Susan Bennett can’t get treatment for her skin cancer because she’s uninsured, unemployed and no doctor will see her.
Standing in the rain on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse, she asked state lawmakers on Thursday to extend Medicaid coverage, so more low-income Ohioans like herself could get the medical care they need.
“I want them to think about the lives they could save, and I would like for them to choose us — the people — over politics,” said the 52-year-old Bennett, of Columbus.
Bennett’s words were greeted with cheers from an estimated 2,500 demonstrators who gripped umbrellas and signs in support of Medicaid expansion at Thursday’s rally on the Capitol lawn. The event follows a decision by Ohio House Republicans to strip the expansion plan from the budget.
Republican House leaders said uncertainty in Washington over rules for the program caused them to drop the expansion, which is backed by GOP Gov. John Kasich. States can opt out of an expanded Medicaid program under the new federal law. If the state chooses to go forward with expansion, roughly 366,000 Ohioans would be eligible for health coverage, beginning in 2014. And the state would see $13 billion from the federal government over the next seven years to cover those newly eligible.
Kasich in February proposed going forward with expansion, contending it was a way for the state to recapture Ohio taxpayers’ federal money to provide medical care for those who were most vulnerable.
But many Republican lawmakers are averse to Democratic President Barack Obama’s law and resistant to expanding government programs. They have cited concerns about increasing the national debt and fears that the money from Washington could be cut off.
Health care providers, union workers, business owners and groups representing the poor and disabled assembled outside the Capitol to urge lawmakers to include the Medicaid expansion in the state budget proposal.
The House continues to hold hearings on the $61.4 billion, two-year state budget this week. Additional changes to the proposal could come next week before representatives vote on it. It would then go to the Senate for review.
The law is using health insurance exchanges to allow higher-income people to buy health plans. But without the Medicaid expansion, a group of people would likely go uncovered. With the expansion, an adult without children earning up to $15,415 can be added to Medicaid.
Bennett said she’s actively looking for work, though has mostly been able to find seasonal employment at warehouses and/or retail stores.
“Right now, I’m living on basically nothing,” she said.
Bennett gets by with support from friends and family, food stamps and assistance with utility bills. She said she doesn’t seek medical care when she’s sick. “I just don’t go,” she said.
Briefly, Ohio Republicans were all set to accept the Medicaid expansion until their Tea Party masters told them to refuse it. That’s all this is about. They’re scared.
artem1s
Kay, is there any kind of whip count on this? just curious. I’d be surprised if they could get enough Rs to flip back on this, mostly because I don’t see any real threat of them losing any power during the midterm elections
I was frankly shocked Kasich even wanted it given how contrary he usually is. Hard to think he grew any kind of conscience; I just figured he was worried about winning a second term.
Davis X. Machina
This woman is an American hero….
No one ever said guaranteeing that the higher marginal rates of income tax would never go up, or making sure non-wage income doesn’t keep its preferred treatment, or wringing the last bits of progressivity out of the tax code would be easy, or be accomplished without cost.
It’s only because of the selfless, heroic sacrifices people like Susan Bennett make every day that the dream can come a little closer.
BGinCHI
Too bad she’s not the unborn.
beltane
At least the European fascists are somewhat against austerity. Our own homegrown fascists don’t even have that going for them.
JPL
@BGinCHI: Why? I haven’t heard much support for pre-natal care on the pro-life/death side.
beltane
@BGinCHI: If she was unborn the teabaggers would demand that she be given an assault rifle and government subsidized ammunition.
aimai
Hell, even the unborn don’t get any consideration from these assholes. Not if you mean prenatal care for their mothers, or strong enforcement of anti-abuse statutes.
This is just heartbreaking–a year or two or three of health care coverage for people even if the federal government didn’t pick up the tab four years down the line would be a lifesaver for the people who got the health care treatment now.
Kay
@artem1s:
I don’t have a count but Bella Q, who comments here, is very involved.
They tell me here that Kasich wants it because it benefits rural areas. As you know, there is plenty of Medicaid reliance in red counties. Low wage, no benefits.
