The War on the Poor, the Elderly and the Sick . . .

An opening salvo in the war against the poor, the elderly and the sick has been fired in conservative Florida.  The legislature is poised to change Medicaid from a “for fee” system into a system of managed care.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/health/policy/28medicaid.html?hp

The idea is to stop the excessive growth in Medicaid costs, but in Florida the real objective is to increase profits of private health care companies (the current Governor was once head of a large for profit health care company) and to deny basic care to the poor, the sick and the elderly who benefit from Medicaid.

An interesting point is that in theory the movement to managed care can be a good idea.  Paying organizations to provide comprehensive medical care for Medicaid recipients on a fixed payment basis, and allowing Medicaid recipients the choice in provider organizations (and having an independent review board to prevent abuse) could be successful.  In Florida, however, the idea is to turn over Medicaid patients and a great deal of money to unregulated medical providers. 

It will be a like a gold mine, the companies get the gold and the patients get the shaft.