Zen Curmudgeon
05-21-2005, 10:34 AM
During the Terry Schiavo episode in March, the President had this to say:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050317-7.html
"Those who live at the mercy of others deserve our special care and concern. It should be our goal as a nation to build a culture of life, where all Americans are valued, welcomed, and protected - and that culture of life must extend to individuals with disabilities." (emphasis added)
By April the "culture of life" was already running into money problems.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-04-28-gop-budget_x.htm
Posted 4/28/2005 10:23 AM Updated 4/29/2005 12:31 AM
Congress passes $2.6 trillion budget targeting Medicaid cuts
"WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress narrowly passed a $2.6 trillion budget Thursday that would cut back spending on the Medicaid health care program for the first time since 1997 in a step toward trimming federal deficits...
...The budget would shave automatically increasing benefit programs by $35 billion over five years while also cutting taxes by as much as $106 billion over the same period."
Here we are in May, and the State of Mississippi is telling its poor citizens, including children, who need life-saving transplants to leave the state, and sign up for Medicaid elsewhere. Why? Because the payment rates Mississippi Medicaid offers are so low.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ORGAN_TRANSPLANTS?SITE=CODER&SECTION=HOME
May 20, 7:59 PM EDT
Miss. patients face transplant obstacles
"JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Adult Mississippi Medicaid patients who need liver or lung transplants are being told they might not get the lifesaving organs they need unless they move to another state and sign up for Medicaid there.
The University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson performs only bone marrow, adult heart and adult kidney transplants. Anyone needing a lung or liver transplant must go out of state, as must children who need transplants. (emphasis added)
...Apparently, a growing number of hospitals are not willing to accept the (Medicaid payment) rates for transplants in adults."
The Republican-dominated federal government speaks of a "culture of life" even as it acts to strangle the programs that make life possible for "those who live at the mercy of others."
If this is an example of Republican "mercy", remind me not to piss these guys off.
Take Care -
ZC
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050317-7.html
"Those who live at the mercy of others deserve our special care and concern. It should be our goal as a nation to build a culture of life, where all Americans are valued, welcomed, and protected - and that culture of life must extend to individuals with disabilities." (emphasis added)
By April the "culture of life" was already running into money problems.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-04-28-gop-budget_x.htm
Posted 4/28/2005 10:23 AM Updated 4/29/2005 12:31 AM
Congress passes $2.6 trillion budget targeting Medicaid cuts
"WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress narrowly passed a $2.6 trillion budget Thursday that would cut back spending on the Medicaid health care program for the first time since 1997 in a step toward trimming federal deficits...
...The budget would shave automatically increasing benefit programs by $35 billion over five years while also cutting taxes by as much as $106 billion over the same period."
Here we are in May, and the State of Mississippi is telling its poor citizens, including children, who need life-saving transplants to leave the state, and sign up for Medicaid elsewhere. Why? Because the payment rates Mississippi Medicaid offers are so low.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ORGAN_TRANSPLANTS?SITE=CODER&SECTION=HOME
May 20, 7:59 PM EDT
Miss. patients face transplant obstacles
"JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Adult Mississippi Medicaid patients who need liver or lung transplants are being told they might not get the lifesaving organs they need unless they move to another state and sign up for Medicaid there.
The University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson performs only bone marrow, adult heart and adult kidney transplants. Anyone needing a lung or liver transplant must go out of state, as must children who need transplants. (emphasis added)
...Apparently, a growing number of hospitals are not willing to accept the (Medicaid payment) rates for transplants in adults."
The Republican-dominated federal government speaks of a "culture of life" even as it acts to strangle the programs that make life possible for "those who live at the mercy of others."
If this is an example of Republican "mercy", remind me not to piss these guys off.
Take Care -
ZC