Medicaid. Is it being abused?

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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?

How judgmental is that statement? If she says she had no other options, who are we to debate her statement? In essence, calling her a liar?

What is an option for one person may not be an option for the next. It is a blessing that you were able to provide medical care for your children because you could afford it. Perhaps you made sacrifices to do it, and that is wonderful too, but chances are what you sacrificed were luxuries or did without the extras. Many of us find ourselves in that same predicament right now. I'm fairly certain you didn't have to decide between providing food for your children or paying for COBRA insurance. Perhaps if you had to make that decision your choices, options rather, would be different too.

This person may not have been able to afford private health care without sacrificing necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, or transportation to/from work. This country is in a health care crisis because hard working people who work full time jobs can not afford good health care coverage. Heck, some people working in the health care industry can't afford their employer provided health care insurance because premiums are outrageous. This is not a reflection on the persons themselves, this is a reflection on our economy, government, and need for health care reform.

I do not mean to offend. I just hope that we can remain mindful that no one's circumstances are cookie-cutter. We all have to make the best decisions for ourselves as situations present themselves and believe what we are choosing is best.

And it's very possible that Hogan4736 may have been ineligible for Medicaid and HAD to rely on purchased insurance.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

It's really too bad this old chestnut had to be dug up again---these threads tend to stir up more emotions than they're worth---but now that it has, please be reminded that the Terms of Service requires us to debate issues with respect toward other posters, even those with whom we disagree. We would also ask everyone to bear in mind that stereotypes and blanket condemnations are rarely helpful or enlightening in discussions such as this, and to keep an open mind to other points of view. Thank you.

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Teen pregnancy....wow....I need to voice my opinion about this big time. I have a problem with parents giving excuses about why their daughter got pregnant and now receives gov. funded healthcare....something we all pay for regardless if we make $$$$ or have health insurance. Shame on the parents who give excuses.....yet hide behind this, "They got pregnant and now we have to deal with it attitude. Ignorance is no excuse!!!!!" And for any teen who has not been educated properly about NOT having intercourse and "we'll deal with the course of action afterward" that many mothers and fathers have is pure ignorance...plain and simple. These "girls" and "boys" still carry their cell phones their parents pay for, hang Gucci purses off theirs shoulders, wear their designer clothing but do not know the slightest thing about their own bodies.....Shame on their parents ability to educate them, in most cases!!!!! With so much eduation out there for teens right now in 2008 it's flabbergasting!!!! I do not have compassion for ignorant individuals who are now raising their grandchildren because they failed their own children, and it ticks me off that they whine about everything that comes along with it. Those are the same individuals I see come into the ED asking for children's tylenol as a prescription because they can't afford to treat their child's fever yet have a pack of smokes hanging out of their purse. Many MOTHERS have failed this generation and we are all paying for it now, and forever....Get off the sofa on the front porch and educate your children!!!!!!!

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Not to mention the free education.

I paid mega dollars to send my son to college......but I also educated him prior.....Ignorance is not bliss!!!!! I am tired of teen pregnancy and the parents excuses!!!!! Sick of it!:banghead:

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How judgmental is that statement? If she says she had no other options, who are we to debate her statement? In essence, calling her a liar?

What is an option for one person may not be an option for the next. It is a blessing that you were able to provide medical care for your children because you could afford it. Perhaps you made sacrifices to do it, and that is wonderful too, but chances are what you sacrificed were luxuries or did without the extras. Many of us find ourselves in that same predicament right now. I'm fairly certain you didn't have to decide between providing food for your children or paying for COBRA insurance. Perhaps if you had to make that decision your choices, options rather, would be different too.

This person may not have been able to afford private health care without sacrificing necessities such as food, clothing, shelter, or transportation to/from work. This country is in a health care crisis because hard working people who work full time jobs can not afford good health care coverage. Heck, some people working in the health care industry can't afford their employer provided health care insurance because premiums are outrageous. This is not a reflection on the persons themselves, this is a reflection on our economy, government, and need for health care reform.

I do not mean to offend. I just hope that we can remain mindful that no one's circumstances are cookie-cutter. We all have to make the best decisions for ourselves as situations present themselves and believe what we are choosing is best.

The choice was not to have intercourse because.......you can't afford the healthcare, food, diapers to take care of them....THAT WAS THE CHOICE!...and now.....her choice...is our problem!

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

Perhaps we shall agree to disagree. You are very much entitled to your opinions.

I will now respectfully bow out of this thread.:hngon:

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The choice was not to have intercourse because.......you can't afford the healthcare, food, diapers to take care of them....THAT WAS THE CHOICE!...and now.....her choice...is our problem!

What about someone who is in a happy marriage and they are thrown into poverty, or temporary hardship, because their spouse died? That happens every day.

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What about someone who is in a happy marriage and they are thrown into poverty, or temporary hardship, because their spouse died? That happens every day.

OBVIOUSLY THAT'S DIFFERENT!:banghead:

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My daughter just graduated from High School this past Sunday. I was appalled to see one of her classmates walk proudly up to the podium carrying her baby, to my eyes, couldn't have been more than three months old.

Can you imagine when we went to school, a student brazenly carrying her illegitimate baby up to to podium to recieve her diploma? These girls have no shame.

I remember when we "didn't" because our parents would have killed us. Now they are handing our condoms in the classrooms! JMHO, and my NY $0.02.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

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Specializes in CNA.
What about someone who is in a happy marriage and they are thrown into poverty, or temporary hardship, because their spouse died? That happens every day.

Thats the keyword here temporary. I am all for helping those in need (while they get on their feet). It should be used by them not the people who can work and just make it a permanent way to live off of everyone else.

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My daughter just graduated from High School this past Sunday. I was appalled to see one of her classmates walk proudly up to the podium carrying her baby, to my eyes, couldn't have been more than three months old.

Can you imagine when we went to school, a student brazenly carrying her illegitimate baby up to to podium to recieve her diploma? These girls have no shame.

I remember when we "didn't" because our parents would have killed us. Now they are handing our condoms in the classrooms! JMHO, and my NY $0.02.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

There were several visibly pregnant girls in my class, and others who had children, when I graduated in 1981. Only a few years earlier, they would have been expelled as soon as the news was out, and a few years before that, she would have been shipped off to a maternity home under some subterfuge which fooled nobody.

Maybe she was carrying her baby because she was totally on her own and had nobody to watch it while she received her diploma? At least she graduated! And I totally hate that word "illegitimate" because the baby didn't do anything wrong. What about the baby's father? Chances are, he isn't a teenager (and might even be her husband!) but that's another issue altogether.

What school hands out condoms in class? I did hear, 15 or 20 years ago, about schools that did that and parents put the kibosh on that right away (not to mention that a lot of the kids were causing disruptions by blowing them up in class or using them as water balloons). Some schools might have them available in the nurse's office, and I wouldn't have a problem with that if they are provided by private donations.

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Excellent post traumanurse...

When I was a kid, I (purposely) broke windows in what I thought was an abandoned building...The owners found out it was me (small town) and my parents paid the owner back...

Imagine them telling the building owner that they couldn't afford to replace the windows, and then sticking the town with the bill...

It's all about responsibility...

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