Gov. Jan Brewer is no stranger to lawsuits. It looks as is she may be facing another one. This time it won’t be from the federal government, but rather from Democratic state lawmakers who are up in arms over her attempt to drop the extended coverage to approximately 250,000 Arizonans who have been riding the health care gravy train, better known as AHCCCS.
Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) is Arizona’s “Cadillac” health care program that has been providing free health care to low income Arizonans for years. AHCCCS, a Medicaid entitlement program, was extended a decade ago to cover over a quarter of a million state residents and this extension needs to be put out of our misery. The state of Arizona can’t afford it and the rest of us who pay for our own health care have had enough.
First, it comes down to economics. As a state, we are facing our fourth straight year of budget deficits. State lawmakers face an estimated $763 million shortfall this year and $1.15 billion on 2012. These deficits are unsustainable, and if we don’t make some tough decisions, will drive this state into financial ruin.
Opponents will criticize Gov. Brewer and other Republicans for being heartless and not caring for the poor. Quite the contrary. Arizona is one of six states that provides this most generous health care handout. It doesn’t come down to whether we want to continue this free health care extension. It comes down the fact that we can’t afford it.
Arizona is like any hard-working family. When we face tough financial times we need to make cuts. It is paramount that we find ways to balance the budget.
I, for one, support the governor’s decision to drop coverage to the nearly 250,000 Arizonians who have been freeloading off this extension of no cost coverage. I’m not rich. I don’t make a ton of money. I am sure not wealthy by the president’s standards, but I have made health care a priority for my family.
My wife has a pre-existing condition that has proven to be expensive. I pay more than $800 per month to ensure that my family is covered. That’s a lot of money and results in financial hardships at times for our family of four. We get no assistance from the state of Arizona. And, on top of the $800 per month I shell out to make sure my family is covered, I have been paying additional monies through my taxes to provide health care for others.
I keep thinking of the car I could be driving if I was on AHCCCS. $800 per month could buy me a sweet ride. Again, I make the sacrifices so that my family is covered in the event that my wife’s pre-existing condition flares up again. I am gracious to my fellow Arizonians by not putting my financial onus on them. I make the sacrifice so you don’t have to.
I don’t mind helping less fortunate people, but as President Obama has clearly pointed out to America, we all need to make sacrifices and we all should have “skin” in the game. Imagine if the 250,000 childless adults that will lose coverage were paying a mere $50 per month for their health care. That would equate to more than $12 million per month or $147 million per year. Now multiply that by the 10 years that the AHCCCS coverage extension has been implemented. You get the point.
No matter what side of the aisle you fall on, lawmakers need to make tough decisions and entitlement programs need to be cut. Whether you like her or not, Gov. Brewer is making these tough decisions for the betterment of the great state of Arizona.
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Michael Weinstein is co-host of the “The Mike & Winey Show” and can be heard from 7-8 a.m. Sundays at KFYI (550 AM). He can be reached at winey@mikeandwiney.com.
Dale Whiting posted at 8:45 am on Thu, Feb 24, 2011.
Whiney's observation that AHCCCS has become a Cadillac among other Medicaid systems is factually correct. It became one under Republican leadership. Easy come, easy go. Just do not blame any particular party for its creation or demise.
P.S. Whiney
$800 per month is cheap, very cheap.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 9:07 am on Thu, Feb 24, 2011.
I can just hear our...tax-payer supported PBS-ASU Channel 8, KAET'S..."HORIZON" TV show Moderator this coming Friday at 7pm.
Ted Simmons will look all wide-eyed and ask the "Journalist Roundtable's"...3 Liberal to flat-out Left-Wing "local" reporters..yet again....."WHAT IS WRONG WITH ARIZONA". Then the "feeding frenzy" will commence. Be sure and watch it this week......THERE IS A HUGE...."BAIT BALL" (as we ocean fisherman call a bunch of bait fish attacked by sharks)....OF ARIZONA LEGISLATION FOR THEM TO ..."CHEW-ON".... THIS WEEK.
Now let's get to the facts...Arizona and 20 (twenty) other States (so fare...it's only February you know)... have had to cut back or eliminate many of their medical benefits to....SINGLE AND MARRIED..WORKING.. ADULTS WITH NO CHILDREN WHO FALL UNDER THE POVERTY LINE.
The Liberal/Left-wing TV reporters, TV commentators, TV moderators, local Newspaper reporters and columnists will try and portray our great State of Arizona as the.."ONLY STATE IN THE NATION"....not just one of the other 20 States in the same boat)..that are having to curtail the.."LIBERAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF THE 1980'S and 1990'S.
Well, Folks, I am sorry to have to tell these..."PUNDITS and NEWS GURU'S"....but......"THE GRAVY TRAIN HAS DERAILED".............THE "SOCIALIST" HAND-OUTS ARE NO MORE...........the old CLINTON/CARTER/KENNEDY....DEMOCRAT....CRADLE TO GRAVE....BIG GOVERNMENT WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU....SOCIALISM IS A THING OF THE PAST.
Yes, something called the...SECOND DEPRESSION or the RECESSION FROM YOU-KNOW-WHERE...........is upon us.
Dale Whiting posted at 11:29 am on Thu, Feb 24, 2011.
Leon,
Your post and mine probably were so close together that you did not get to read mine first. So let me quote you first:
"'THE GRAVY TRAIN HAS DERAILED"............THE "SOCIALIST" HAND-OUTS ARE NO MORE...........the old CLINTON/CARTER/KENNEDY....DEMOCRAT....CRADLE TO GRAVE....BIG GOVERNMENT WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU....SOCIALISM IS A THING OF THE PAST."
