Medicaid On the Ballot

 From New York Times' columnist Paul Krugman.

There’s a lot we don’t know about what Mitt Romney would do if he won. He refuses to say which tax loopholes he would close to make up for $5 trillion in tax cuts; his economic “plan” is an empty shell.

But one thing is clear: If he wins, Medicaid — which now covers more than 50 million Americans, and which President Obama would expand further as part of his health reform — will face savage cuts.

Medicaid: Showing We Value People

Great read by a parent of two children with autism and how Medicaid is helping them.

CARY, N.C. -- There’s been a lot of talk about the “moocher” class – those Americans who don’t pay federal income taxes and those who receive some kind of government benefit.
I must confess, I have two moochers living in my house – my sons, Kenny and Theo, ages 13 and 11 respectively.
They both have autism, and they both have cognitive and severe language delays. Because of their disabilities, they receive Medicaid coverage, which pays for speech therapy and occupational therapy as well as their medical care. Medicaid also pays for a service called home and community support, which provides staff who work with the boys on goals like how to make purchases at stores and how to behave appropriately in public.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/10/17/2418488/medicaid-showing-we-value-lives.html#storylink=cpy

This Election, a Stark Choice in Health Care

Joyce Beck, who runs a small hospital and network of medical clinics in rural Nebraska, is reluctant to plan for the future until voters decide between President Obama and Mitt Romney. The candidates’ sharply divergent proposals for Medicare, Medicaid and coverage of the uninsured have created too much uncertainty, she explained. 

“We are all on hold, waiting to see what the election brings,” said Ms. Beck, chief executive of Thayer County Health Services in Hebron, Neb. 

When Americans go to the polls next month, they will cast a vote not just for president but for one of two profoundly different visions for the future of the country’s health care system.