Jado
“Scared” is not an accurate word – they are craven, with all of the associated savage reactionary fury to those not in power and the fidgety cringing toadying to those holding their leashes. They are broken, and they deserve to be relieved of their burden of governing so they may retire to a life of PTSD therapy.
Yutsano
It’s funny because Republicans got a couple of Dems to cross over in the Senate in WA and that might jeopardise the Medicaid expansion up this way. Though if they want to keep their jobs they’d pass it. Obamacare is wicked popular up this way.
beltane
I do wish there was a force for good that had the power to instill fear in politicians’ hearts.
IowaOldLady
Beltane, sometimes I think the failure of lightning to strike is proof there is no god.
catclub
@Kay: I see it as hospitals benefiting, and also being the prime movers who push the Governor to accept the money. But rural areas could be another reason.
BGinCHI
@aimai: I was being flip but of course you’re right: they don’t even care about the unborn because they never care about process.
They care about authority and not about human life.
Nihilists.
Higgs Boson's Mate
Republican nobility consists of allowing everyone else to die for Republican causes.
jrg
Any way someone could trick the fundies in Ohio into believing the Medicaid expansion includes government mandated gynecological exams? If that happened, you’d need a pry bar to separate the Ohio GOP from these funds.
max
That’s all this is about. They’re scared.
There’s no running room left for a corporate smiley face agenda, and implementing the economic agenda they do have would make them decidedly unpopular. All that’s left for those guys are tea party support and big donors, and the piper calls the tune.
max
[‘Such are the spoils of war. And depression.’]
jl
They have a heritage to live up to, you know.
” Let me add that the health and vitality of our people are at least as well worth conserving as their forests, waters, lands, and minerals, and in this great work the national government must bear a most important part. ”
TR from Wikiquotes
raven
@JPL: They are going to cut the shit out of wic and probably end the breast feeding peer counselor program. Fuckin little brats can drink formula!
peach flavored shampoo
Also of equal relevance and probability, they cited concerns about gay spaceships, peanut butter & chocolate abuse, and loose shock absorbers.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
OT: Via DK: Bryan Fischer:
Zifnab
Welcome to the new American Democracy. 2,500 people on your doorstep, demanding a political policy that costs the state absolutely nothing, and you can’t pull the trigger until Rush Limbaugh says so.
beltane
@peach flavored shampoo: They have a point. Like, if a really big asteroid crashes into the earth what good would health care do for anyone?
Zifnab
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: What’s the old Patton quote? “Your job isn’t to die for your country. It’s to make them die for theirs.”
beltane
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): Maybe Bryan Fischer isn’t aware that the purpose of making Jews wear an identifying star of David wasn’t so that they could be left alone. Secondly, I think the bigots, racists, and homophobes are very good about identifying themselves as such.
raven
@Zifnab: “The other poor sonofabitch die for his country.” Good but not as good as “well son, I shoveled shit in Louisiana”!
BGinCHI
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): How about the homophobe’s face with a dick sticking out of their forehead?
terraformer
Years from now, if we’re still around, people will hopefully look back in disbelief at how inhumane conservatives (misnomer is there ever was one) were about healthcare in this country, and for how long they managed to scare people into thinking otherwise.
BGinCHI
@raven: Here comes old Blood ‘n Guts.
Yeah, our blood and his guts.
(from the movie)
jibeaux
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): Wearing the confederate flag has always been voluntary.
raven
@BGinCHI: Ya gotta hold em by the nose and kick em in the ass. When ya get em on the run you keep em on the run. . .
Every see his son in Hearts and Minds?
Mnemosyne
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
Always has been, always will be.
raven
@raven:
Hearts and Minds
low-tech cyclist
Now we know what a death panel looks like.
Republicans in the Ohio legislature, take your bow.
bemused
I recently read about a Montana legislator, Hagstrom, iirc, who owns some rental properties and wrote an unbelievable rambling letter to his low-income renters. He actually wrote that people need to accept that they can’t live as long as they want to or live as “comfortably” as they currently do. His whole letter made me feel physically ill. He ended the letter telling them to have a restful Easter.
