WATCHING FROM THE CHEAP SEATS!

(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jason Stein)

(Huffington Post, Bonnie Kavoussi, Green Bay Press Gazette)

(NPR, Erin Toner, The Capital Times, Jack Carver, Mike Doyle, Doug Erikson)

(Donovan Slack, Dailey Kos, Dave Umhoefer, Jessica McBride, Ann Ames, Frazer Chronicle)

How could Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker decide not to join the federal Medicaid expansion under the affordable care act? Walker is one of 25 Republican governors who are rejecting the health law’s expansion of Medicaid. Strangely Wisconsin’s own Medicaid program, known as BadgerCare, is more generous than that of many states, and now Walker wants to transfer many people out of the Wisconsin state plan and into the insurance marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act.

The governor’s maneuver is possible because Wisconsin’s state Medicaid program is already one of the more inclusive in the nation. It allowed people making up to 200% of the federal poverty level to be covered by BadgerCare. Walker now wants to roll BadgerCare edibility back to 100% of the poverty line, and put everyone making between 100 and 200%.....a range of $11,490 to $22,980 for a single person into private subsidized coverage that they buy on the new marketplace.

Walker say’s everyone losing coverage will be able to buy subsidized plans under the Affordable Care Act, and many will find monthly premiums under $20. You’re going to hear detractors claim that moving people to the private market, or to the exchanges isn’t affordable, but Walker says that critics aren’t aware of how much the subsidies will bring costs down…..well in that case governor, why don’t you go one of these plans?

States that reject a full expansion are seeing bigger increases in their Medicaid costs, and a nonpartisan review estimates Walker’s plan will cost state taxpayers an additional $460 million through 2020 than if he’d gone for the full expansion that would have pulled more federal dollars into Wisconsin.

Walker has offered people set to be dropped from Medicaid on January 1^st 2014 to stay on the rolls three months longer, so that they have more time to sign up for plans on HealthCare.gov. “We are going to take decisive action to make sure that people of Wisconsin, particular people in need, do not fall through the cracks,” Walker said.

AMERICA, WE HAVE A PROBLEM

We who live here in the United States have a problem…..its called partisanship; the word implies exactly what is going on in our country today. Biased support, showing unreasoning support, a weapon with a long shaft, or just a plain resistance fighter, it seems to be what these conservative governors view themselves as.   

Lost in this shuffle of self indulgence by both Democrats and Republicans is…..well, the constituents, the people who put these jokers into office. We share in what has become of a grand experiment, a nation of the people, and by the people. I’m not too sure that the experiment ever had a chance for success; it required all sorts of trust, as well as authority figures conducting themselves in an honorable fashion.

One of the big problems that we have is autonomy, the ability to self govern. I call it a problem because most of us are incapable of doing this. We’re like little kids, scrapping for independence, yet whenever we get it, we tend to become almost completely unmanageable. We conduct our business in unwise fashion, leaving ourselves open to much criticism.

Both the liberals and conservatives are acting badly on the question of affordable health care, there aren’t any easy answers, and no one plan is much above another. The most important part of medical care coverage is that all citizens are covered, not which plan works better for a particular point of view.

States such as Texas and Florida have always had high rates of uninsured residents because its political leaders have never been particularly interested in expanding coverage. Wisconsin on the other hand has enjoyed a very high rate of coverage. Wisconsin’s rate of uninsured was roughly 10% of the population, and that was due to its BadgerCare program. In contrast nearly a quarter of Texicans are uninsured.  

Everybody knows that Wisconsin’s Governor Scott Walker is aligning himself for a shot at the White House in 2016. A book, a whirlwind blitz to stoke his aspirations, his stance on labor unions, defeating a recall…..theatrics like these are priceless…..if gives people like me unbridled amounts of blogger material.

FEWER PEOPLE WHO ARE UNINSURED AND FEWER PEOPLE DEPENDING ON GOVERNMENT

This is the wish that Scott Walker wants for the people of Wisconsin with regards to medical care access, I’m not sure how in hell this’ll work, but like I said, I’m watching from the cheap seats. This statement would seem like a kind of conundrum.

Without a doubt every American needs to have access to affordable health care…..in fact costs should never be an obstacle to a path for health care. However there are people out there who simply can’t afford to purchase a plan.

Of course there are people out there who shuck and jive around the question of whether they can afford health care…..and if Walker was pointing one of his boney fingers at these people…..it would be alright. But when you include people who are paid a gross wage of between $12,000 and $22,000, you really stretch the ability of people to obtain coverage.

Your gonna hear all sorts of numbers thrown around whenever the due date, or zero hour approaches for people to be thrown under the bus as it where with regards to health care coverage. How this Walker formula is designed, and implemented will have the same effect as either life…..or death. Talk about your death squads, that would be it.

HAVE A NICE DAY!