Several State GOP leaders work to keep up a pogrom against the poor through Medicaid

By SJ Otto

We are about the only industrialized country in the world that does not have a health care system for all of its people. Not only that, we have politicians trying to restrict poor people from getting health care. If I were a Christian I would believe that there is a special place in Hell for politicians who work so hard to destroy health care for poor people. These leaders are mean-spirited, spiteful and just down right cruel.

Here are some of the policies they have used to stop our poorest citizens from getting badly needed healthcare.

Work requirements- These are already a apart of many welfare requirements for food or cash assistance. Kansas is a state that has some of the  most restrictive requirements for any welfare. But people here and around the world believe that health care is a right. People have a right to be well and be treated when they are sick.

In Kansas as it is in many states, people are calling for expanding Medicaid, as is suggested by Obamacare (Affordable Care Act). Governor Sam Brownback is working the other direction. He wants work requirements for able bodied people who apply for Medicaid (which in Kansas is actually a privatized version called KanCare).

Drug Testing- This is something that Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin is proud of. He wants to make his state a model for refusing people from Medicaid if they have a drug problem. It is like he wants those who use drugs to die off. This and other restrictions are like a pogrom against our country's poor. If anyone needs medical treatment it is people on drugs. We have an opioid epidemic and this guy wants to keep the victims from getting any treatment or any other kind of medical care. People like him don't mind spending money putting poor people in jail, but not any public medicine.

Three to five year limits- The idea is being passed around for a three year lifetime limit to receiving Medicaid. I heard this announced on NPR Radio that Brownback wants a three year life time cap for able bodied people who make use of Medicaid. Again, this equates Medicaid with other welfare benefits. But health care is a right and not some privilege. Treating health care the same as free money for poor people is a violation of basic human dignity.

Privatization- Has been done by Brownback, in an attempt to keep up his ideology that all government functions are some how evil. He has created KanCare which allows three companies to try and profit from the sickness of the poor, disabled and people with severe chronic illnesses. The big difference here is that he is not just restricting poor people, but also disabled people as well. The efficiency of KanCare is dismal. It is a huge failure and yet Brownback keeps it going.

Trump kills healthcare on the Federal level- Our President, Donald Trump, has worked hard to dismantle Obamacare. He works at the Federal level to help the pogrom against the poor. This should surprise no one. He is a hero and advocate of the wealthy.  

There are ways to fight these ass holes. In Main they recently voted to expand Medicaid over a Republican governor, Paul LePage, who has fought kicking and screaming in a battle to prevent the poor from getting health care. We may not be able to get these scum bags out of office, but we can work hard to get these issues passed into law. I is past time to stop the pogrom to kill off poor people.     

Pix by shareicon.net and ShareIcon.