Medicaid. Is it being abused?

Amylcd · Jun 13, 2004

For those who complain about their tax money going for it..

When we were on medicaid i was working and paying out my taxes. Believe me, I paid out hundreds more than I used. So I look at it as MY money paying for my visits.

Lateefa · Jun 13, 2004

Then I dont understand how u can afford name brand clothes and cant afford to pay for food.-Sounds kind of silly of u to keep up with the Jones but cant afford food,clothing,child care and medical assistance for yuor children.:angryfire I a poor too but I do know my limits and if i had tried to keep up with the Jones I would not be a nurse right now. Its one of the sacrifices I had to make.

and get this--I am a nurse(before i was a Cna) and I still can't afford cable,even while working (full time) with 1 child and living with my parents!:angryfire ---To Kiyasmom:stone

SWFlorida · Jun 13, 2004

An interesting article on abuse of medicaid.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-drugmain1nov30.story

rnmi2004 · Jun 14, 2004

I have no doubt that abuse of Medicaid goes on, but I also know that many Medicaid recipients are unfairly judged.

A much, much bigger problem is corporate welfare. That one really makes me mad. :angryfire

HisTreasure, BSN, RN · Jun 15, 2004

Then I dont understand how u can afford name brand clothes and cant afford to pay for food.-Sounds kind of silly of u to keep up with the Jones but cant afford food,clothing,child care and medical assistance for yuor children.:angryfire I a poor too but I do know my limits and if i had tried to keep up with the Jones I would not be a nurse right now. Its one of the sacrifices I had to make.

and get this--I am a nurse(before i was a Cna) and I still can't afford cable,even while working (full time) with 1 child and living with my parents!:angryfire ---To Kiyasmom:stone

Mmmm... :uhoh3: It's so cute that you chose to call me out. I am not a bitter female, so I will not say what I would like to. Truly, you misread my other post which stated I went from living a $60,000+ lifestyle to having a husband who was injured on the job and laid off, thus causing us to live on my old part-time wages and his unemployment. I also said that I can not afford new things, but I keep the things I bought when I had decent income in good shape. If I can't afford new clothes, why would I mess up my old clothes just because they are name brand? My point is, just because you are poor doesn't mean you have to "look" poor. It is not really your business, but my parents pay my cable. And now my car note too. And I will pay them back as soon as I start my job at the Brightonian next Thursday. Yes, I will be going to school 35 hours a week and working damn near 40. I am so freakin Lazy!!!!!!!! :angryfire After my husband gets his critical surgery and re-enrolls in the Reserves I will be okay. He's not a lazy twenty-something, he is damn near fourty. Keep your rudeness to yourself, and your opinions humble. I don't judge and I find it quite unnerving that someone with your level of "perfectness" would. I don't keep up with the Jone's, and I also know my limits. That is why I went from living in a sprawling home in Fort Myers, FL with a pool and a swingset to a old condo in the middle of the ghetto. :uhoh3: Once again, I state. I did not honestly post my situation for judging. Only the Lord may judge anyone. I mean you know disrespect, and I want the best for everyone, so I'll just pray for the best for you and your child. God Bless. :)

veteranRN · Jun 15, 2004

"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?????"

Ouch, I am so glad you have never fallen upon hard times that were beyond your control. Society is not always responsible for the irresponsible, sometimes they are responsible for their own hard-working, moral, highly ethical people who sometimes need assistance due to circumstances beyond their control. I have been one of these people and it wasn't a result of my own action but that of my now ex-husband. I would NEVER want to be one of your patients knowing how judgemental you are. Do you stereotype absolutely everyone or just those that have fallen are hard times? Nothing like kicking someone when their down. :angryfire

RNtoJD · Jun 16, 2004

2) Just because we have a (federal) EMTALA law, doesn't make it reasonably and financially prudent. I speak fluent Spanish as a white man, and would NEVER expect anyone to speak English if I emigrated to said country. I would laugh at them for mandating 24/7 translators. The federal law mandating translators was our government's knee-jerk reaction to the liberal ACLU and it's lawyers, period.

Learn our language, I learned (and have TAUGHT) yours.