I believe that most Republicans truly feel this way but few will come out and say it….that those “other” people don’t deserve to live. Alan Grayson said Republicans want them to die and die quickly. I would cynically say that some don’t want them to die so quickly, they’d rather watch them suffer for awhile.
Kay
@catclub:
The CEO of our for profit hospital trashes the health care law in the newspaper, then lobbies Sherrod Brown behind the scenes for additional Mediciad money for his rural hospital.
His big complaint about the health care law was he had to provide his employees decent health insurance. The plan they have is a joke.
BGinCHI
@raven: Wow.
I think the first Mad Magazine fake film I can remember is Put-On.
I can’t believe that was supposed to be a magazine for kids.
West of the Rockies
Anyone remember the last episode of Seinfeld where one of the non-main characters died and the group of four (Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer) had to pretend to be saddened (and then, after about five seconds of due solemnity eagerly decided to go get lunch)? That’s the Republican party.
They pay lip service to decency and concern and then shamble off to go check on their dividend check.
aimai
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
Its ok, we can usually tell them by their horns and their behavior. We aren’t going to make them wear anything special. They can keep wearing mumus and dockers or whatever they like.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@BGinCHI: The cartoon version of Mad Magazine is on Cartoon Network. Some of their stuff is pretty hilarious.
LanceThruster
OT question – Who’s the cat lady in here with the cat care website? Cannot remember her name or site (sorry). Thx in advance.
kindness
RIP Jonathan Winters. Too sad. Yes he was crazy at times but funny.
aimai
@bemused:
I read that. It was jaw dropping–especially considering that he makes most of his money off of section 8 housing. What.an.asshole.
BGinCHI
@kindness: Big fan who grew up listening to him (and seeing him on TV). I need to dig out those records.
LanceThruster
@LanceThruster:
Ah, saw it in the blogroll – http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/
gogol's wife
@LanceThruster:
Werebear — The Way of Cats.
@kindness:
Oh, I haz a sad. I love, love, love him.
Origuy
@LanceThruster: Are you thinking of Ways of Cats? Can’t remember the poster’s nom-de-Juice at the moment, sorry.
LanceThruster
@gogol’s wife: @Origuy:
Thx all, that’s who I was looking for. A co-worker asked me something and I said I’d give her the link for our resident expert. Everything on her site is superb.
Much appreciated.
raven
@BGinCHI: This won Best Picture.
bemused
@aimai:
I was reading the Billings(?) article when I came to the section 8 part and thought, why, of course, I should have seen that coming. Sick bastard. The entire article and his letter was truly mind boggling. This is how cocky they are getting. They can say how they truly feel, not just say it quietly to each other.
NonyNony
@Kay:
That’s why Kasich says he wants it.
The Ohio Chamber of Commerce (warning PDF) is backing the expansion for purely business reasons:
In my time watching him, Kasich has only ever responded to two masters – his owners on Wall Street and the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. Wall Street could care fuck-all whether or not Ohio takes the expanded Medicaid (guys will find a way to make money either way) so the Chamber wins.
Yeah it’s cynical. But it’s a better explanation that “suddenly Kasich cares about poor rural people who he normally cares fuck-all about”. To me anyway.
Punchy
Blinks thrice….wait, what? Did I misread that, or did he just label HIMSELF and others like him racists, homophobes, and bigots?
beltane
@Punchy: Yes, but if you shun them for being self-avowed bigots you’re worse than Hitler.
catclub
@Punchy: Good catch. I think ‘yes’ is the answer.
Actually, no, you did not misread. yes he did.
gogol's wife
@BGinCHI:
We need a Jonathan Winters thread. The NYTimes has a couple of good videos up:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/12/video-remembering-jonathan-winters/
gogol's wife
@Punchy:
Yes, that was amazing.
BGinCHI
@gogol’s wife: Agreed.
Another person who I was so sad to learn had died but simultaneously amazed that he had not died years ago.
gene108
I’ve been handling medical benefits for the mid-sized IT company I work for, for about 15 years now.
