The Trump Presidency 2.0

[Topkick]

I don't follow that aspect enough to really have an opinion, just questions. I know it and Medicare are hot items though and any cuts will instantly trigger an emotional response among some. People can also have that emotional response, "make up their minds" (for lack of a better description) and when faced with a vote that lingering emotional response will shape their answer. Humans doing human stuff, you know?

Medicaid is funded indirectly and generally used by lower income folks of any age. A lot of these people vote D or don't vote at all. I don't think it'll shake up the elections all that much, but if you start messing with retirees who are likely to vote Republican and have paid into Medicare all their lives, I think you'd see some swing.

 

[TLDR20]

Its not going to win any hearts, but the Medicaid cuts will mostly effect people who vote Democrat already. Medicare is another discussion.

Children are the largest enrollee in Medicaid by a large margin, I don’t think they vote. The elderly are the second largest enrollee and the largest cost to Medicaid. Cutting Medicaid will significantly curtail medical benefits to the very old and very young.

https://www.cbpp.org/research/healt... spending,being uninsured during the pandemic.

 

[Topkick]

I don’t think they vote

Their parents do.

 

[TLDR20]

Their parents do.

Anecdotal take:

I did a lot of work in rural hospitals over the last 5 years in NC. Some of which are almost entirely Medicaid patients. I think who those patients vote for would surprise you based on the amount of red hats I saw, and I can see what insurance every patient has.

 

[Topkick]

Anecdotal take:

I did a lot of work in rural hospitals over the last 5 years in NC. Some of which are almost entirely Medicaid patients. I think who those patients vote for would surprise you based on the amount of red hats I saw, and I can see what insurance every patient has.

Fair. Location matters and NC is a swing state.

 

[Box]

Lets not pretend that "red" voters are well known for their tendency to routinely and reliably "vote their conscience"

Red voters are no different from blue voters in as much as MANY of them are going to vote red now matter how much it hurts.
Republicans in government fuck their constituents dead in the ass ALL.OF.THE.TIME. and still manage to spend decades in office with little to no resistance because "anything is better than that turd from the opposition"

...just a personal opinion, based entirely on my own observations and bias - not on facts.

 

[DA SWO]

What is being cut? and who is losing benefits?

 

[amlove21]

What is being cut? and who is losing benefits?

What a good question.

Fraud is being cut. Eligibility requirements are getting more stringent, leading to fewer people getting carte blanche approval and coverage. Some estimates quote a 10-20 million reduction in Medicaid benefits... but an astute voter will note that those cuts are due to the more stringent eligibility requirements (focusing specifically on non-citizens) and may in fact lead you to believe that we may just be paying people/allowing people to get benefits that don't qualify or don't need medicare/medicaid.


For Medicare/Medicaid impact on American citizens-
- No cuts to core services (hospital stays, physician services, pharma)
- Adults over 65 won't see cuts to Part A/Part B services (65+ remains largely status quo)
- Blocks grants and per capita caps allow more state control
- Generalized restructuring of payment

Drawbacks-
- Reducing medicare payments could lead to providers deciding to stop taking medicare/medicar clients- this is both indirect and speculative
- Stringent eligibility requirements could drive tougher access, for both those that are truly eligible and those that aren't
- Higher medicare premiums could select out for a small portion of low-income beneficiaries

The bottom line is that there won't be sweeping changes to the process (much to my lament) for rank and file Americans. The "they're coming for your benefits" line of attack doesn't have any teeth.

The third rails of spending are these entitlements- we are going to do absolutely nothing to the deficit until we address social security, medicare/medicaid, and military spending.

 

[amlove21]

What is being cut? and who is losing benefits?

Relevant-

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[Cookie_]

What is being cut? and who is losing benefits?

Rick Scott wants to cut medicaid by roughly 880 billion to 1 trillion over the next decade. His stated reason for doing this is to combat fraud, which is interesting because he was CEO of a company that had to pay a 1.7 billion dollar fine for defrauding Medicare/Medicaid.

As @TLDR20 touched on, this could vastly impacts children in rural/low economic areas and seniors.

--

I think a major issue with Medicaid (as well as most social safety nets) is we often have an all or nothing dollar amount, instead of one that allows for people to loss benefits as income increases.