Sean

I work in an inner city hospital with a sizable Spanish speaking population. When I grumbled to a bilingual Peruvian doctor about the inability/unwillingness of these people to learn English, he opened my eyes by saying, "Their Spanish isn't much better." Another bilingual doc agreed w/this. Now I just complain about "stupid people" in general--seems to be more politcally correct, LOL. Bottom line is that you can't expect people who are illiterate in their own language to be able to learn a second one. It IS annoying though.

TexasPoodleMix · Jun 17, 2004

My gma. had to give up all she had until she had not a single penny left in order to get into a nursing facility. She is bedridden , had a small savings but could not afford full time care in the home. She had to jump thru all kinds of hoops yet some kid who gets pg. by 5 different guys gets all the medicaid she needs... makes me physically ill. I DO think we should take care of the elderly or those who fall on hard times, but not take care of people who make the same poor choices over and over and dont even attempt to better themselves. I have no sympathy for that . I used to work next door to a welfare office and would regularly see "families" going in , five or six kids, pregnant belly, driving a Benz or a Navagator :uhoh21:

SWFlorida · Jun 17, 2004

In our ER we had a frequent flyer who would show up at 3 am in the middle of the week. He would be really nasty to all of the staff and demand pain medication refills. He also knew the laws regarding providing a signer to translate for him. He would always only stay for 1 hour, screaming and yelling the entire time that unless we had a signer for him he wasnt going to pay for his visit and that unless we gave him his pain meds he would sue us. He went out of his way to be extremly disruptive. This was always well documented. Usually the poor lady who volunteered to come in and sign couldnt make it within the hour timeframe he had set when he hit our doors, and he knew this. Because of this loophole he recieved thousands of dollars of free care and lots of free scripts. He knew how to abuse the system. Finally we got a nurse on the night shift who was fluent in sign language. After he found this out he changed to a different ER.

redbarbtx · Jun 20, 2004

Interesting that your posting states your only luxuries are cable and internet........you say you can't make ends meet....yet, will hold on to your cable and internet. A conservative total of those 2 bills is about $60 dollars/month....or $720/year.

treddrn · Jun 20, 2004

I just hope that people will realize that the average family in America is about 2-3 paychecks away from being homeless. How many checks, if you lost your job, will it take for you to qualify for Medicaid. For most, 1 month. I believe there is a lot of abuse and I believe that it stems from the top. Our laws and rules are made with so many loopholes in it that some have figured out a way to abuse our system. It is tough being poor and it is very tough for a person to be making a lot of money and suddenly lose their job. I work in the ER and I see a lot of things that I could question. If the Medicaid rules say that you cannot be married to get assistance, then that couple is not going to get married so that there could be medical coverage for that baby. This will allow the woman to get prenatal services which we all know is important. Do you think this woman would still get prenatal services if she didn't have medicaid? Probably not and you know how dangerous that can be. Think about it....a woman giving birth to a baby with no medical history or interventions. Bad situation.

Just think again, how many paychecks are you from the POOR HOUSE?

vablueyes · Jun 20, 2004

I work in a rural ER, where probably 1/2 of the population is on Medicaid or Medicare. The Medicaid patients are for the most part, modest, gratefule for the coverage, and very polite to the staff in the ER. We do, however, have a handful who think that because it doesn't cost them, they can get whatever they want. I had one who had brought her little one in for a sore throat, and after the child was triaged, the mom said "I think I want to be seen, too." When I asked what was wrong, she said she THOUGHT she was getting a cold. I told her that a cold would last around seven days, and nothing could really be done, except to treat the symptoms with motrin or tylenol, and wait it out. She said "well, it's free, so I want to be seen." I told her, "it may be free for you, but it costs me. I'm a tax payer, who pays for your medical care, and I work here. Your visit won't pay the hospital very much, and hence, my co-workers and I won't get a raise this year, because you think it's all free." She laughed, and said "well, sister, that's your problem, aint it!" Of course, I relayed this to the doc, and he decided she needed IV rehydration, and she was terrified of needles, and left AMA! Hasn't been back for triffling stuff, but has been back with her children. I don't encourage it, but the doctors can certainly help out with this type of patient. Also, threatening to call Medicaid to report abuse has stopped a few who come in just looking for a work note...if they are sick, we have NO problem, but the ones who use us for stupid crap just burn us a new one.