AMAC Exclusive – By Sam Adolphsen
The nation’s largest welfare program, Medicaid, is a total mess. We are fast approaching 100 million people on the program, mostly because of expansions to able-bodied adults. States spend one of every three state budget dollars on the program – and more than one of every five of those dollars is spent in error. On top of that, states have been banned from removing ineligible people since early 2020 because of the so-called public health emergency that President Joe Biden keeps extending.
If Medicaid were a person, they would be drowning.
Now, the Biden administration’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing a new regulation that would make things much worse. The rule would make significant changes to state welfare eligibility processes, adding millions to welfare and adding $100 billion in new costs to taxpayers.
This latest proposed Medicaid rule would be like helping that poor drowning person by throwing them a cement block.
If President Biden is looking to finish off the program and send it to the bottom, he nailed it.
Of course, the administration isn’t really hiding its plan. The stated goal of the rule is to “maximize enrollment.” They talk about “retention rates” as if it’s a for-profit business, and how they need to “remove barriers to enrollment,” as if that’s a problem, with nearly a third of the country already on the program.
Biden’s 300-plus-page regulation has so many terrible welfare eligibility policies that it’s difficult to pick just a few on which to focus. But there are some that stand out as especially damaging to the integrity of the country’s safety net.
First, the new rule would prohibit all states from checking eligibility more than once a year. Under President Obama, CMS had already banned states from more frequent checks for certain populations. This proposed rule would expand that bad policy by making the previous minimum level of eligibility checks (once a year) the new maximum for everyone in the program. Some states check more often than once a year right now, and they should, because there are at least 16 million ineligible people on the program.
Second, the rule would ban states from requiring face-to-face interviews for any eligibility groups. This change comes despite the constant news about the significant problems with identity theft across all welfare benefits and COVID-19 unemployment programs. It is common sense that if states are going to hand out a costly welfare benefit, they should require one simple office visit before awarding that benefit. President Biden wants to ban that common-sense check.
Third, the rule creates an entirely new eligibility process for states, requiring them to keep cases open for months even after they determine someone is ineligible. This new “reconsideration period” would also force states to handhold someone to apply for alternative coverage before they can remove them from Medicaid. This also contradicts the entire stated justification for the rule, that it will “reduce the administrative burden” on states.
As if that weren’t bad enough, the rule would also require states to ignore returned mail if the new address is an in-state address. CMS outrageously claims that a change of address “does not indicate a change in circumstances.” Any reasonable person knows that isn’t true. A change in mailing address likely signals a meaningful shift in life circumstances that could affect eligibility.
Another crazy requirement in the Biden administration’s welfare proposal is that states will be required to accept as gospel certain government data sets. While this may seem smart at first glance, the policy only applies when the data indicates that the person is eligible for Medicaid. What happens if the data shows they are ineligible? Then the state must undertake a series of administrative-intensive follow-ups to ensure the person is ineligible. CMS only wants “administrative efficiency” when it will add someone to welfare, never when it would keep someone ineligible from being added.
One final bit of Medicaid madness is that the proposed rule would prohibit states from requiring ID verification as part of the process of reviewing an immigrant’s citizenship status when they apply for Medicaid. This is not surprising coming from Open Borders Biden, but it is alarming. There are many more problems with the proposal, including that it is probably illegal.
The bottom line is that one of the country’s chief safety net programs, Medicaid, has already been stretched and shredded by expansions to able-bodied adults and abysmal program integrity. Now Biden has doubled down, throwing program integrity completely out the window to push the country toward welfare for all. States need to step up and oppose this latest attack on Medicaid.
Obama’s 3rd term
“Now, the Biden administration’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing a new regulation that would make things much worse. The rule would make significant changes to state welfare eligibility processes, adding millions to welfare and adding $100 billion in new costs to taxpayers.”
My question is why is a non-elected body, CMS, allowed to write what amounts to law? Isn’t that the job of the legislative branch?
GENUINELY DISABLED persons do NOT like this type of mess at all!!!!!
Right after Pres Obama past AHC act I wrote to them and said rich pay cash for their medical! But the middle class does buy medical insurance, but their cost keeps going up and up to where they can not afford it! But some one has to pay for the welfare and low income people! Obama & Biden wrote back to me and said as long as they could give one person insurance they felt good!!!
