Tag Archives: Medicaid

Q&A: How to stop the government from cutting medicaid, Medicare and Social Security?

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Question by S F: How to stop the government from cutting medicaid, Medicare and Social Security?
If you were trying to get the public’s attention about the government making cuts to medicaid, Medicare and Social Security how would you do it?

There are many ways for the government to get the money it needs. Many large corporations do not pay their fair share of taxes. Also the money we pay in our taxes goes back to these large corporations in subsidies. We end up paying for BP and Exxon’s oil spills. We taxpayers pay for the clean-up of Superfund sites, not the polluters.

If we could get these large corporations to pay their fair share of taxes, and stop giving them our tax money, we would be able to balance our budget without having to cut important health services for the injured, the disabled, the working class, and the elderly.

The only thing I’ve been able to come up with is to have people sign this petition:

http://sanders.senate.gov/petition/?uid=c1fd7f9b-abd8-4e7a-a370-1867881259d8

If you have other suggestions, please let me know!
Entropy, why are you defending the special interests of the certain greedy corporations who dodge their taxes? I’m not asking us to tax them more. I’m asking them to pay their fair share like the other corporations are doing. You will only benefit from your point of view if you happen to own a major corporation. If you think the wealth will “trickle down” it will not. We’ve tried that already and it doesn’t work. The majority of people in this country will be hurt by these cuts because unfortunately some of us will become disabled, those of us that live long enough will retire, and in the near future some of us will lose our jobs and end up on medicaid. The economy is harsh. There are many hardworking people who are trying their best to make ends meet and feed their families and have to choose between taking their child to the doctor versus getting that child food versus heating/cooling their apartment. Do you know that charity care is bankrupting hospitals around the country?
If medicaid goes under, which it will if it loses any more money, all those people will flood the emergency rooms and apply for charity care. Hospitals can’t afford this. States can’t afford this. And it clogs the emergency rooms up which slows down their reaction to true emergencies. Have you ever been on medicaid? Most doctors don’t accept it because they only reimburse doctors 30 percent of their entire bill! So people are force to travel far distances to go to clinics – and many times they don’t even go because they can’t afford the gas or bus fare to get there. Medicaid needs MORE money not less money and a whole restructuring.

Best answer:

Answer by Ed Jasie
Vote for the democrat next election.

Give your answer to this question below!

Choice v. Olmstead: The Medicaid Debate Over Community Living and the Impact on Housing for Adults with Autism and Other Disabilities

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Henderson, Nevada (PRWEB) December 14, 2011

(Dec. 14, 2011) ? A highly-emotional debate over freedom of choice versus obligations under a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling is dividing the disability community regarding proposed changes to a key Medicaid waiver that is the primary funding safety net for persons with disabilities including autism, according to a new report by LTO Ventures and the Community Living Subcommittee of the Nevada Autism Commission.

The ?choice? versus ?Olmstead? debate also has huge implications when it comes to who gets to determine what qualifies as Medicaid-eligible settings, according to report author Mark L. Olson, president and CEO of LTO Ventures and Subcommittee chairperson.

?At stake is nothing less than the future of essential residential and supportive services for hundreds of thousands of adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder as well as adults with intellectual, developmental and other disabilities,? Olson said.

The report, released on the LTO Ventures website (http://www.ltoventures.org), examined the public comments submitted in response to the publication of the proposed new rules in the Federal Register.

At the heart of the debate is the 1999 Supreme Court ruling in Olmstead v. L.C. [527 U.S. 581] that held that unnecessary segregation and institutionalization of persons with disabilities is a form of discrimination and prohibited under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ruling was a giant step forward in the advancement of choices in housing and services for millions of people with disabilities.

Efforts by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) since 2009 to redefine under the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Waiver what constitutes ?community living? and ?home and community-based? settings threaten to severely constrain choice and access to funding that could result in disastrous public policy that reverberates for decades. An estimated 25 percent of existing eligible residential settings would not meet the new CMS criteria, and tens of thousands of disabled individuals could be forced out of their residences.

The report found the choice side is comprised primarily of the disabled individuals served by the waiver, their parents, caregivers, providers and many state Medicaid agencies and administrators. They contend that narrowing the definition of an eligible setting would have a chilling effect on innovation in housing models and financing mechanisms, public and private, would unfairly impact the development of residences suitable for the tens of thousands of disabled adults who need them, and would balloon already bloated waiting lists nationwide.

The report found the Olmstead side comprised primarily of CMS itself, and affiliated disability advocacy organizations, including the Protection & Advocacy/Client Assistance Programs (P&A/CAP) Network created by Congress with special federal and state authorities to advocate for people with disabilities.

CMS Administrator Donald M. Berwick and these disability advocates contend they are only following their obligations under Olmstead. They maintain that only living situations that closely or exactly mirror those of nondisabled persons fulfill the intention of the Supreme Court and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and that federal and state funding under HCBS waivers should only be used for such settings.

