Medicaid Expansion Confounds Conservatives
Slogans can get in the way of politics. A number of the combatants in the quarrel over Medicaid expansion in Texas regularly tell voters that government should be run more like a business.
State officials, starting with Gov. Rick Perry, want the state to stay away from any expansion outlined in the federal Affordable Care Act. They object to creating an entitlement program where none currently exists, because they say they fear it will grow into a money-gobbling monument to big government — socialism, even.
Besides, they say, Texas doesn’t have enough doctors and other medical professionals to provide care ...
Comments (6)
Gritsforbreakfast
BINGO!! Well said.
Marko Ramius
It's not free money from the federal government, it's money coming from taxpayers. Mr. Ramsey sounds like typical D.C. thinking, i.e., tax money coming from someone else is the same as "free money."
Joining the expansion would not only make our federal budget problems worse, but saddle Texans with a lot more taxes. The Texas Health and Human Services estimates that accepting the ACA Medicaid expansion would cost Texans an additional $27 billion over the next 10 years.
But is it worth it? Mr. Ramsey assumes that Medicaid is good and helpful, that more Medicaid is even better. But is that really true? As it turns out, Medicaid outcomes are bad, sometimes even worse than having no insurance at all. Compared to no insurance at all, Medicaid has a higher in-hospital mortality rate, longer hospital stays, and is more expensive.
A fair and balanced editorial would have made a sincere attempt to address these issues. Unfortunately, Mr. Ramsey appears to be less concerned with objective coverage, and more interested in advocating his policy positions.
Mack Green
Mr. Ramius, "fair and balanced" as a phrase does not mean much these days.
Are you suggesting not seeking a return on taxes already paid by Texas to the national Medicare fund? Do you wish to see those same Texas taxpayers pay an additional amount to make up the state Medicare void that Governor Perry does not wish the Fed to fill?
State money saved by leaving the uninsured to hang in the wind is lost when the uninsured run up much higher bills in ER and intensive care from lack of basic and many-times preventable care. Guess who will have to pay for that too.
John Johnson
Will the hospitals' billing code be changed with Ocare? Will someone having outpatient back surgery be billed $81K with $8K of it being for general hospital supplies like gauze, blankets, cotton swabs, etc? Will Metronic monitoring devices that cost the hospital $19K be charged at $49K?
There is collusion in medicine, people. No competition. They charge what they want to. They all make too much money off of us. Hospitals, physicians, pharms, device mfg's, and insurance are all feeding at the trough.
Marko Ramius
Also, consider the heavy financial trouble in the federal government. They are spending over $1 trillion more per year than they have in revenue. This is true even with sequester going into effect, which will probably happen. The last thing Texas should be doing it increasing it's dependency on federal-provided revenue.
hope morrison
Marko Ramius said: "Medicaid outcomes are bad, sometimes even worse than having no insurance at all. Compared to no insurance at all, Medicaid has a higher in-hospital mortality rate, longer hospital stays, and is more expensive."
Per Austin Frakt - "...there is no credible evidence that Medicaid results in worse or equivalent health outcomes as being uninsured. That is, Medicaid improves health. It certainly doesn’t improve health as much as private insurance, but the credible evidence to date–that using sound techniques that can control for the self-selection into the program–strongly suggests Medicaid is better for health than no insurance at all." (http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/really-medicaid-again/)