As an anecdote:

I had a friend on Medicaid. This friend had high cost care associated with limb loss. Medicaid covered the vast majority of their health-care costs, whereas they'd have been lucky to have seen 25% covered under private insurance.
The rub is they would lose all access to Medicaid if they made more than 130%(ish) of the Federal Poverty Line, which is current 21k, so lower a few years ago. The friend wasn't in a position where they could get a job with enough pay to cover health-care costs, so they had to "stay under".

We basically encourage people to stay on systems by not offering ways to wean them off.

 

[Cookie_]

Relevant-

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Good.

Here's an article with more details.

 

[Cookie_]

The third rails of spending are these entitlements- we are going to do absolutely nothing to the deficit until we address social security, medicare/medicaid, and military spending.

But but but the sacred cows! We can't harm the cows!

GOP won't reduce mil spending; DNC won't reduce Med; both are terrified of (meaningful) changes to SS.

We'll never see the majority care about the deficit until the dollar is actually challenged/stops being the world's reserve currency.

 

[amlove21]

But but but the sacred cows! We can't harm the cows!

GOP won't reduce mil spending; DNC won't reduce Med; both are terrified of (meaningful) changes to SS.

We'll never see the majority care about the deficit until the dollar is actually challenged/stops being the world's reserve currency.

Sadly, you're exactly correct. +2

 

[AWP]

Rick Scott wants to cut medicaid by roughly 880 billion to 1 trillion over the next decade. His stated reason for doing this is to combat fraud, which is interesting because he was CEO of a company that had to pay a 1.7 billion dollar fine for defrauding Medicare/Medicaid.

You beat me to the story. People arguing he didn't know about the practice are as bad as people saying OJ is innocent. Delusional.

 

[amlove21]

You beat me to the story. People arguing he didn't know about the practice are as bad as people saying OJ is innocent. Delusional.

Wait a damn second. You're telling me that funny guy from The Naked Gun movie KILLED someone?!

 

[Marauder06]

Wait a damn second. You're telling me that funny guy from The Naked Gun movie KILLED someone?!

 

[Jaknight]

Sad to see people will get their medical coverage cut. I am grateful for Medicare without it I would not have been able to afford my surgery and would have lost my whole kidney.

 

[amlove21]

Sad to see people will get their medical coverage cut. I am grateful for Medicare without it I would not have been able to afford my surgery and would have lost my whole kidney.

Who is getting their medical coverage cut? Specifically?

 

[Jaknight]

Who is getting their medical coverage cut? Specifically?

From what I’m reading, it’s going to hit a lot of people low-income families, older folks, rural hospitals. And yeah, I’m sure the Trump Corporation is trying to spin it like they’re just targeting “fraud,” and that it won’t affect anyone who really deserves it . But I trust the GOP with healthcare about as much as I trust the Democrats with 2A rights which is zero, and always will be zero.

 

[amlove21]

From what I’m reading, it’s going to hit a lot of people low-income families, older folks, rural hospitals. And yeah, I’m sure the Trump Corporation is trying to spin it like they’re just targeting “fraud,” and that it won’t affect anyone who really deserves it . But I trust the GOP with healthcare about as much as I trust the Democrats with 2A rights which is zero, and always will be zero.

The low-income families cohort is the largest area of fraud, waste, and abuse in the system. The talking point here is the SNAP program, where abuse is rampant. There may be index cases of low-income families being affected; there is breakage in every piece of legislation we do. It's not a zero sum game, it's a game of net positive and net negative.

Not sure what you mean by older adults or how they're impacted, the bill strengthens long-term care, efficiencies gained provide a healthier bottom line for seniors that need it, long-term care increased and focused, an increase in premiums is speculative at best, just a lie at worst.

Rural hospitals account for a total of 7% of spending (and that's how privatized hospitals generate revenue, by the way). There is actually a $25B subsidy for these hospitals to create jobs and offset the cuts.

To your bolded- do you mean Congress, Senate, and our elected officials? Republicans? Influencers? Who is in this Trump Corporation? I might apply. Everyone is going to spin and message, it's politics.

I have a myriad of issues with the BBB, for a lot of different reasons- but as I said before, the line of attack on medicare/medicaid is ham-handed fearmongering and misinformation from folks that haven't read it/understand it.