August 27, 2017

Florida provides sickening blueprint for what Republicans want to do to sick kids on Medicaid

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/18/1691380/-Florida-provides-sickening-blue-print-for-what-Republicans-want-to-do-to-sick-kids-on-Medicaid
"The entire story is a must-read, because it demonstrates just how low Republicans are willing to go to undermine public health care, to inject every bit of public policy-making with pure partisanship. They didn't even try that hard to pretend they were doing otherwise, all but telling the physicians who are supposed to be advising on these decisions that they were irrelevant. In fact, they literally did so, including kicking Dr. Louis St. Petery, former executive vice president of the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a former CMS director out of a Department of Health meeting with the regional medical directors of CMS, the group of pediatricians who help run the program. He was a critic, so he was barred from attending. Since the state implemented its process for kicking kids out of the program, physicians say they have been completely ignored. The long story is very much worth the time it takes to read. But there's a take-away that isn't in the story that has to be highlighted—this is what congressional Republicans—with House Speaker Paul Ryan leading the charge—want to do to Medicaid across the country. Should their plans for decimating it come to fruition, Florida will provide the blueprint for every Republican governor and legislature for how to kick kids out of health care."