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Snakeadelic · 02-27-2017, 10:19 AM

The reason my mental health has suffered severely over the last few months since the election isn't Trump himself. It's the lasting effects his actions could have on government functions very important to the quality and survivability of my own life. I saw ACA and either Medicaid or Medicare mentioned in an earlier post, and a lot of my own concerns spring from the area of the future of health care for the unemployable.

The GOP's treatment of the Affordable Care Act has already rendered 70,000 people in my home state uninsured...many of them small children...in a state with a population of barely a million. Last time I checked on planned changes for Medicaid (not Medicare; I'm not on Medicare for anything) in 2007, a freakin' medical journal was warning its subscribers that the "Plan A" at the time was:

Turn Medicare into a voucher program, where the client is given a voucher for whatever cash value is deemed appropriate to their medical care, and the patient must find a doctor or health plan that will accept it.

Turn Medicaid into a coupon program, where the client is given a non-cash-redeemable coupon and must find an insurance carrier that will accept it and issue a policy. Medicaid isn't a fully federal program; they match each state's contribution or something like that. Plan A includes basing the federal contribution on the state's tax base (so with our measly 1 million, we're pretty screwed as a state on that one) and adding fixed caps to how much will be matched for each state. The plan also included billing patients not just for copays for every visit and prescription but requiring Medicaid participants to pay premiums on their health care AND prescription policies. It also included time limitations on Medicaid eligibility that would be dependent on the insured's ability to churn out job applications not just until they got a job but until they got a job that would lead to employer-paid insurance!

I did that job-mill crap for Food Stamps back when they still came as books of paper coupons. 10 apps and 2 interviews a week were required. I kept having to re-apply for Food Stamps several times a year; any job would do so I'd end up telemarketing again--but I have proven unable to sell anyone anything over the phone and never met my quotas so I'd get fired and the whole mess started over.

After I read that and described my responses and concerns to my therapist...

...She forbade me to read up on politics and put me on a diet of Valium and chocolate for a couple of weeks until I could get my brain settled down. Now, any time I start fussing about the future of my medical insurance, I wash down a Valium with something chocolate and have a better day. I do not have a good head for politics, which is one reason I'm grateful I never tried to get a long-term office job.

Also, I find the timing VERY suspicious on a recent occurrence. After 9 years on "permanent" disability, about 2 weeks ago I suddenly get a letter from Social Security demanding that I prove I'm still disabled. I'm not the only one, either--people all over the area I live in are suddenly getting these. I spoke last week with a fellow whose wife had just gotten the same letter, in her case requiring her to prove that after 14 years she is, in fact, still blind. Lucky for me, I already had the necessary appointments in place and the timing will just barely squeak by if I Priority mail the letter back. My therapist has already signed off with a very professionally-worded "Aaaaahahahahahaa NO." I see my MD in 2 days and my Valium prescriber the very day I have to send the letter & proof back, and there is little doubt both will concur with the therapist.

I'm still therapeutically banned from following politics, tho.

02-27-2017, 10:19 AM	#26
Snakeadelic Banned Join Date: May 2015 Posts: 660	The reason my mental health has suffered severely over the last few months since the election isn't Trump himself. It's the lasting effects his actions could have on government functions very important to the quality and survivability of my own life. I saw ACA and either Medicaid or Medicare mentioned in an earlier post, and a lot of my own concerns spring from the area of the future of health care for the unemployable. The GOP's treatment of the Affordable Care Act has already rendered 70,000 people in my home state uninsured...many of them small children...in a state with a population of barely a million. Last time I checked on planned changes for Medicaid (not Medicare; I'm not on Medicare for anything) in 2007, a freakin' medical journal was warning its subscribers that the "Plan A" at the time was: Turn Medicare into a voucher program, where the client is given a voucher for whatever cash value is deemed appropriate to their medical care, and the patient must find a doctor or health plan that will accept it. Turn Medicaid into a coupon program, where the client is given a non-cash-redeemable coupon and must find an insurance carrier that will accept it and issue a policy. Medicaid isn't a fully federal program; they match each state's contribution or something like that. Plan A includes basing the federal contribution on the state's tax base (so with our measly 1 million, we're pretty screwed as a state on that one) and adding fixed caps to how much will be matched for each state. The plan also included billing patients not just for copays for every visit and prescription but requiring Medicaid participants to pay premiums on their health care AND prescription policies. It also included time limitations on Medicaid eligibility that would be dependent on the insured's ability to churn out job applications not just until they got a job but until they got a job that would lead to employer-paid insurance! I did that job-mill crap for Food Stamps back when they still came as books of paper coupons. 10 apps and 2 interviews a week were required. I kept having to re-apply for Food Stamps several times a year; any job would do so I'd end up telemarketing again--but I have proven unable to sell anyone anything over the phone and never met my quotas so I'd get fired and the whole mess started over. After I read that and described my responses and concerns to my therapist... ...She forbade me to read up on politics and put me on a diet of Valium and chocolate for a couple of weeks until I could get my brain settled down. Now, any time I start fussing about the future of my medical insurance, I wash down a Valium with something chocolate and have a better day. I do not have a good head for politics, which is one reason I'm grateful I never tried to get a long-term office job. Also, I find the timing VERY suspicious on a recent occurrence. After 9 years on "permanent" disability, about 2 weeks ago I suddenly get a letter from Social Security demanding that I prove I'm still disabled. I'm not the only one, either--people all over the area I live in are suddenly getting these. I spoke last week with a fellow whose wife had just gotten the same letter, in her case requiring her to prove that after 14 years she is, in fact, still blind. Lucky for me, I already had the necessary appointments in place and the timing will just barely squeak by if I Priority mail the letter back. My therapist has already signed off with a very professionally-worded "Aaaaahahahahahaa NO." I see my MD in 2 days and my Valium prescriber the very day I have to send the letter & proof back, and there is little doubt both will concur with the therapist. I'm still therapeutically banned from following politics, tho.