CMS itself is not unified in its opinion, however. Agencies and officials responsible for administering the Medicaid program in 14 states filed a joint public comment opposing the changes proposed by Berwick.

The community at risk includes almost 123,000 disabled people on waiting lists for Medicaid-eligible residential services, an increase of almost 71% over the same waiting lists in 2000, the first year after the Supreme Court Olmstead decision. In many states, the length of time eligible individuals have languished on waiting lists exceeds ten years. And it is projected to get much worse. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Autism Speaks estimate that more than 500,000 individuals under 22 years of age with an Autism Spectrum Disorder will reach adulthood by 2024 and join the market for housing and services.

The report concludes that the objective of the CMS rule-making process and this debate ideally should be to produce an outcome that expands inventory and choices and removes barriers to innovation and investment in residential settings desired by adults with autism and intellectual, developmental and other disabilities. At the very least CMS must ?do no new harm? and choose not to include proposed new paragraphs to the Medicaid HCBS Waiver regulation.

Read the Full Text of the Report

The complete report is available and downloadable at: http://wp.me/P1ZYZ5-1D.

About LTO Ventures

LTO Ventures is a 501(c)(3) non-profit company that develops live/work/play communities for adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) and related developmental disabilities. For more information, visit: http://www.ltoventures.org. Our public comment can be found at: http://www.regulations.gov, keyword CMS-2296-P; document ID: CMS-2009-0071-1662.

About Community Living Subcommittee, Nevada Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorders

The mission of the Subcommittee is to assess and advise the Commission on a modern approach to a variety of residential living situations for the Autism Spectrum Disorders (?ASD?) population in Nevada. For more information, visit: http://www.facebook.com/NVAutismCommission.CommunityLivingSubcommittee. Our public comment can be found at: http://www.regulations.gov, keyword CMS-2296-P; document ID: CMS-2009-0071-1595.

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Medicaid: Do I Qualify?

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In order to qualify for Medicaid, a person must meet certain eligibility requirements. Applicants must fall within a certain income range and are limited to a certain number of other assets. Jason Lazarus, a financial planner in Orlando, FL, explains the requirements and what is required to qualify.
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Uploaded by ohiomedicaidtv on May 24, 2011 www.helpprotectyourfamily.com Ohio Medicaid Guidelines learn how to qualify for nursing home Medicaid without losing your home to Ohio Medicaid Recovery or spending down your life savings. Dallas L Alford IV, CPA is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of North Carolina and owner of Atlantic Financial Consulting, a consulting firm that provides comprehensive medical billing services, practice management consulting, coding audits, Medicare compliance, Medicare RAC support and other general medical practice consulting services. To learn more about Atlantic Financial Consulting you may visit their website at atlanticfinancial.us or contact Dallas L Alford IV, CPA directly at 1 888-428-2555, Ext. 200.
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You Can Find a Doctor Who Accept Medicare and Medicaid – Approved Insurance Doctor

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It is very difficult to watch TV or read a newspaper and not be aware of our country’s medical crisis. It is even more an issue as our baby boomer population reaches retirement and starts to rely more and more on medicare and medicaid. To most of their surprise it is becoming more and more difficult to find a general practitioner or specialist who will accept medicare or medicaid.

Get Free: Medicare Medicaid Doctor

This crisis is occurring because medicare and medicaid have been cutting back on the amount they are willing to pay to the doctors for their services. At the same time they are asking for more and more paperwork from the doctors resulting in more expenses with lower returns.

How to: Find a Doctor

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Another is is that private insurers are no longer willing to subsidize public patients by paying significantly higher rates to doctors, therefore shifting some of the costs to them.

All of this is resulting in a crisis when more and more doctors are choosing not to be a part of the system. There was a time when you just looked in the yellow pages or got a reference for a doctor catering to your specific needs. Those days are gone. More and more doctors are either refusing to accept any new medicare patients or limiting the amount they will treat in their practice. You will now have to search far and wide for a doctor that will accept your coverage.

As a result of fewer and fewer doctors being willing to accept medicare and medicaid more and more patients are looking for government funded clinics or are even resorting to going to emergency rooms when it is not an emergency. It is the law that an emergency room can not turn a patient away because of insurance. If they only realized compensating doctors properly would save money in the long run.

If you are a medicare medicaid patient you can expect to spend long hours on the phone looking for a doctor that will accept your coverage. I suggest you speak to other medicare/ medicaid patients and see what doctors they use. Don’t expect to get an appointment quickly. If your health is truly in danger I suggest you do go to an emergency room.

You may also want to check with your local health department or one of the many social service agencies in your area. They may be able to recommend a doctor that will take medicare/medicaid coverage. Just don’t give up, taking care of your health is very important as you get older.

Bryan Burbank is an expert in the field of Medicine.