From Counseling Policy

The Missouri legislature, looking at budget deficits and rising health care costs, voted to cut 90,000 people from their Medicaid rolls. 90,000 individuals have had the social safety net pulled from under them. When the changes take effect in August, elderly and disabled people with incomes that exceed the new cutoff - $579 a month - could lose their Medicaid coverage and be forced to move to nursing homes.

STL Today: "Gov. Matt Blunt signed legislation Tuesday that will scale back Medicaid, the government's $5 billion health care program for the poor.

The changes are expected to eliminate taxpayer-financed insurance coverage for about 100,000 parents, people with disabilities and elderly people. Thousands more will have to pay some of their medical bills.
[...]
Blunt said Medicaid was growing faster than Missouri taxpayers' ability to finance it."

KFVS: "Medicaid patients say they will no longer be able to afford things they need like medications, at home caregivers, and repairs to their wheelchairs. It’s not just Medicaid recipients who are feeling the brunt of these cuts though. These cuts have a trickle down effect, hitting doctors’ offices that rely heavily on Medicaid recipients. One Heartland medical center will probably have to cut certain services for its Medicaid patients soon."

NPR: "For disabled Missourians like 44-year old Irene Schivers, the situation is no less serious. Schivers spends her days in a mobile home she shares with two dogs, a computer and a collection of dolls. Cerebral palsy and lupus have made her unable to work. She says that the new guidelines, with would require her to take in less than $500 a month before Medicaid kicks in, will make her ration food and give her dogs away.

"They want us to die," says Schivers. "We are a burden on society, so they don't care. We don't work, so why should we get anything? Just go ahead and die."

Governor Blunt explained to Missouri citizens that it is morally wrong to raise taxes to pay for the Medicaid program, and he would therefore be forced to sign the budget into law. This question will face every state in the nation because health care costs are rising everywhere. Every state will have to choose between raising taxes, enacting meaningful health care reform, or sentencing America's most vulnerable people to abject poverty without government aid.

Counseling Policy Blog advocates that we stand up for the voiceless, and insist that lawmakers either shore up Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security Disability, Veterans' Benefits and the other vital health care programs protecting the poorest and sickest among us or create and follow through with meaningful health care reform that ensures quality health care for Americans who can't afford it.

The choice is stark: Either care for the poor and sick, or cut them off from government aid and leave them to fend for themselves. For those of you who don't work with Medicaid populations, know that these are families just like yours but with the twin yokes of poverty and health problems. Counselors will advocate for caring, for acting compassionately, for prioritizing the dignity of the sick and disabled.

When these people are forced into nursing home care or into the Emergency Rooms of Missouri hospitals, it is the citizens of Missouri who will pay higher hospital bills and higher nursing home prices. When jails become homeless shelters for the disabled poor, it is Missouri citizens who will subsidize building new jails or new residential care facilities. When families grow desperate, it is Missouri citizens who will bear the brunt. For Governor Blunt to claim that raising taxes is immoral while ensuring that every Missourian will pay more for their own health care is disingenuous at best. Governor Blunt is putting wealthy special interests above the needs of the disabled and above the reality of those citizens who will end up footing the bill.

If you live in Missouri, know that the fight isn't over. Next year's budget will be a new battle, and you can start now to ensure that these bad decisions are publicized and then reversed. For the rest of us, know that our statehouses are also looking at reduced federal money, shrinking industrial tax bases, and skyrocketing health care costs. It's only a matter of time before your state legislature is deciding whether to care for the sick, give tax breaks to the very rich, or create a health care system that is viable for every American.

Let your representatives know where you want them to stand when decision time comes.

CPB will post regularly about the proposed federal budget cuts, and we will do our best to monitor statehouses' moves regarding health care. It's up to you, however, to get involved and initiate change for the better. Make a call...Write a letter...run for office, it's your country and your responsibility. Go get 'em!