary staff and extra paperwork that make simple rules unnecessarily complicated. Simplify and trust staff. JP
The stat that 64% of enrollees ages 19-64 are already working is helpful. Any idea what portion of that 64% are working the proposed required 80 hrs a month?
REQUIRED 80 hours a month? Many poor people don't live where work is available, or have transportation to where it is. What does a person do when they can't find a job that is accessible to them, or to only part time employment? Or to a job that costs them more to get there than what it pays? Those who are so hard on poor people need to learn to walk a mile in their shoes.
MAGA Republicans, though many claim to be Christians, have absolutely zero empathy for their fellow Americans. ZERO. Adding red tape to discourage people from enrolling in health insurance serves only to add pain to people who are just getting by, while adding costs to state governments.
MAGA Republicans are promoting cruel laws to fund a tax cut for wealthy Americans who can easily afford the best healthcare on the planet.
They have no shame.
It’s necessary for less fortunate people to have access to basic healthcare if nothing else. Being able to get treatment for a common infection strep throat for example, means the difference between a couple days of recovery with prescription antibiotics or a very serious illness such as endocarditis that will put you in the hospital on intravenous antibiotics or scarring of the heart valves if the infection goes untreated for too long and results in a permanent disability.
Thank you for the article. It stimulated me to read more about the past work programs that were either stopped by the courts, or failed for the same reason these programs will fail. And, while there is so much information about why these cuts are bad and wrong, what brothers me the most is that Democrats aren't getting this information out to voters.
Take Mike Johnson, an evangelical conservative from District 4, who became the Majority Leader. Approximately 22,000 people in his district live in poverty, 38% are on Medicaid. He has defended the cuts, by saying that Medicaid is “not for 29-year-old males sitting on their couches playing video games.” And, yet he knows that's a lie. As of August 2024, 59% of adults on Medicaid were working. 62% of non-elderly adults on Medicaid are people of color. Since 2018, Johnson has been opposed to the SNAP program, although 20% of the people in his district receive SNAP benefits."
Out of all the states in the country, Louisiana ranks second highest in Medicaid enrollees, because 32% of the population is on Medicaid. "When KFF Health News spoke with two dozen Medicaid enrollees in Johnson’s district, most said they were unaware their congressman is leading the Republican charge to upend the program. Those informed of the Republican plan said it scares them."
It's inconceivable to me that Johnson is pushing so hard to gut a program that is so important to the people in his district, and his state. While Democrats have spoken out in Congress about the importance of Medicaid and SNAP, I wish they would have read the list of Republicans who care more about tax cuts for the rich, than healthcare and food for their constituents.
"The administration and its allies appear to be trying to solve the problem that the rich have too little and poor have too much."
This is closely related to another Conservative/capitalist shibboleth; that the way to get rich people to work harder is to give them more money, and the way to make poor people work harder is to take away what little money they have.
It’s crazy that with work requirements, states have to create a structure where people report compliance. So they are spending money to make it possible to give LESS money for health care. I know, it’s the point. But it’s both cruel and just bad policy.
Now retired, I was a Medicaid Waiver case manager for several years and visited the homes and work places of dozens of Medicaid recipients. A hand out to these people was a helping hand up in living standards for many whose financial earnings were only on the first rung of the ladder of success. The program was a hand up, not a hand out and also added pride of accomplishment, a feeling of independence and self -respect as opposed to dependency and helplessness.
As I served a population entirely through Medicaid, I know that the addition of some new mechanism to verify that individuals are working will not only cause people who ARE working but still too poor to lose coverage because of the additional red tape; it will also cause people who are disabled--people who cannot afford to lose their health coverage the most--will be even more vulnerable to coverage loss. At minimum this requirement will mean that states will have to develop systems to verify this--and that will mean stuff like software, people to process the verifications, etc. There does not seem to be a plan for how that will be accomplished, presumably the expectation is that the states will just work that out; but these systems are underfunded and under staffed already. The naked, vicious cruelty of this effort is astonishing. Do these politicians really believe that if you have SNAP and access to medical care when sick--you just relax and don't work because you don't need a place to live, clothes a vehicle, a phone...???
Thank you Barbara for your concise comments about Medicaid and unnecessary requirements for more staff and more paperwork. I totally agree. "Ignorance is bliss" is a saying applicable to all unnecessary staff and extra paperwork that make simple rules unnecessarily complicated. Simplify and trust staff. JP
It smacks of voter suppression tactics only for medicaid enrollees.
The stat that 64% of enrollees ages 19-64 are already working is helpful. Any idea what portion of that 64% are working the proposed required 80 hrs a month?
REQUIRED 80 hours a month? Many poor people don't live where work is available, or have transportation to where it is. What does a person do when they can't find a job that is accessible to them, or to only part time employment? Or to a job that costs them more to get there than what it pays? Those who are so hard on poor people need to learn to walk a mile in their shoes.
I was just asking a question, not making a judgement. I live in a rural area and understand the economics.