Medicaid. Is it being abused?

mstigerlily · Jan 10, 2006

My contention was NOT that the U.S. is "the only country" that grants automatic citizenship. My statement was that "The first thing that needs to stop is if you have a baby here, that baby is automatically a citizen. You don't see people flying to France or England or Tahiti to have babies because **MOST** COUNTRIES don't have this particular law".

I don't have time to look up the citizen laws of each country but I did find an excellent article addressing this here:

http://www.rense.com/general54/anchorbabiesborn.htm

Also: http://www.americanpatrol.com/ANCHORBABIES/AnchorBabiesAllanWall.html

which stated Ireland, Britain, Australia and Switzerland (just four examples) do not give citizenship to just anyone who is born there. So I think your statement is incorrect

Actually, ANY CHILD BORN IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY is a citizen of that country.

As far as the California legislature, well I am taking it up with them. I do actively campaign and vote about issues dear to me and this is one of them. I am also discussing it here - but I didn't know these things were mutually exclusive.

Other links of interest:

http://members.lycos.co.uk/lamigra/NEWS/AnchorBabies940220SDUT.html

http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/anchorbaby_FAIR.html

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43275

wildcats · Jan 10, 2006

Candies, sodas, beer, wine, and any prepared foods. Also any paper, plastic or other non food items. If one is purchasing soda and candy, you are breaking the law. Suggest you go to your state's food stamp website. They have a list of what cannot be purchased. I have complained to a store manager when I saw someone buying candy with food stamps. The cashier was instructed not to allow it again.
Hope this clears the matter up for you.
Grannynurse:balloons:

Thanks for your response. The store I worked at never told us anything except that items that couldn't be purchased with food stamps would ring up on a separate balance when you hit the food stamp button on the register and thats exactly how it was. Non-food items, prepared foods, and beer, cigs, etc. would ring up as a separate total but the sodas and candy never did so I didn't know any better.

As someone else mentioned in my area food stamps are now on a card called an EBT card. Don't know if its like that everywhere.

mstigerlily · Jan 10, 2006

"face sheets"

YES - face sheets. Believe me, everyone knows. I work in a ritzy area of town at a hospital where only one OB takes Medi-Cal. Just seeing his name is a sign that person is a Medi-Cal recipient. In the last few months I've had two women from Mexico City come to deliver their babies (who were both lovely people and did indeed pay their bill in cash when discharged) and one of the things I heard in report is "cash pay". Why? Because that means they want to go home early and d/c paperwork, PKU, birth certificates, hearing test, vaccines all must be done before 24 hrs is up so this is something that gets passed on from shift to shift. Same thing with Medi-Cal recipients as if they want to extend their stay sometimes it isn't covered or they need treatments that aren't covered, etc.

LydiaNN · Jan 10, 2006

Gosh why did you edit the post? Thankfully I got your original one in my email.
OK I read through your posts and maybe I'm missing it, but this is the first I've heard from you that your point was "the system is broken". You kept saying your point was that illegal aliens don't get "full scope Medi-Cal" and that I needed to link to anywhere that said they did. I did link to an article which said that what they get is nearly the SAME AS full Medi-Cal.
If your point was merely "the system is broken", well we could have agreed about 20 posts ago.
I'm surprised I would make you consider leaving a thread, I thought our conversation rather benign. Sorry to have upset you so badly, that was not my intent.

I wasn't considering leaving the thread, just this particular conversation. It was just clear that I wasn't getting my point across, and I was tired. I'll try one last time; if emergency Medi-Cal is costing us as much as full scope, why the **** can't we just provide full scope for anyone who needs it, so that they don't have to do things like present at the ER to get an ear infection treated? Emergency Medi-Cal is NOT the same as full scope Medi-Cal. Even if a woman spends all her time pregnant, she still won't qualify for coverage for conditions that aren't impacted by pregnancy. Neither will the rest of her family. Costing the same and being the same aren't...well, the same.

grannynurse FNP student · Jan 10, 2006

Thanks for your response. The store I worked at never told us anything except that items that couldn't be purchased with food stamps would ring up on a separate balance when you hit the food stamp button on the register and thats exactly how it was. Non-food items, prepared foods, and beer, cigs, etc. would ring up as a separate total but the sodas and candy never did so I didn't know any better.
As someone else mentioned in my area food stamps are now on a card called an EBT card. Don't know if its like that everywhere.

