I thought of titling this "I knew it was coming" or "At last", but I didn't want people to think it directly involved me.
I have a rather unusual outlook, in regards to people, I always try to assume the best. In regards to "Them" - Politicians, et al, I tend to assume the worst.
Before I opened up this window, I read an article on my local news site. Medicaid cuts.
It really annoys me when I read "This is going to upset you" or "I know this is shocking" - I mean, it's like they're telling me how to feel. I won't do that.
First, I'm really glad we don't use Medicaid, although we probably qualify. No, I don't think we do. [Googling] The poverty rate for a 2 person Household is $13,000 a year. So, we are solidly "Low income".
Secondly; I've expected this. People with disabilities can be very expensive. Say Ron and I had a child with just the immune deficiency (for which I'm a carrier). I saw a documentary, filmed TEN YEARS ago, and the little boy ran up over a million dollars in medical care leading up to and covering his bone marrow transplant. Then they had the anti-rejection drugs, which I have been told run thousands a month, on top of that. His mother moved across the country with him, and they had to pay for her housing and living expenses on top of that, plus childcare for the healthy child, because Dad had to work so they wouldn't lose the house.
Hard truth: say a person with an ongoing chronic condition "costs" $50,000 a year. Or, the politicians could use it on food stamps. I know a guy with a small family, working part time. He gets $500 a month in food stamp benefits. They could support 9-10 families of voters, for the cost of one "gimp". 20-30 votes, or one.
That's voting math, for you. I expect many, many more cuts in the future.
It doesn't surprise me that they are cutting nursing home reimbursement; 44 Billion alone spent on them. From what I read today, they just "freed" up about 11 Billion to spend on other pet projects.
To my mind, I see the birth of the illegal nursing home; one that is not licensed. It's a horrible dilemma, one I tasted myself when I brought Ron home from the hospital.
Because Ron HAD taken a blood pressure medication, for one month, 10 years before his accident, an intern in the hospital decided to put Ron on a blood pressure medication, even though his pressure was completely in the normal range. The medication made him delusional, on top of the completely understandable fatigue and confusion.
He would wake me up repeatedly, every night (ha, nothing I've seen in years compares to that behavior), shouting at me, falling out of bed trying to get to the bathroom on his broken leg, and railing at the catheter. Once we got Ron off the "Whacko" blood pressure pills (which I found cause delusions as a side effect), he settled down nicely, but those couple weeks gave me a real empathy for caregivers of dementia, et all.
I can absolutely see the point where someone has to go into a nursing home. But now the government isn't going to pay? And people have to have a life, and work, and take a shower without worrying Mom's going to turn on the stove and try to boil a potholder. Yike.
God said it would get bad in the End Times, and I absolutely believe it. It's just sad to see my forebodings come to life.
God help us all!
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