Government shouldn’t be spending tax dollars on any social programs. Every government social program has fallen short of its goal while costing a lot more than initially stated. Social issues need to be addressed by social organizations.
The appointed, traitorous puppet is doing exactly what his handlers expect of him. The centralist-heavy clique needs to be fronted by at least 34 state governments to roll back to constitutional parameters. All those culpable should be tried and found guilty of graft and treason in the nth degree.–Creed2You
Presidents need to quit playing this political football & kicking it down the road. Congress needs to raise payroll taxes on Medicare in order to fund this & limit the benefits so that they only go to people that have earned this benefit. Medicare is fairly new in that LBJ pushed this thru around 1958 & not much or nothing has been done to taxes to fund this since then.
Biden needs to be stopped.Fight back!Vote for a Conservative Republican!
I see advertisements every day saying that “people have both Medicare and Medicaid”. How is that possible? This is just the beginning of this process to bankrupt the system.
These advantage plans offer to take over with a “combined” plan. What is going on? That is totally unfair to people that do not have both plans now. Do these people have to make payments to both Medicare and Medicaid?
I think these insurance agents and companies are crooks! They are allowed to prey on the elderly that do not have any idea of what is going on!
And they also say that these people will get back part of their social security check. This is probably because they are being charged teice as much as they should be for the basic Medicare insurance.
I will not talk to them because they sound crooked. The insurance agent that worked with me when I first set up Medicare would not let me go with a high deductable plan and forced me to take a different more expensive insurance. Iyt was all about her commission probably, which in the end it is all about, money!
The last statement was exactly what I was going to write in comments. It is nothing other than a bankrupting move (as Biden admin has continually been doing) as well as another anti-constitutional dictate from federal to state. They may be able to dictate terms on that portion the feds send to states, but cannot legally dictate how state funds are distributed.
Dems have been skirting (illegally) the Constitution for decades; no one has called them on it much less fought back, so Dems go harder.
When is the GOP going to grow a pair and fight back, or established career GOP are just as guilty and NEED TO BE OUSTED.
It’s outrageous to see so many getting free health care when my husband is getting a $100 per week increase of healthcare premium paid out of his paycheck. This on top of low wage and inflation makes it hard for those of use that have been working our butts off our entire life!
puppet biden has given away so much money that does not belong to him that soon we will be broke and ask other countries to support us. Another disgrace by socialist democrats giving away what does not belong to them
Remember…this whack job “got” 80,000,000 votes. Yet some folks don’t believe in ‘miracles’.
Joe and the rest of the communists in office have forgotten one important fact: Medicare was pre-paid by We The People during the 40-50 years current Medicare recipients paid in. Illegals should never get what we paid for out of every single paycheck! I worked almost 45 years before a car wreck ended my working life. I need Medicare and I am outraged it is being given away to those who never paid in. Obama robbed Medicare of billions to pay for the utter failure called Obamacare!
THIS is what happens when deliberately uninformed people continue voting for Democrats!
our nation as a whole needs to repent! 2 Chronicles 7:14 this will be the only way God will bless this nation once again!
No references given. Just hot-air from Amac
What needs to happen to stop the Dems they will push as much through before the House turns he would give this country to the communist if it would make him look better along with other Dems in Washington when the people of this country see there paychecks and the government takes more from the bottom line they will be paying for all Biden’s give a ways watch and see.
If only we can have a border wall that separates the traitors from the Americans, life would be simpler. No? Just dreaming.
Not surprising- this is on the path to Socialism and ultimately Communism.
It’s pretty obvious why Biden is setting it up this way. It’s not for truly needy Americans, Disabled Veterans, Seniors, Disabled or those who are poor without insurance. No. It’s for the millions of illegals we have crossing Our Open Borders. God Forbid money would be spent on completing the Border Wall, reinstating Trumps Policies, and showing he gives a damn about us. But then I didn’t Vote for stupidity. Trump 2024. Go Red. Maga
Welfare for all is bankrupting the US
Not when Biden
Biden’s destroying America , just read today NYC homeless are jealous of illegal’s . . Why can’t we get x-boxs & live where they are getting housed . Truly Unbelievable . Medicare/Medicaid it’s all
paid by Us US Citizens .
