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December 14, 2004
The Bush administration has indicated its willingness to slash Medicaid—the nation's largest health care program for poor and disabled Americans—in order to address the massive budget deficits caused by his tax cuts for the wealthy. Despite sharp increases in poverty, and restricted eligibility and increased co-payments already scheduled for Medicaid in 2005, the Bush administration thinks the poor should do more to help pay for his tax cuts.
- State governments are already slashing health care for the poor to pay for Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, whose own state faces an $800 million Medicaid shortfall this year, says Medicaid funding is "the No. 1 issue among governors." Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen has proposed dismantling his state's popular TennCare program due to cost concerns. And Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has initiated a cost-cutting measure, currently delayed, that could cut up to 65,000 old and disabled citizens from Medicaid.
- Americans overwhelmingly reject cutting health care for the poor and disabled. A survey by GOP pollster Linda A. DiVall found that "only 7 percent of Americans…think the government is spending too much on Medicare, and only 6 percent say the same about Medicaid," according to The Union Leader. So how do Americans think President Bush should trim the budget deficit? DiVall found that 59 percent "favor reductions in tax cuts for those with over $200,000 a year in taxable income."
- Rather than punishing the poor for Medicaid costs, President Bush ought to go after inflated charges by drug companies and pharmacists. At a time when the government complains it cannot afford basic health benefits for the nation's poorest citizens, a congressional investigation found that "drug stores paid an average of 22 cents for seven widely prescribed generic medicines, but received 56 cents in reimbursements from Medicaid," according to the Boston Globe.
Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund. |
Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund. |
