Congress' plan to cut Medicaid threatens Alabama's rural communities

[yallerdawg]

Source: al.com, by Jim Carnes, policy director for Arise Citizens' Policy Project, a statewide nonprofit coalition of 150 congregations and organizations working to improve public policies that affect low-income Alabamians.

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Medicaid is a critical lifeline for 24 percent of Alabama's rural and small-town residents, and the deep cuts to Medicaid being considered right now by Congress would have a harmful and disproportionate impact on our children, seniors and families in need. 

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About 52 percent of children living in non-metro areas of Alabama are covered by Medicaid and ALLKids (known in other states as the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP), compared to 42 percent in metro areas. Nationally, the researchers found a direct connection between increases in Medicaid and CHIP coverage and reductions in the rate of uninsured children in small towns and rural areas.

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The study also found that Medicaid covers a higher percentage of adults living in small towns and rural areas (14 percent) than in our state's metro areas (11 percent). Many adults covered by Medicaid are parents or caregivers, and when they have health care coverage, they are better able to provide children with the care they need to grow and thrive. Medicaid also helps improve financial security by protecting the entire family against medical debt and bankruptcy.

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Medicaid is a lifeline for the rural parts of our state. It ensures that the most vulnerable among us -- children, seniors, and people with disabilities -- can get the care they need. It keeps our rural hospitals running and able to serve patients who otherwise would be forced to drive long distances to get care. City dwellers sometimes forget that rural health care can be a life-saver for any traveler who has a highway emergency.  

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Read it all at: http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/06/congress_plan_to_cut_medicaid.html#comments

[DetlefK]

1. So what? They want Medicaid cuts. They voted for them. Where's the problem?

I don't see the problem. They get what they voted for. They willingly made that decision.

Republican voters don't give a fuck about anybody but themselves.
They LOVE Trump's immigrant-hatred precisely until the lack of cheap labor threatens their wallet.
They LOVE Trump's cuts to social programs as long as the cuts ruin other peoples' lives.

Why are we supposed to feel bad for them????????

[yallerdawg]

2. The rural Democrats - even though an apparent minority in parts of Alabama...

should just fucking die?

Your German roots are showing, my friend.

[DetlefK]

3. So, what is your proposal? To turn Alabama blue?

The people there will never leave the Republican party. Never.

There is no argument that could convince these people to vote democratic. Because these people vote by guts, not by logic. That's how Trump won rural America: By appealing to their guts and making fantastical promises.

Alabama is red. Alabama will stay red forever. Republican policies will kill people. And the people of Alabama will still vote republican. There is nothing anybody can do about that. And I refuse to get my panties in a twist over an unwinnable cause.

[yallerdawg]

4. Until 2010, Alabama had a Democratic legislature...

Democratic statewide officeholders, Democratic DC representatives (down to one now), and we have many, many Democrats in local and county positions.

You don't know shit about Alabama.

Thanks for your 2¢. And you know what 2¢ will get you.

[DetlefK]

5. Sorry for my hyperbole.

It's just that I read these stories over and over again how people vote GOP, vote to screw other people, and then we are supposed to feel sorry for them once the GOP screws them.