“Joe has the ability to phque up anything” – Barack Hussein Obama
States need to take back these programs. Else file a lawsuit using the 10th amendment against the federal government.
From our corrupt America-LAST, anti-Republic fraud pupped: Welfare, it’s not just for the needy!
In about two years we’ve under gone deliberate sabotage on our energy independence, supply chain nightmares, freak fires at over two dozen food producing plants, traitors have spent $trillions, most of which benefitted a select group, with little going to anything of benefit to us Americans or our Republic, and those are just a few of the deliberate actions of an evil, traitorous fraudulent government.
Say hello to Traitor Joe’s latest ploy to circumvent attempts to stop undeserving from getting free-free-free. Not just to tick off us hard working people you understand, because they delight in that, it’s to get more D votes AND to hopefully crash the economy sooner…because, the end justifies the means. Thanks to stolen elections, for anyone not in the commie/globalist/demon club, the end is near.
Traitors cannot achieve their evil, insane utopia One World Government as long as our economy is strong and we can hang onto the Constitutional Republic the traitors despise! Thanks to a clueless puppet and devious, satanically evil traitors controlling the corrupt, pedo dolt, our Republic has deliberately, and with extreme malice, been under attack since the demons took control. We’re on the precipice of the END of freedoms, the END of opportunities, the END of America as we’ve known it…traitors are destroying America at warp speed, into a life of evil totalitarian tyranny hell on earth (for us, not them).
We are now a society of financially irresponsible citizens. Governmental assistance was once a Scarlet Letter worn in private, it is now boasted about with honor. What really scares me is the takers are becoming greater in numbers, how do the fewer giver stop it.
Pedo Joe and the other Democraps are Hell Bent on the destruction of the United States of America.
Medicare VS Medicaid (My opinion)
I believe a more detailed description of each would be helpful to understand the very real problems you’re trying to bring to our attention. Medicare covers citizens age 65 and over, as well as those with certain chronic conditions or disabilities. Medicaid is typically available to those with a lower income and helps provide healthcare services at little or no cost. Medicare – (citizens age 65 and over) vs Medicaid – (anybody who can’t or doesn’t want to pay for health insurance – around a quarter of abortions are directly funded by taxpayers through Medicaid (internet source). There is no charge for either for basic services and neither covers all health care services. Most modern countries have a form of national health care – no one is without health care. The USA entertains pockets that are group specific – military, the VA, some elected officials to name a few but we have never completely embraced national health care openly, medicaid is as close as we’ve come. The plan it seems is to provide complete health care to anyone within our boarders – citizen or not, everyone.
Anything to BUY VOTES for the Dumbocrats.
Joe Biden is a clear and present danger to the survival of the United States of America.
Have seen first hand the abuse of Medicaid and Medicare. This would be the final flame. Why stop abuse when we are letting criminals out of jail. Evil incarnate.
Agree this is about Medicaid not Medicare. Am disappointed that AMAC is using misleading headlines!
Is this even legal? He is insane!!!
Biden and his Commie Cartel just may force us into a Divisive Civil War. Is it not the fundamental transformation Obama proclaimed?
Lenin did it in 1917 and Uncle Joe Stalin transformed it into the USSR (how many people dead?)Now the clone of Stalin ?
Well. why not?
Commander in Chief “puss for brains” has screwed up EVERYTHING he can!
What more can you expect from a Communist Criminal?
Why is it in the animal world only the fittest can run the pack and in the human world we pick the dumbest to run our world? Can our world now go to the dogs? It would be better.
As bad as this is, it is but ONE of the many anti-American policies this administration has put forth. And it’s becoming more believable that this president is compromised by the Chinese, Russians, and Ukraine. His policies have helped those countries at the expense of our own. My hope is the incoming Republican congress can at least put some brakes on these spending freaks.
Give them some crumbs and repeatedly say you stand for them and the uninformed dolts will continue to vote for you.
