Medicaid. Is it being abused?

Specialties Emergency

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Medicaid was a great idea when first introduced to assure that even the very poor could get quality health care. I just wonder when I see someone drive up in a newer car come up to the triage desk in designer clothes and lots of gold jewelry and they are on medicaid. I know of many who are the working middle class who are struggling to pay their own insurance premiums. Why do so many folks get a free ride? Or am I missing something here?

I agree with the above poster. And yes, I most certainly agree it is being abused. When I was in the assistance office to try to get food stamps for my family, there was an amazing amount of women in there bragging about how many children they had and wanted more....they are already on welfare, why more kids if you aren't already pregnant? I don't get it! We are busting our butts trying to make ends meet and I am going to school to be able to have a good job to help out here at home, and we can barely get anything. Go figure! This is one subject that irritates me to no end!

We have health insurance through my husband's employer but right now (just this year) we already have over $3,000 we owe just in co-pays for medical bills. Of course, we don't qualify for medicaid to help us.

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Specializes in Emergency Room/corrections.
A few weeks ago, I was discharging a patient from the ER. The MD wrote a prescription for benadryl. I gave the script to the patient and also said you can buy this over the counter if you want to. (it was 1 am in the morning-thought it would be easier just to buy it OTC than to wait for a pharmacy...) Anyway, the patient smirked and said "well it's free for me" and starting laughing. And she waas being serious! I was so mad I just walked out the door.

I once had a pt come in with c/o "toothache". while she was there she said her son needed his finger looked at, I checked him out and he had a hangnail! I asked her if she really wanted to pay for an ER visit for a hangnail and she quickly informed me that she had Medicaid and she didnt have to PAY for anything in this hospital..... alrighty then...

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How about the young teenage girls who end up pregnant. Its almost an automatic qualification for full medicaid insurance, housing and food stamps. This can go on for generations.

Perhaps the government should tax those who have children out of wedlock as a burden to society. This may encourage teens to practice birth control. Those who are able to care for their children could receive a tax break if they show they have proper insurance, a home, and a full time job.

Is the system geared for the achievers or the irresponsible?

I totally agree! My husband and I have no children, and we pay 30% of our income in taxes, and do not get tax refunds.

There is no logical reason to reward those who add to the problem of teen and unwed pregnancy.

If a person can support the children they create, then that is a whole other matter.

I just hate the fact that so many get a free ride as a reward for their irresponsible actions.

I can understand running into rough circumstances, and needing some TEMPORARY assistance, but these people who make it a way of life are beneath contempt.

I wish that some one would invent a shot that could be given at birth, which would prevent pregnancy. The only way to become pregnant would be to take an antidote. A person would have to be at least 21 years old and finacially able to support a child in order to qualify for the antidote.

Then, all pregnacies would be intended and wanted.

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:]

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Most[/i] people also know financial and marital status are NOT

a credible or intelligent indicator of someone's parenting ability.Especially in the 21st century.

:rolleyes: Probably not even worht my effort to state the obvious. :rolleyes:

Having a license does not guarantee that a nurse is competent, either. However, it is some type of minimal standard.

Parents should be required to meet some type of minimal standards, as well.

I do think, however, that this would be nearly impossible to acheive without violating a person's civil rights.

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Specializes in Emergency room, med/surg, UR/CSR.

I don't have a problem with people needing temporary assistance or those that are working but making so little that they need some type of medical coverage. What I have a problem with is people coming in to the ER with several kids in tow on medicaid.

I don't understand how they assign docs for medicaid patients but so many of them come in because their doc is too far away. Our hospital wrote off something like 74 million dollars in uncompensated medicare and medicaid care, in addition to the charity cases. It is such a crime. Especially when I think about the elderly and how they are getting their benefits cut and there are people who are blantanty abusing the system.

Someone was right when they said that you can't type cast these people. Loss of jobs hits across all financial levels. In fact, more and more people are having their jobs downsized or shipped over seas. These are the people that should get the temporary help, not these deadbeat welfare as a way of life morons that keep having babies to get more money. Or these immigrants that can't speak our language who bring their kids in for fevers or coughs and expect us to have an interpretor there 24 hours a day, seven days a week; plus they are on welfare! Its no wonder that social security isn't going to be there when I need it, let alone my kids. These thieves are stealing it right now by abusing the system.

