Essay: Questionable Priorities - 7.1.09

Michigan Radio’s political analyst Jack Lessenberry has been thinking what the state cuts to Medicaid are going to mean for Michiganders…

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I’m not sure what the weather is where you are. But it is a bleak day for thousands of Michigan adults who have been managing their vision, hearing and dental problems with the help of Medicaid.

Due to our budget problems, the state, as of today, is no longer paying for a number of formerly covered services. This includes routine eye and dental exams, glasses and fillings.

Now, the state will pay for dental emergencies. Which is usually what happens when you don’t take care of your teeth. That will also cost the state a lot more than routine care would have cost.

I’ve had six root canals, and I know. But hey. Nobody ever accused our politicians of too much common sense. Incidentally, if you didn’t know about these new restrictions, that’s not surprising.

So far as I can tell, there has been next to nothing written about this in any Michigan newspaper, although they are killing acres of trees to report that Michael Jackson is still dead.

Last week I received an outraged letter from Jamie Wierenga in Kalamazoo. He isn’t on Medicaid himself, but he knows about vision. He is a certified optician. A successful one, but not a selfish one.

“I worked hard to get where I am,” he told me.

“But I also share the roads with the people who, for whatever reason, are on Medicaid.” What bothers him most is that, “folks who should be wearing medically necessary eyeglasses to drive are not going to be able to drive. How are these people going to be able to get to work? How can they function? Won’t this change in Medicaid coverage lead to more layoffs? How can these people ever get off Medicaid and welfare support if they cannot see?”

I also heard from a former student, Miriam Braunstein, a brilliant writer whose body is being destroyed by the ravages of mitochondrial disease. She has struggled fiercely to be independent, and lives in a small, wheel-chair friendly house.

When she got the “Dear Beneficiary” letter from the state, Miriam and her caregivers scrambled to get her the hearing aid she was beginning to desperately need.

Fortunately, it came yesterday, a day before it would have cost them $2,000 they don’t have. What she isn’t sure of is her teeth, since the letter from the governor only said that if the state had started fixing them before the cutoff, “they may still pay for it.”

She understands that our state has a massive budget crisis. Yet, how much money is cutting off adult Medicaid likely to save? The dental portion saves a puny $2.9 million. The rest of the cuts probably save no more than that.

We will spend $2 billion this year on our prisons, some of which goes to keep elderly cons and small-time druggies locked up.

It seems to me that somebody’s priorities are screwed up, and it isn’t Jim and Miriam’s. If you agree, you might want to let your state legislator know. And think about this. If we live long enough, we will eventually need these type of services too.

I’ll see you at the charity clinic.

Comments

[Michele]

I hate to join the chorus that says "I know we need cuts but just not this" but I believe the potential for this to lead to greater costs later as well as the relatively insignificant amount of money this poses to save make Michigan medicare cuts a really poor choice. Not to mention its the sickest and the weakest who stand to suffer, those who are least able to defend themselves, not much time for lobbying...

[Thrasher]

Yawn...

[rjacks]

Points well made, Jack. Thrasher might be worn out from all this talk, but it makes no sense to cut routine procedures from our most vulnerable. Preventive care is so much cheaper, as well as the right thing to do.

[Letia Dear]

Hello, my name is Tia and I am a medicaid recipient. I have diabetes and routine vision and dental exams are routine for my disease. It is going to be hard to keep track of progress or damages done to my eyes or teeth by diabetes without medicaid coverage. I am unemployed and I can't pay for these services. I am part of a community organization named TARGET AREA and we are trying to get more info on this issue so we can properly inform our community. I live in Three Rivers. If you have any further information to share please share so I can help my community do all we can to fight this very bad decision.