Deporting Medicaid?

[Wonderful Jellal]

Wow, it's extreme !
But elderly (over 65) represent 5% of Texas population so I guess they can, this state is one of the youngest in the country (behind Utah and ahead California).In Florida that'd be a suicide
I guess they want that because they don't want to raise taxes...It's a good thing but they can't cut other spendings ? Or to reduce (not cancel) some entitlements ?

[doctorjef]

As a former Texas Medicaid provider, let me remind you that all children in the temporary or permanent managing conservatorship of the State of Texas are Medicaid recipients. This is what covers their various medical needs of all kinds. If they weren't covered by Medicaid they'd have to be covered by some other state program since they are wards of the state. Further, there's a rather complex interaction for long-term disabled persons regarding Medicare and Medicaid, with some such persons getting Medicaid, others getting Medicare, and others having both programs. The point is, we are talking about a lot of people with authentic long-term disabilities that make it a practical impossibility for them to be gainfully employed, either at all or at the very least competitively under usual circumstances. The State of Texas isn't going to be able to abandon these folks, who are typically tied into the Texas Rehabilitation Commission and often local or state MHMR authorities. Aside from the morality of simply setting such persons adrift, I very much doubt that the State of Texas could prevail in class action lawsuits or against federal mandates regarding this population. Most Medicaid recipients, however, are either minors in state care or minors living in seriously impoverished circumstances: I know what I'm talking about here, having spent 20 years practicing with both youth populations in Texas.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by RenaudFR

Wow, it's extreme !
But elderly (over 65) represent 5% of Texas population so I guess they can, this state is one of the youngest in the country (behind Utah and ahead California).In Florida that'd be a suicide
I guess they want that because they don't want to raise taxes...It's a good thing but they can't cut other spendings ? Or to reduce (not cancel) some entitlements ?

only 5%, that's it!!?? are you sure about that?
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48000.html

I thought that your number seemed kind of low. It's 10.2% according to Census figures, 2009.

[doctorjef]

Some of you seem to be seriously confused about the difference between Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare is the FEDERAL program that provides medical coverage to persons 65 and older, and secondarily to persons who are younger than that but unable to work long-term due to disability. Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that primarily provides medical coverage to children living in poverty or in state care and to mothers of said children (if they have custody of those children) who are living in poverty. Medicare is paid for by federal funds; Medicaid is paid for by a combination of federal and state monies. In the case of Medicare the coverage and regs are set at the federal level for the whole country; for Medicaid the benefits differ somewhat from state to state, as do the reimbursements to healthcare providers and schemes such as various forms of managed care that the particular state may use to reduce its Medicaid costs. It would help if you folks knew what you were talking about before you started throwing terms around.

[Heimdall]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Most Medicaid recipients, however, are either minors in state care or minors living in seriously impoverished circumstances: I know what I'm talking about here, having spent 20 years practicing with both youth populations in Texas.

The most probable response from the right: "Tough sh*t! Their parents should have gotten decent jobs."

I especially was surprised to hear it from one of my relatives who's permanently disabled and never worked a day in his life. He's a Medicaid recipient himself, yet he's absolutely convinced that if Texas will decide to go through with this plan it will only affect "dem lazy ass Messicans".

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by Heimdall

The most probable response from the right: "Tough sh*t! Their parents should have gotten decent jobs."

I especially was surprised to hear it from one of my relatives who's permanently disabled and never worked a day in his life. He's a Medicaid recipient himself, yet he's absolutely convinced that if Texas will decide to go through with this plan it will only affect "dem lazy ass Messicans".

Welcome to my world! I'll bet that those same people would still vote straight Republican if Perry and the Republicans were to succeed at taking their Medicaid away from them. They always seem to think that THEY themselves are not on welfare, that it's the "other" people.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by wehotex

Welcome to my world! I'll bet that those same people would still vote straight Republican if Perry and the Republicans were to succeed at taking their Medicaid away from them. They always seem to think that THEY themselves are not on welfare, that it's the "other" people.

Well what do you expect dealing with self righteous people. The sentiment is popular, I see. Take a look at this forum on the same topic.
TexAgs.com - Politics

[migee]

Elderly people make up about 7% of those on Medicaid in Texas.

The biggest group are children about 6 to 18 years of age.

I don't know how much a teenager can run up in medical costs (unless they are in bad health overall)?

Medicaid Enrollment by Month Completed Count (http://www.hhsc.state.tx.us/research/MedicaidEnrollment/meByMonthCompletedCount.html - broken link)

With all the bullcrap that our government wastes money on, medical care for people should not be such an issue. The real problem is the mark-ups by the providers...When you go into a Doctors office today, it is a damned enterprise...office manager, nurses, aides, etc....Let's face it, with all their complaining they are getting rich.

After I posted, I noticed something interesting...

If you look at the chart..go to the bottom to where it starts 10 years ago...The number of people on medicaid went up from about 1.9 million to 3.3 million...Yet the number of elderly remained constant..about 240,000.

So 10 years ago the elderly accounted for 12% of the people on medicaid, and today they account for 7%...So, who's got a gripe with the elderly becoming a growing burden????

[mezman]

Originally Posted by migee

I don't know how much a teenager can run up in medical costs (unless they are in bad health overall)?

Keep in mind that a lot of the children on Medicaid are severely handicapped. I have a niece who is severely mentally disabled who is on Medicaid (and on private insurance through her parents jobs as well) and these children run up significant medical bills. Her parents wouldn't be able to afford her care without Medicaid even though they both have medical insurance through their jobs.