Sorry if I sound like a bad person, I'm not really uncompassionate, but really, something has got to give. I'm tired of seeing hard working people get screwed by the system by being turned down for assistance, being hounded for not paying bills fast enough, and losing jobs because their company found someplace cheaper to produce their goods.

Pam

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Specializes in Emergency room, med/surg, UR/CSR.
Having a license does not guarantee that a nurse is competent, either. However, it is some type of minimal standard.

Parents should be required to meet some type of minimal standards, as well.

I do think, however, that this would be nearly impossible to acheive without violating a person's civil rights.

I agree but it seems like a catch-22. When not violating a person's civil rights causes other people to go without, the something is very wrong. I wish I knew what a workable solution would be. I see nothing wrong with limiting the number of children a person is allowed to have if they are going to be on welfare. I would gladly allow my taxes to go for depo shots or norplants to eliminate the rising number of children being raised on welfare. I guess that makes me a horrible person, sorry.

Pam

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Someone was right when they said that you can't type cast these people. Loss of jobs hits across all financial levels. In fact, more and more people are having their jobs downsized or shipped over seas. These are the people that should get the temporary help, not these deadbeat welfare as a way of life morons that keep having babies to get more money. Or these immigrants that can't speak our language who bring their kids in for fevers or coughs and expect us to have an interpretor there 24 hours a day, seven days a week; plus they are on welfare! Its no wonder that social security isn't going to be there when I need it, let alone my kids. These thieves are stealing it right now by abusing the system.

Sorry if I sound like a bad person, I'm not really uncompassionate, but really, something has got to give. I'm tired of seeing hard working people get screwed by the system by being turned down for assistance, being hounded for not paying bills fast enough, and losing jobs because their company found someplace cheaper to produce their goods.

Pam

THANK YOU, PAM!!! A standing "O" is in order!!!!
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I guess it all boils down to responsibility. Should each person be responsible for his/her own welfare or should society be responsible for the irresponsible? I was always taught that once you hit the age of 18 you were responsible for your own actions. No one owed you a living. If you chose to have children, you were responsible and accountable for that decision, Where did our society go so terribly wrong?????

.

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You also have to remember that people may have the money to have children and then circumstances change. I was also on the patch and got pregnant with my last...so there wasn't much choice in that one. (we got dh fixed to avoid that surprise again!)

I was just talking with a hospital administrator in their billing office yesterday (about my bills) and her and I were discussing how screwed up the system is that someone trying so hard, like we are, cannot get assistance and others that laze around and have more kids just to get more money, etc have a free ride. She was fully aware of my monetary problems and even suggested just adding my hospital bills to our bankruptcy that we are filing.

There are a lot of problems with the system and they won't get fixed until someone with the power decides to really focus on it.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

Maybe in NY it's different... Some people jump through hoops to get assistance who really need it. Attending workshops, job training, and counseling before they are even given help. Others slip right through, because it seems they are "grandfathered in". Meaning, it's generational. I do know the system is abused. The state knows it, too. Here in NY I think it is a lifelong five or seven year maximum for public assistance, including Medicaid. I think that is awesome. They offer some transitional programs for people who, after that period expires, still need help.

In reply to appearances. I wear name brand clothes, department store make-up, and expensive perfume. We have nice furniture in our apartment, and I own a Coach bag and some Prada shoes. My car is only a 99, but it looks brand new because we keep it cleaned and hand waxed. My children are well dressed and clean. But I'm poor. Seriously. These are all things from before my husband lost his job. Granted, I am not on full welfare, I do receive assistance in the form of food stamps and Medicaid. My kids need insurance. I get childcare assistance. I am a student and my husband is laid off and trying to renew his disability. Last year I was a SAHM with a husband who brought home $60,000 plus bonuses. Our bills reflected that type of income, and now we are cut to less than $20,000. We can't make ends meet... and it's hard. Even now I am crying. Pull-ups for one child, diapers for two. It's expensive! However, if someone seen me they would have NO idea that I receive assistance or that I am struggling the way I am. I carry myself with pride and I bring my children up with pride. I provide what I can, and I take good care of the remnants of our past life. It'll be over a year before I can contribute fully to our financial situation. Our only luxury is cable and internet. And I don't feel I am abusing the system.

Basically, many people do. But every situation is different, and you can't judge a persons circumstances based upon appearances alone.

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