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The American Health Care Act, which squeaked through the House of Representatives on Thursday, is terrible for many Americans in many ways. But what’s gotten almost no attention is the horrendous effect it could have on Americans in nursing homes.
Daniel Webster, a Republican representative from the 11th Congressional District in central Florida, acknowledged this when he announced he would vote for the AHCA.
“I have been very concerned about Florida’s Medicaid-funded nursing home beds,” Webster said. “These are critical to the access some of our senior population has to our nursing homes.”
Webster explained he was only willing to vote yes because President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and the House of Representatives’ GOP leadership promised that they would find some way to deal with the potential disaster created by the bill. It will now go to the Senate, and if some version of it is passed there, will then have to be reconciled with the House bill for a final vote.
Many middle-class Americans are unaware that the huge cost of nursing home care — which in some areas can run over $100,000 a year — is not covered by Medicare. Those who need it and cannot pay for it themselves can generally receive coverage from Medicaid, though they usually must spend down all their savings first.
When all is said and done, Medicaid pays the bills for over 60 percent of nursing home residents — people who cannot care for themselves and without Medicaid would have literally nowhere to go.
But the AHCA slashes $880 billion dollars from Medicaid spending over the next ten years, or about one-sixth of the $5 trillion it would otherwise cost the federal government. (While these seem like enormous numbers, the U.S. economy is so big that even $5 trillion will be just about two percent of the gross domestic product over the next decade.)
Plenty of room for Grandpa in the toolshed, I guess.
“Well Grandpa, you (probably) voted for this…”
Maybe now normal white people can stop feeling like they’re apart of what rich whites are doing.. they use you all for your vote, get you all excited to be openly racist again, get elected and rip your hearts out..
So instead of asking what Obama has done for blacks, try asking yourself wtf has Donald Trump done for you and yours.. not too late to jump ship, it’ll be a long time before republicans run anything ever again after this 😂
Dats real racist shit you drooled
No, it’s the truth. Republicans prey upon racial fears. A lot of Republican voters only voted for Trump for the wall, which is to explicitly keep Mexican people out of this country. With the coming demographic shifts in America, white people will be the minority within 30 years or so and they will see that Republican ideals will no longer be accepted by the mainstream.