This is why we fight for Single-payer Medicare for All. Donald Trump, his Republican cohort, and Texas are doing a good job in hurting the poor, a larger percentage of them, the people who voted for them.
A few years ago, Congressman Alan Grayson went on the floor and upset a lot of Republicans.
“If you get sick in America, this is what the Republicans want you to do: If you get sick America, the Republican health care plan is this: Die quickly,” Congressman Alan Grayson said. “That’s right, the Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick.”
Policy after policy it is clear that while not spoken, that must be their goal. Not getting healthcare in a timely fashion means you will die quickly. This is genocide on the poor.
TRUMP’S PLAN TO SLASH MEDICAID COULD LEAVE MILLIONS SICK AND IN DEBT. JUST ASK TEXAS
This week, the Trump administration unveiled a 2020 spending plan that would cut almost $1.5 trillion from Medicaid over a decade, and eliminate funding for Medicaid expansion entirely. Instead, according to the plan, the federal government would allocate $1.2 trillion to block grants or per-person caps — funding arrangements that give states more flexibility to kick poor people off health insurance.
Texas’ attorney general, Ken Paxton, is also leading a coalition of 20 states suing the federal government to unravel the nation’s health care program by arguing the 2010 Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. A Fort Worth-based judge took Paxton’s side in a ruling in December, although Obamacare is still in effect during the appeals process. If the Texas-led lawsuit wins, Medicaid expansion could disappear across the country.
If the rest of the U.S. were to allow a Texas-style Medicaid coverage gap to fester, “it’d be both a personal crisis for millions of Americans and a systemic crisis for the health-care industry,” said Anne Dunkelberg, associate director at the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities.
That crisis is already too real for Valadez. She has tiny, infected pouches along the wall of her colon, an illness called diverticulitis. When those pouches flare, debilitating pain follows. Valadez waits out the pain for at least three days before she goes to the emergency room. She’s already unable to pay off her existing medical debt, and each visit can cost thousands. But she’s had to go multiple times over the past two years anyway.
The last time she had a flare-up, two weeks ago, she drove across the Mexican border to seek less expensive care. In Nuevo Progreso, a border town in Tamaulipas about 40 minutes from her home, a doctor told her she will likely need surgery. Without health insurance, it’s not an option.
“It doesn’t matter what I do. If I’m poor or I work, I still don’t qualify. Whatever it is, I’m undeserving,” Valadez said.
Source: Trump’s plan to slash Medicaid could leave millions sick and in debt. Just ask Texas. – VICE News
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