The first renewal I handled, we got a single individual – medical, dental and $50k in life/ADD – for $100.83. I forget the rates for couples and families.
We paid 100% of the employees premium.
There was no deductible. The co-pay for a doctor was about $20/visit, plus an Rx co-pay, something like $10/$20/$50. I can’t remember, if there were separate ER co-pays, but all-in-all the plan’s both richer and cheaper than anything on the market today.
Today, I couldn’t get a plan without at least a $500/deductible and that’d cost about 3.5-4x what the plan 15 years ago cost, which doesn’t include various co-pays for things like ER visits, ambulance usage, etc.
We have a high deductible plan ($1200/$2400) for about 3x what we were paying 15 years ago.
I wonder how much of the economic prosperity of this country has been sucked up by healthcare costs. Hell, we’re all now contributing for the medical insurance.
That’s several hundred dollars a month people could be pumping into the economy, let alone what we could’ve probably handed out in raises, if medical costs had scaled with inflation.
If Republicans are truly pro-business, they’d freakin’ clue into the burden the whole economy’s facing because of the rise in healthcare costs.
Sure Rick Scott and few others can make out like bandits, but they ain’t the majority of businesses.
It’s like the pissing match between retailers and credit card companies over credit fees charged to retailers.
We’ve moved from pitting peon against peon to pitting business against business for the enrichment of the few.
EDIT: The current rates I’m quoting are for medical only. They don’t include dental and life insurance, which we still provide.
JCT
@Punchy: that was exactly my reaction . Looks like his mask slipped.
Kay
@NonyNony:
Oh, I don’t think he cares about them. He has absolutely screwed rural areas, on everything from school funding to the turnpike. He’s the governor of the well-off suburbs. I’ve never seen anything like it. He ignores cities and he starves rural areas.
I think he has to give them something before he runs again.
scav
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
Signs, you want signs? GOD gave you one when he and his angels successfully wired your brain to your mouth.
ericblair
@Kay:
Do you think he does? Is there a history of a progressive rural movement in OH? Otherwise, this will be totally depressing but not exactly unanticipated: that gooper tribalism trumps all.
Kay
@ericblair:
I don’t think he understands how it works. They’re Republicans, but they were so mad about the attack on public employees. It’s like he didn’t know that ALL of the elected people and most of
the public employees in Republican
counties ARE Republicans.
I think he has a national conservative view.
They don’t like Medicaid for THOSE people. They’re all deserving of Medicaid. Like that. It’s not like on Morning Joe :)
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
As to a whip count:
Sensitive, isn’t he? NAMI thinks not.
I’ve sent 3 or 4 emails in the last 2 weeks at work, and sent those to my personal contacts as well (ask Kay). We’ve always seen this as a marathon, and hope that we can turn it around much like the SB5 sequence of events. If any Ohio Juicers want more information, let me know. I’m happy to share those emails far and wide.
gelfling545
Apparently the fool of a legislator in Tennessee who wanted to take away benefits from families whose kids weren’t doing well in school has decided not to go forward having been shamed by protestors but mostly by an 8 year old girl who looks like a most determined young woman.
RaflW
“They have cited concerns about increasing the national debt and fears that the money from Washington could be cut off.”
And yet they seem to have no concerns about some fraction of 366,000 Ohioan’s dying from potentially-curable illnesses and disease.
It’s utterly heartless and immoral. And that these bastards otherwise claim any sort of “pro-life”mantle is a cruel, evil sham.
Kay
@RaflW:
Well, they’re in a tough spot.
The Tea Party tried to pass a constitutional amendment banning Obamacare. They failed to get it on the ballot because that requires work, gathering signatures, so the state GOP did it for them.
It passed, but it does nothing because federal law trumps state law. The base were understandably disappointed because they thought they had “banned” Obamacare. They believed this because the state AG backed the amendment, and he’s a lawyer ( in the most technical sense of the word, but still).
debbie
@BGinCHI:
Too complex to print on a t-shirt. How about a lipsticked pig?