Bill Clinton "Reminds" Dems About Medicaid Cuts

     We can talk about the "elephant in the room"-Mitt Romney's tax returns-all we want. Last night, though Clinton talked about something else everyone has ignored, even we donkeys-the steep cuts to Medicaid.

     The reason for this is no doubt political: the Medicare beneficiaries are perceived as middle class taxpayers who have a right to benefits they paid for out of their paycheck each week.

     Medicare, however, is mostly about poor people-ie, it seems like welfare. A funny thing has happened now though. Clinton seems to have singehandedly made Medicaid an issue:

     "Democrats are poised to open a new and potent attack on Mitt Romney’s proposed governing agenda. And they have Bill Clinton to thank."

     http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/09/following-clinton-dems-prep-attack-on-romney-plan-to-slash-medicaid.php?ref=fpa

     So the Big Dog has give the Dems their voice on Medicaid cuts.

     "For largely political reasons, Democrats have devoted a great deal of time and effort to attacking Romney’s plan to phase out traditional Medicare and very little attacking his much more abrupt plan to slash Medicaid spending by a third and turn the program over to the states. That’s because Medicare is perceived as a politically bulletproof retirement program that beneficiaries have earned, whereas Medicaid’s main function is less politically palatable: providing health insurance to poor people."

     "But even though they constitute a minority of eligible beneficiaries, the overwhelming majority Medicaid’s expenditures cover health care costs for elderly people in nursing homes, and disabled people. Moreover, though they only constitute about 20 percent of Medicaid’s expenditure, about half of Medicaid’s enrollees are children, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation."

      "Here’s how Clinton put it. “They also want to block-grant Medicaid, and cut it by a third over the coming 10 years. Of course, that’s going to really hurt a lot of poor kids. But that’s not all. Lot of folks don’t know it, but nearly two-thirds of Medicaid is spent on nursing home care for Medicare seniors who are eligible for Medicaid. … And a lot of that money is also spent to help people with disabilities, including a lot of middle-class families whose kids have Down syndrome or autism or other severe conditions. And honestly, let’s think about it, if that happens, I don’t know what those families are going to do.”

      Interestingly, it was the Republicans who immediately recognized that Clinton had put Medicaid back on the table for political discussion.

      "Coming off last night’s speech, I was struck by how many Republicans said Clinton had changed the dynamic of the election by injecting GOP cuts to Medicaid into the discussion."
  
      http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/09/clinton_unveils_medicaid_kraken.php?ref=fpblg