Reverse Robin Hood

The state of Texas has been having a blast kicking around poor folks, the disabled and elderly by slashing the Medicaid program services the past couple of years. No eye glasses, hearing aids, dental work, mental health services, walkers, canes, restorative care, tertiary, primary or well clinic visits for you granny. "Go suck eggs, junior." "Try CHIPs (snicker!)." "Oh yeah, we didn't fund it, and kept all the dough." "We would like to give Juanito his asthma inhaler, if you have the $5.00 co-pay."

If a large, homeless schitzophrenic who is self-medicating on booze because there are no mental health services to look after him, gets a drink from your garden hose, just call the police. They will fix him.

One of the lies Texas is determined to make stick with the public is the story that public health is improving by slashing services and consolidating agencies into a total chaotic nightmare. Problem is, they haven't done any public health surveys since 2003, two years prior to the action to strangle babies in the crib pursuant to HB 1 becoming law in May, 2005. (http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/chs/vstat/latest/data.shtm) Nevertheless, infant mortality hit an all-time low in 2000 of 3.4% and rose to 4.4% in 2003. (http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/chs/vstat/latest/t06.shtm) I would predict that all deaths, especially according to income and ethnicity have sky-rocketed. Why wouldn't they with markedly lower prenatal care, practically no food stamp and nutrition programs, and non-existent clinics and migrant health services?

Now I have discovered a law that I didn't know about until recently that allows Texas to take one's homestead in order to reimburse themselves for nursing home services under Medicaid. Read it and weep middle class folks:

TEXAS ADMINISTRATIVE CODE
TITLE 1 ADMINISTRATION
PART 15 TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION
CHAPTER 373 MEDICAID ESTATE RECOVERY PROGRAM
Subchapter A GENERAL

373.101 Purpose
The purpose of this chapter is to implement section 531.077, Government Code, consistent with applicable federal law at 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(b)(1), which requires the Health and Human Services Commission, as the State Medicaid Agency, to operate a Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) to recover the costs of Medicaid long-term care benefits received by certain Medicaid recipients.

373.103 Applicability

1. A Medicaid Estate Recovery claim may be filed against the estate of a deceased Medicaid recipient for covered Medicaid services if the recipient:
1. Was age 55 years or older at the time the services were received; and
2. Initially applied for covered Medicaid long-term care services on or after March 1, 2005, the effective date of these rules.
2. For purposes of this chapter, an individual will be considered to be age 55 as of the first day of the month following the month in which the recipient attains the age of 55.
3. Covered Medicaid long-term care services include the following services provided to a recipient age 55 years or older under the State of Texas Medicaid plan under Title XIX of the Social Security Act (SSA):
1. Nursing facility services;
2. Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded (ICF-MR);
3. Home and Community-Based Services (§1915(c), SSA) and Community Attendant Services (§1929(b), SSA); and
4. Related costs of hospital and prescription drug services.
4. For the purposes of this chapter, covered services do not include services provided before the effective date of these rules.

In other words, mom goes into the nursing home; incurs a LARGE bill; Medicaid pays for it; she dies (there or someplace else); they take the family farm. Gone. Bye-bye.

Suckers. You guys voted for these evil hose-bags. And I have a feeling you will vote for them again. God/guns/gays and all that.

Thank God Paris Hilton isn't going to have to pay a "death tax."

Chumps.