Norm Hughes, chair of the Michigan Conservative Union (MCU) writes the following
An open letter to our state senators:
Medicaid Expansion Issue 101: The audacious statement is that we will each save $400 a year on insurance premiums because the Federal government will pick up the cost of indigent patients.
This is false Information spread by lobbyists and politicians to try to justify Medicaid expansion.
The Truth: It was almost unbelievable that a businessman now legislator in the House used this as rationale for voting to add 470,000 more Michigan residents to Medicaid, a key element of implementing ObamaCare and driving more debt for our children and grandchildren to pay, doubled by interest. The USA federal government is broke and has an insatiable appetite to spend more than it takes in. When you are in a deep hole the first rule of survival is to stop digging. Here are some points to reflect on regarding this statement:
Below the fold is a point by point.
Bullet point argument
1) Hospitals pay no property tax with the savings intended to pay for indigent care. This is savings to the hospitals in Michigan of millions of dollars every year. We already subsidize their free pass -with higher property taxes. With hospitals gobbling up clinics, they further demand services that cost counties, townships, cities and school districts and we The People.
2) The Feds do not have to reimburse what we already cover through property tax waivers, so there will be double-dipping, unless we add hospitals to the property and personal tax rolls.
3) Even if the care was "free" or reimbursed, there is no way it will show up as a decrease in insurance premiums. We passed tort reform to save hundreds of millions of dollars protecting doctors, hospitals and medical personnel/entities from lawsuits but our premiums, office calls, and other medical prices kept up its double digit inflation. The medical lobbies are pushing this to further enrich medical practitioners and their hospitals, not out of passion for the poor. Many do not take new Medicaid patients so this lines the pockets of a few.
4) The free market rule is supply and demand. With increased demand from 470,000 new patients receiving reimbursed care they do not have to pay for, demand for services will increase prices for all of us.
5) Medicaid patients statistically demand more services, stay in hospitals longer, and still have poorer outcomes and greater mortality rates. How does making this available to another half million people translate into lower premiums?
6) If the cost in our private insurance policies is $400 a year more to cover uninsured, when the Federal government takes that on it will more than double. Factoring in that Michigan is a donor state, when they "save" us $400 it will likely cost us (or our grand kids) $1200 and interest, plus we get the strings and controls. BAD BARGAIN!!!!
They insult our and your intelligence and/or, show how gullible one can be. We hope you will not fall for this. Please vote NO to any Medicaid expansion in Michigan.
Norm Hughes I, Chair
