18% of Broome County Residents on Welfare/Medicaid
By Jim Willis on Feb 7, 2009 in Government & Politics, Taxes & Spending | Printable Version
This brief excerpt from a Cheers & Jeers column running in the Feb. 7 Press & Sun-Bulletin:
Cheers that two new dental clinics served more local Medicaid patients last year than had been seen in the past – 17 percent more, which translates to more than 13,700 mouths – but grimaces that most of Broome County’s 35,000 Medicaid patients don’t use those services for whatever reason.
It may be an awareness issue, or maybe they can’t get or afford transportation – or maybe it’s the all-too-human impulse to avoid dental visits until gum disease, broken teeth or infections become issues.
Did your mouth drop open (as did mine) to read that 35,000 residents (out of 196,000) are on welfare? Medicaid is welfare. It is money that I, a taxpayer in Broome County, pay via state and federal taxes that is forcibly taken from me and placed into the public “coffers” and then redistributed to people who won’t get their own health care benefits. And their health care is arguably better than mine!
Medicaid is THE cause of New York’s current budget crisis. No one will talk about it publicly, but everyone knows it. The Democrats have a good thing going: Buy off votes forever by giving people high levels of “free” medical care. Of course the editorial writers at the P&SB think the crime is that more people don’t take full advantage of their benefits, which would drive up the costs even more, creating a bigger budget deficit.
Sorry, have to run. I have an appointment with a talking Cheshire cat. Hello, Alice? You there?
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