Health Care Cuts
First, let me connect a few dots.
1. Read our post They Are All Our Children where we suggest expanding our sense of “community.”
2. Read our post Would You Sign This Letter about the 4,000 Maryland kids who are lost Medicaid coverage beginning July 1, despite the fact that we have the money to insure them.
Now, consider what is happening in Tennessee (forwarded from our friends at Medicaid Matters! Maryland):
Wow.
We do facts here. Our role in the public debate is to do research and analysis, and to educate the public and policymakers about the range of choices and their impacts. Having said that, knowing what we know about the choices the we are making doesn’t come without emotion. Governor Ehrlich’s choice to save $5.5 million by removing 4,000 kids from the Medicaid program when we have a $260 million budget surplus is a little, uh, numbing. It is hard to imagine how our colleagues in Tennessee are feeling about the prospect of removing 323,000 people from their Medicaid program.
To learn more about these cuts in Tennessee, use a search engine or go to www.tenncare.org. Tennessee and national health advocacy groups are encouraging all of us to voice our concerns about the health care crisis in Tennessee.
This is our community. Educate yourself. Visit the TennCare site. Read our post Do Something. And, well, do something. Thanks for reading.
1. Read our post They Are All Our Children where we suggest expanding our sense of “community.”
2. Read our post Would You Sign This Letter about the 4,000 Maryland kids who are lost Medicaid coverage beginning July 1, despite the fact that we have the money to insure them.
Now, consider what is happening in Tennessee (forwarded from our friends at Medicaid Matters! Maryland):
THE CRISIS: A pivotal battle over the future of Medicaid is underway in Tennessee right now. The situation there is one of the most extreme in the country and it deserves the attention of health care advocates everywhere!The letter goes on to explain that Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has proposed to remove 323,000 people from the TennCare program.
There is no alternative to the Medicaid safety net in our dysfunctional health care system for people with low income and no private insurance. Not only is the dismantling of Medicaid programs like TennCare moving our nation further away from the goal of health care for all, but throwing people off the program will have devastating consequences for thousands of people who will face the prospect of preventable illness and early death as a result of losing health insurance.
Wow.
We do facts here. Our role in the public debate is to do research and analysis, and to educate the public and policymakers about the range of choices and their impacts. Having said that, knowing what we know about the choices the we are making doesn’t come without emotion. Governor Ehrlich’s choice to save $5.5 million by removing 4,000 kids from the Medicaid program when we have a $260 million budget surplus is a little, uh, numbing. It is hard to imagine how our colleagues in Tennessee are feeling about the prospect of removing 323,000 people from their Medicaid program.
To learn more about these cuts in Tennessee, use a search engine or go to www.tenncare.org. Tennessee and national health advocacy groups are encouraging all of us to voice our concerns about the health care crisis in Tennessee.
This is our community. Educate yourself. Visit the TennCare site. Read our post Do Something. And, well, do something. Thanks for reading.
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