So write your congress-person. Writing Facebook, twitter or even AMAC won’t stop them. But, those in this country who remember what America is, can if we take the steps our Constitution gives us the freedom to do….at least at the present time. They are pushing their agenda as fast as they can to do as much harm as they can before Jan. 2023
Puppet, dirty Joe has been given his orders from his masters on what they conceive for their brave new world better known as the Karl Marx recipe for happiness as seen in the 1917 Russian so-called revolution that produced the likes of Joe Stalin.
As always, Biden is simply buying votes and why not? It won the Democrats lots of seats and governorships this election. Especially the younger people still seem to think the government has its own money to dole out. Most of them have a bogus education so they cannot secure a job to even pay off their college loans. If they EVER do get good jobs, they will soon realize that the only money our government has is money from THEIR paychecks. The buying of votes, the 40 year far-left indoctrination of our kids in public schools and tons of horrific lying, boosted by our media have left us with way too many Communists in DC. I only pray that with a small majority in the House, we can stop this wanton spending of thiers. The Republicans have many in their DC bunch who are really Democrats and they need to be reined-in. The GOP leaders need to get figure out how to win elections or we are going to lose our country in 2024!
Don’t laugh — but write your Congressman!!!!! If that is the only voice we have, USE IT!
Many of them are fakers, too. But the buck has to stop somewhere! And we the people must speak .
Keep praying — FJB — Free Joe Biden from the fake role he is playing.
What do you expect from someone who got 81M votes–Really! What a voting scam. Obama has nothing to worry about, Biden is the worst President ever. Obama is a close second, however. JB has been undermining and selling out our Great Country for such a long time. This is just another way. I suspect he will be buying votes by giving our money and programs to the illegals and not to the legal citizens who really need them. Why does JB want to continually destroy our Country? Perhaps he is recouping money for China & Russia at our expense. I believe they helped put him in office. Such corruption. By the way, what is wrong by showing a valid ID. Many of us had to when we joined the military.
Obama/Biden on their destroy America tour-Communism means they have total control of our lives!!!
I agree with so many of the comments I have read… Medicaid should be used as it was intended; for the truly disabled and for those who need a little help temporarily. It should be approved only when the need is truly there. The entire vetting process needs to be reworked, and people should be held accountable for themselves. How to do this? Let’s find and vet the right candidates for offices, let’s find candidates who are willing to take this on and not be afraid of “stepping on toes” and who understands what Medicaid is for in the first place. Let’s put term limits in place to get rid of all this “old” blood and join the current century with some new and better ideas to lead. Let’s find some true leaders and be progressive. Medicaid could help so many deserving people but instead, it is abused horribly. Change has to happen at the top, but we as citizens must rethink our own attitudes and make our voices heard. Education, reorganization, re-evaluation are key to changing the current administration and bringing in a new group of leaders. Medicaid is only one small part of the changes needed, but it’s a great place to start!
They just want to make sure everything is screwed up so they ca blame it on the republicans. I don’t think Biden even knows what he is signing.
Is this what democrats claim is what they stand for? Welfare sharing the wealth. Freeing criminals? Give away money to people who invade the border to our south? Send money to countries that are not friends? Is that what democrats are? Do people know just how low the Democrats have gone? Or do they expect free stuff? Here’s something for your vote. The Republican party is evil and the media keeps saying the truth and blaming it on Republicans. We have a lot of work to do to make people understand that you have been lied to.
While those who truly deserve it, suffer (or their caregivers do!) My son is completely disabled, for life, and yet I have to constantly “prove” he hasn’t mysteriously and magically “healed”. I’m expected to handle all the paperwork immediately and perfectly, while the “agencies” who handle it are allowed to screw it up over and over and over again…and if you think Medicaid (or Medicare, I think you should research better) is bad, try checking your Social Security Disability! It took me over two years to make them remove an incorrect name and social security number from my son’s claim, with the thousands of dollars they claimed we’d been paid. In truth, we received almost nothing from SSI or any other program during his minority. But we were required to drive for hours to our nearest SS office, fill out reams of paperwork, spend endless hours when we should have been caring for our children, to get nothing. Oh, except rudeness and arrogance from entitled gov’t employees who can’t even be bothered to check a file, for instance, and see that my son IS NOT ABLE TO SPEAK and therefore can’t verify that I’m his legal guardian.
Everything the government gets envoled in always comes out worse than what it is… Go Brandon