Why is government provided MEDICAID Healthcare going broke.

1. 59

   JON EWALLposted 14 years ago

   Why is government provided MEDICAID Healthcare going broke.
   
   Can anyone explain the difference between Medicaid, healthcare for the poor, and Obama healthcare for all citizens.

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2. 61

   duffsmomposted 14 years ago

   YES!  Why hasn't anyone asked that question on the news?  I have wondered the same thing. I live in very small town, and while my family is fortunate to have health care insurance, most of the people in this town are on Medicaid-they get most service free or have a $3.00 deductible.  Why do they need OBAMACARE?
   
   good question

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3. 81

   Wayne Brownposted 14 years ago

   Medicare, much like Social Security, is going broke primarily because it has been mismanaged by our elected officials.  Money taken from employees and employers by the government for both of these programs is dropped into the general fund and basically spent on discretionary purchases by the government...a law enacted under the illustrous LBJ when he created his great society. Thus, the money has no earning power in terms of interest or dividend gains that could be applied if a portion of it were simply invested into some conservative funds. Basically, it is a pot of IOU's put there by government officials to say that "we owe you as a public this money" but we don't have it unless we borrow it. On that basis, you can consider us broke.  Then, they have the audacity to refer to these funds as "entitlements" which are more or less granted to the people by the government...hell, it was our money in the first place! If each of us had the money we had placed into Medicare and Social Security and the employer's portion, had it invested and received a return, we would be far better off than where we are today.  Essentially, the government has run a ponzi scheme on the people of America and now they want to act as if we have our hand out when we should just willingly forget about it.  Go figure! WB

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4. 70

   Thesourceposted 14 years ago

   I believe Medicaid is for those who are retired and poor.
   These laws were actually written by commercial health insurance lobbyists in the US. They created coverage gaps in the plan for senior citizens. This created a niche market for health insurance companies to sell medical insurance supplements.
   
   Medicaid was also intended to cover the segment of the population who cannot afford medical needs.
   
   The major reason Medicaid for going broke is corruption or fraud. There are insufficient enforcement resources to prevent such fraud. We need more enforcement personnel to prevent this. However, now with pressures from certain right-wing political groups to make the government small, it prevents government to be big enough to be effective here.
   Adding more government jobs here to enforce Medicaid would actually benefit the economy and the jobs will payback for itself many times over.
   As one who has experienced health care services in other countries, even this plan does not go far enough to be effective. This new plan was written by politicians who dared not go far enough because of the powerful corporate health care lobby in the US.
   The source of the US health-care problem is that it is run by commercial institutions whose main goal is corporate profits for its share-holders rather than to benefit the sick. We still have this problem in the new plan. The public option health care would have been the best way to go. It works well in other countries and is more effective to improve and care for the health of the masses.
   Under the public option health care professionals can make a decent and an above-average salary, however, but they will not be millionaires. Corporate CEOs and shareholders will not be raking huge profits on the back of the sick.  Vendors such as drugs companies will have to bid competitively to lower cost.This lowers the cost of quality health care.
   
   US is relatively a new country and it's health care system has not passed the test of time like in other countries. The current plan and even the improved plan can collapse when US goes through a major epidemic, a major nuclear incident or a major civil unrest. Until the public option is implemented corporate profit based health care system is a ticking time bomb. Under the current profit based system 45,000 die every year because they don't have coverage. Millions more avoid the doctor because they don't have coverage.

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5. 59

   JON EWALLposted 14 years ago

   HUBBERS,
   THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE.
   The state of Arizona is cutting 230,000 poor people off of Medicaid because they don’t have the money to fund the program.
   To say that our citizens can’t get healthcare is false , they can and do get medical treatment if they go to a hospital emergency room. The fact is that they do go there and they pay nothing.
   
   In most large cities there are county hospitals that provide healthcare to the poor. Because they don’t cost anything the service and treatment  maybe sub-par. Anyone who believes that the public option
   is better for most of the people  in the country is drinking cool aid.
   
   The Obamacare  Healthcare Reform plans are flawed and should be tossed in the garbage. The country needs a bipartisan plan  combining input from both parties. An open debate to correcting the plan in itself excluding anything that does not involve healthcare activities should be made void.

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