Medicare and Medicaid for seniors....

[whistle]

...I just watched a special on CBS news tonight that pointed out something I think very few seniors and soon to be seniors, (baby-boomer's) know about this country's treatment of people who receive Medicare and Medicaid. There is no such thing as a free lunch!

State and federal governments who give seniors (and I'm assuming non-seniors) who need Medicaid assistance, literally have to turn over ALL assets including homes that have been paid off to the government to repay all financial assistance given them under Medicaid. No that is totally criminal. When you hit 65 you loose all private medical insurance and so are required to take Medicaid. Even though all of us are paying into Medicaid/Medicare in our withholding taxes, seniors who get ill (especially with catastrophic long term and terminal illnesses) must forfeit their rights to property including the homes of surviving spouses to pay the government back.

Is this another republican bait and switch? I'm sorry, but something is rotten in the state of the united and the free. This whole medical insurance/national health-care scam is totally corrupt. Since I turned 60, my monthly medical insurance premiums have nearly tripled while the co-pay has increased by 2 1/2 times. More and more of my branded medications are falling under what is termed "not in the formulary" which means they don't cover them and insurance bureaucrats are making medical decisions about doctors I can see, tests I can or can not have, treatment that is not allowed, shortened stays in hospitals and whether procedures are even covered on an in-patient basis, etc. These policies are being driven by the republicans controlling congress and big insurance.

Medical care for every citizen and national health insurance has to be part of the democratic platform and Kerry's campaign this election.

<Edit: here is the link to the CBS story>

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/14/eveningnews/main623085.shtml

[Cleita]

1. I never heard of this before for Medicare, but God knows

what these bastards are doing while we sleep. I always thought that you could own a family home for Medicaid. You just couldn't have more than two thousand dollars in assets. I haven't seen the show yet so I don't know if these people were over 65 or not. But who knows what laws they have changed while we weren't looking.

[whistle]

2. dupe: looks like another thread started on this while I was...

...typing this...but it disappeared on me. DU Link?

Edit to add link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1789385&mesg_id=1789385