A Sad Day for Poor, Elderly and Disabled

Medicaid has been slashed in budget targets that bearly passed Congress this week. Its actual impact will not be known for months. But it is clear that many people will be left without healthcare coverage and no means to pay for it.
Missouri has already decided to end ALL Medicaid coverage. I can't imagine how they will do that without sending home thousands of poor elderly from nursing homes where they will quickly die of medical neglect. Seventy-five percent of Medicaid dollars go to nursing homes. Obviously there needs to be an alternative for a state who's poor, elderly and disabled on Medicaid amounts to more than 20% of total population, but eliminating the program is not the solution.
What a crazy world this has become. The right-wing try to force Shaivo to live against her will, while thousands will face the same fate from the right-wing budget axe. The Bush Administration seems to have taught the entire right-wing doublethink.
Daily Health Policy Report - Kaisernetwork.org

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said, "It is unconscionable to balance the budget on the backs of our most vulnerable Americans" (AP/Las Vegas Sun, 4/28). Democrats, including Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.), said savings from Medicaid and other programs were would be "squandered on new tax cuts," the Wall Street Journal reports. Spratt said, "We are just kicking the can down the road" (Rogers, Wall Street Journal, 4/29). House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said, "This budget is an assault on our values" and will "pass mountains of debt on to our children and grandchildren" (Washington Times, 4/29).