AZ Legislature: The biggest reason why Medicaid should not be a block grant

Rep. Paul Ryan's Road to Ruin budget plan (which was passed without one Democratic vote by the US House of Representatives recently) would change both Medicare and Medicaid so much that the programs would be unrecognizable.

He proposes to change Medicare to a voucher program-- which could lead to increased costs for patients and more medical bankruptcies-- and he proposes to change Medicaid into a block grant program and give the states authority to spend the funds as they see fit. Yikes!

Can you imagine what the Arizona Legislature would do with a Medicaid block grant? I can think of a few things...

• Give more corporate tax breaks.
• Privatize Medicaid and allow costs to run rampant (since taxpayers will be footing the bills. This will teach us discipline.)
• Legislate morality by denying women's reproductive health services.
• Let the free market decide where community health centers and hospitals would be located. (Good-bye, El Rio.)
• Provide services everywhere in Arizona except Pima County. (It could happen. Look at all of the anti-Tucson and anti-Pima County legislation they passed this year.)

Our state Legislature is unscrupulous, and our governor is working beyond her pay grade-- way beyond.

If you don't think giving these wing-nuts more healthcare money to waste is a bad idea, check out this story from today's Arizona Daily Star...

AHCCCS ready to start cutting services Sunday

They really don't care what happens to the sick, the poor or the young. After all, that would be socialist.

Reposted from the Tucson Progressive blog on TucsonCitizen.com