There are several websites that provide information regarding who is eligible for food stamps and how their income is counted, as well as their monthly bills and how they are factured into eligibility. It is a rather lengthy application that is quite detailed. This past fall, my daughter filled one out. She had not been able to work for more then ten weeks and had not received her long term disability. And her employer would not offer her a light duty position until she informed him she need a letter for her application. Despite my income, from SSDI and my SIL's, we still qualified, given there were six people in our household. My daughter did not want to apply but she had no choice. She would not have bought the top cuts of meat but she would not have bought the cheapest either. Pound foolish and a penny wose.

Grannynurse:balloons:

grannynurse FNP student · Jan 10, 2006

The old analogy "You can lead a horse to water......" comes to mind.
And I couldn't imagine why the daughter "can't" get rid of the cats. I mean, I am an animal lover myself but come on.... when you choose some cats over your mom's airway/health...........:uhoh21:
I think there are some underlying family dynamics here and as much as we want to help people, they have to WANT to help themselves.
Personally, I think Social Services/counseling could come into play.

I'll let you in on a little secret, I am the mother, the patient. My daughter has had two of her cats more then twelve years and one more then eight. I have lived with her for two years. I have not asked my daughter to get rid of her cats. She does everything possible to keep their dander down and them restricted to her or my grandchildren bedroom. I have become acclimated to their dander and they no longer trigger a full blown asthma attack My current attacks appear to be triggered by the flucations in temperature, from 76 degrees to 40 degrees back up to 78 degrees. And after my SIL build my new room, they will be unable to get into my bedroom. That and my singulair should help solve that part of my asthma problem. Now if I could just do something about the temperature changes and the mold that triggers them.

Thanks for taking the time.

Grannynurse:balloons:

LeahJet, ASN, RN · Jan 10, 2006

I'll let you in on a little secret, I am the mother, the patient. Grannynurse:balloons:

May I respectfully say that I fail to see the need to deceive in order to make a point? You stated "I have a patient"..... and then set up a scenario that seemed like a simple case of non compliance.

I understand the point you are trying to make.... and there is such a word as "exacerbation" that we put in front of chronic conditions that are indeed a true emergency.

grammyr · Jan 10, 2006

Here's a scenario:

Father is a pharmacist, mother is a nurse and healthy boy is on Medicaid.

Is that abuse???:angryfire

LoriAlabamaRN · Jan 10, 2006

I don't disagree that there are people out there who legitimately need welfare. It's the people that simply refuse to get a job and then turn around with their hand out that get to me. It's not that there aren't jobs available. Any fast food place will tell you that. It's just horribly unfair that some people work in horrible conditions for minimum wage when others make far more than that by living off the state.

I live a few miles from a public housing complex that I pass by every night on my way into work. The parking area is full of cars, and I would say that mroe than half of those cars are newer than what I can afford to drive. I see groups of relatively young adults hanging out on the porches or in the parking lot. I don't understand why our society has made it rewarding not to work.

LydiaNN · Jan 10, 2006

Here's a scenario:
Father is a pharmacist, mother is a nurse and healthy boy is on Medicaid.
Is that abuse???:angryfire

Not necessarily. There are conditions that are so expensive to treat, that at least in California, there are income waivers. If treating the illness/disorder is expected to cost more than 20% of a family's income, the child can qualify.

Nurse Ratched, RN · Jan 10, 2006

Folks - a couple of posts have been problematic (personal attacks) and I would ask everyone to be mindful of keeping the focus on the topic, not the other poster. I would also suggest that everyone's individual experiences color their opinions. Simply because you have not personally seen a situation doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Please don't discount your fellow posters' experiences.

Also, there's a lot to be said for a good vent. We all have difficult jobs - please at least allow everyone the ability to gripe about it a little without being attacked for it. It's not aimed at anyone here, even if the situations may hit a little close to home.

grammyr · Jan 10, 2006

Not necessarily. There are conditions that are so expensive to treat, that at least in California, there are income waivers. If treating the illness/disorder is expected to cost more than 20% of a family's income, the child can qualify.

If parents and grandparents talk about how blessed they are to have healthy grandchildren, I can only guess that there isn't an expensive or chronic illness to treat.

I live in a small town, and nobody's kids get sick that everybody doesn't know it.

The thing that burns me up personally about Medicaid is not that the people who get it that really do need it , its the people who need it that can't get it. My 5 year old granddaughter was diagnosed with diabetes last year and because my son makes about 2,000 a year too much money, they couldn't get any help for her. Yes, they have insurance, but the deductible is 1000 per person and they have to pay for meds and file for reimbursement. Strips are about $1 each and she has to do checks at least 4 times a day, so it doesn't take long for that to add up. I guess that's what grandparents are for.