Now where both Whiney and I point out that "AHCCCS has become a Cadillac among other Medicaid systems . . . correct. It became one under Republican leadership." are you saying that the Republican office holders who made AHCCCS that Cadillac "CRADLE TO GRAVE....BIG GOVERNMENT" program are socialists?
Gotcha!
I am saying that many of them were Conservatives, but that today's Republicans are not!. They are Neo-cons, even "born agains" innocent and ignorant of the Conservatist achievements of our past.
mesateacher posted at 11:45 am on Thu, Feb 24, 2011.
This is such a tough issue. Health care is incredible expensive, and it's tragic that some people will go without. But then, as a 40+ year worker, I am fed up with paying for the freeloaders. Maybe we should nationalize health care so everyone has something. But in the meantime, given the drastic budget cuts, I have an idea: how about all of the liberals, communists, and bleeding hearts who think health care should be free pool THEIR money, start a not-for-profit hospital, hire the doctors (who will want to work for low salaries, right?) and take care of the poor and cheap. See how far they get.
Slabside posted at 12:48 pm on Thu, Feb 24, 2011.
Mesateacher, well said. Dale, you are 10lbs. of manure stuffed into a 5lb. bag as usual. Neo-Libs like yourself are the main reason AHCCCS has gotten out of control the way it is. You DemocRATS are always trying to give those that won't work everything on a platter at the expense of the working person. Go peddle your made up straw man spins at MoveOn.org where they belong you liberal shill.
NOTafreeloader posted at 6:18 pm on Thu, Feb 24, 2011.
I can't even begin to understand how you feel comfortable boxing yourself into such a narrow-minded view of poor people, Mr. Weinstein. People on public assistance are not living like fat rats on the state nickel...if you truly believe that, I challenge you to try it for a while. It is a horribly difficult and humiliating experience. I should know, I spent a grand total of 2 months on public assistance, trying to get back on my feet after job loss. TWO MONTHS. I am working again, as of 2 days ago, and I am contacting DES right now to tell them to cancel my benefits for AHCCCS and foodstamps. Not EVERYONE on public assistance is just trying to get a free ride.... and I can guarantee you that anyone who is, finds out really quickly that public assistance is just that... ASSISTANCE, not full support. I used what I needed, while I needed it, and I am not taking one more nickel than that. I have paid taxes for a lot of years, so spending a few of those dollars now shouldn't be a big deal. Yes, I understand that everyone needs to sacrifice, but asking the very poorest members of our state to shoulder this big of a burden alone is really not right. And keep in mind that Democrat lawmakers did not pass the AHCCCS extension to childless adults...that was a voter initiative. The people spoke on that one. For the record, I am a registered Republican. The first time I ever used unemployment was in December, the only time I ever used food stamps and public assistance for health care was in January and February. $50 a month for health care would be a stellar thing to find... if I didn't have pre-existing conditions that would make that impossible. And Obamacare doesn't go into effect for a couple of YEARS. Your comments were pretty callous to a lot of people who really need help, and who are not just bilking the other people of Arizona for a free ride. I venture to guess that the majority of people who need AHCCCS are just your average person, like me, who has fallen on hard times. You might try looking at it from our point of view sometime. It is a tough issue, I will grant you that, but it isn't as cut and dry as you might think.
Dale Whiting posted at 10:42 am on Fri, Feb 25, 2011.
Slabside,
For once Whiney and I agree. And you call me a liberal? Is Whiney one, too? All I did was point out that AHCCCS was created and enhanced under Rebuplican leadership!
Does truth hirt so bad that logic and reason escape you?
LinMesa posted at 3:43 pm on Fri, Feb 25, 2011.
Michael, you should get down on your knees every day and thank God that your income is large enough for you to be able to pay for your health care.
notafreeloadereither posted at 9:11 pm on Mon, Feb 28, 2011.
There isn't an ounce of common sense within this article. If you can afford $800/mo for health insurance, congrats, you haven't lost your job yet. I'm sorry that your employer may not pay into employee health care requiring you to pay so much. Most people would be more than willing to pay what they can. I may agree with income adusted co-pay for medicaid benefits but to believe that current users are getting this for free is crazy. Being unemployed, homeless, sick, injured, abused, and broke is not without it's costs. To do away with this assistance, will again cost YOU more in the wake of it's affects. Yes, you should get down on your knees and pray...............
Moderation posted at 3:46 pm on Wed, Mar 9, 2011.
I am Fiscally a conservative but socially much more liberal. I work in medical care where many of our patients are AHCCCS. Cuts will have a huge effect on our poor's health. Don't think for a minute that you are just thinking about people who take advantage of the system. Try fighting cancer and then losing you job because you can't work and then your insurance! What happens then? Well you are referred to Hospice or sent home to die, because you can't afford the treatments. Seen it happen. We can't afford as a State to keep running huge deficits either. Cuts do have to happen. But don't just sit and think that it doesn't mean people are going to suffer or even die as a result! That is just head in the sand. Also believe me that it may balance the state budget, but watch as the hospital systems in the state take the hit with layoffs and cuts in services! I will be interested to see where things end up then. The whole healthcare system of the state is going to be on the chopping block. I just can't see any other way around it though. It is going to get worse before it gets better.
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