Washington, DC - “The Affordable Care Act has proven itself deficient on many levels since the Democrats in Congress enacted it in 2010, without a single Republican vote to be found. But, Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion component is one of the most egregious examples of its failure,” according to Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens.
There’s growing evidence that many Medicaid patients throughout the country are dying as they wait for care as a result of the expansion, which created a new category of patients—able-bodied adults, as young as 19 years of age, with incomes below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. This, despite the fact that Medicaid was designed to serve the needs of the most helpless citizens including seniors and the disabled.
“A new study by the Foundation for Government Accountability may have exaggerated the numbers. They say that nearly 22,000 patients have died in states that bought into the expansion scheme as a result of what some are calling the Medicaid Expansion Deathtrap. Whether the number is inflated is not the issue. There’s sufficient cause for concern that needy patients are dying as data collected by the Illinois Department of Human Services shows,” says Weber.
The data reveals that 752 Illinoisans on the state’s Medicaid waiting list have died waiting for needed care since expansion was adopted in that state. And, the addition of able-bodied patients appears to have overloaded the system. More than 650,000 of them have already signed up, twice as many as expected. And, the enrollment pace remains steady.
“It’s a prime example of what is wrong with taking a ‘government knows best’ attitude toward healthcare.”
Currently, 18 states have opted not to participate in the Medicaid Expansion scheme because, as some healthcare experts say, it has been shown to have a detrimental impact on their budgets. And, they say, it can also put a strain on the resources available to them.
Weber says “there’s little doubt that Medicaid on its own is not a viable means of providing for the most needy of our citizens when it comes to healthcare. It’s time we try an out-of-the-box solution to help those in need. AMAC has shown that by providing tax breaks to medical professionals who treat the poor for free it would result in millions of the poorest among us having direct access to health services when they need it. We conducted a survey of several hundred doctors and 85% said that they are ready and willing to participate in such a plan. If most family physicians took 20 patients, seven million needy people would be covered without the government getting involved in the decision-making process.”
The AMAC chief says the advocacy organization has been lobbying Congress to pass legislation making such tax breaks for medical professionals the law. And, Weber is optimistic that it will happen, noting that he expects such a Pro Bono healthcare tax bill will be introduced in Congress this year.
