chip on my shoulder

CHIP ON MY SHOULDER

warrenpa.net

i learned how important this program was
the chip program
chip stands for
childrens health insurance plan

it was the way i thought of
for those folks kids that were between
medicaid for kids and the private insurance companies
to get affordable insurance coverage

where i practiced in the austin area
there were a lot of dot com companies in the late 1990s
and the early 2000s
at least there were
before the dot com crash occurred

before the crash there was a lot of money out there
folks were buying ranches like crazy out where we
lived north of austin

then the crash occurred
the ranch selling just froze up

a lot of middle class to upper middle class folks
mostly white
some having transferred to the austin area
were found with no job
some with no home
some with no money
just a lot of debt
stock options were worth nothing

a lot of folks in my practice lost their health insurance
thank goodness
many of the kids did qualify for the chips program
that government handout program for kids insurance
thankfully bipartisan efforts
something that doesnt exist today
established and kept that program going during this time
it was needed greatly again just 6+ years later when
the almost depression occurred

i remember folks would come in
embarrassingly pulling out their chip cards
that government handout program to provide care for kids
pay their copay
to get their sick or injured kid seen
or
to get them their immunizations and or well child exams

a lot of my patients went broke at this time
one little girl looked up at me once with tears in her eyes
they came and took our house

one thing that sort of disgusted me during that time
was the number of doctors that would not take chip
to me it was a black mark on the profession
luckily our large clinic did
we did our part

so this program has helped many a patient
many a working single mom
many a family fallen on hard times
to have health care for their kids

now
here we go again
texas who has one of the worse overall for everybody
healthcare results in the us
their numbers are third world like
especially for kids and women

they just are going to have close to 400,000 kids
possibly loose their chips now
cause congress didnt do their job
of
oking the funding for the programs
which affects those kids in texas
its now until federal funds get oked up to states like texas
to provide the money to keep it going

those numbers are just in texas
i wonder sometimes if those folks have any compassion
if they have trouble sleeping at night
our congress im talking about

surely they are not holding those kids hostage are they
to get some legislation passed

no they wouldnt do that would they

yes i got a chip on my shoulder and i want it to stay there

just do your dang job congress

the organicgreen doctor

this doesnt make cents

THIS DOESNT MAKE CENTS

texas is number one again
no although most texans wish it was for sports
but its not
its what i think is number one for the wrong thing

back about 10 years ago when the dot com crash occurred
i had a lot of patients who were professional folks
many engineers for those dot com companies
got laid off
just walked in to work one day and was told sorry
were closed youre gone
zippo benefits to you
luckily some of the bigger companies like ibm and dell
gave some benefits to folks as they let were let go
so
for the first time in their lives these families were found
without health insurance coverage for themselves and the kids
and
this was pre obamacare where you had to worry about
preexisting conditions
people like me would have been uninsurable

then the federal government stepped in with a plan
that filled the gap between medicaid and private insurance
for kids not for adults

it was called the chips program
childrens health insurance program

these folks were able to get their kids covered on the chips program
pay a small copay for office visits
luckily for those in our system they were treated like an hmo or ppo patient

their kids got well child checks sick care and if they needed
hospitalization or pediatric speciality care
they saw the same folks and went to the same childrens hospital that
the private insurance folks did

i had many a parent cry in my  office although some were embarrassed
to be on the chips programs they were nonetheless happy their kids
were able to get healthcare when it was needed

now fast forward 10+ years to the present time

in the affordable care act under obamacare
the federal government has agreed to give to the states the money
to provide an expansion of medicaid to those who are caught
between the present medicaid programs and the new obamacare
policies you can buy and for many get subsidies to help with
the premiums

i think of this medicaid expansion as being like the chip program
that provided such a safety net for those hurt by the dot com
collapse
the bridge between medicaid and private insurance

there are 21 states plus the district of columbia who are accepting
medicaid expansion
4 states are considering it
then
25 who had decided not to expand medicaid

now this is where texas becomes number one
and
it in my opinion is a big embarrassment to being number one
this oil rich state should be embarrassed

we already rank close to the top in not providing care
to women and childrens

the unisured rate in texas is 24%
if the affordable care act was fully implemented in texas
that would drop the rate to 12%
click here for for information and statistics

the feds would give the state of texas $9,217,000,000
over the next 8 years to provide that coverage
what i call chips for adults and kids
that safety gap
thats 9 billion dollars
the cost to texas for this money
$92,000,000 maybe less

nope they said we aint gonna do it
so
those folks will not get needed healthcare
they will develop or advance their chronic diseases
they will over utilize the emergency room systems in the states
kids and women wont get preventative care
and
there will be a lot of unpaid for care

who pays for this
hospitals doctors and insurance companies and YOU
these groups charge more for their services to compensate
some for the lost monies
we pay more for our health insurance as a result
here in texas expect your premiums to go up

then those folks will eventually be a political force in this state
wonder which party they will vote for
this will all be a big issue in future elections here

one state arkansas got a waiver to use this money to buy
private insurance
the program apparently is going well
ive seen interviews with folks who are glad they have
health insurance now
but that state is thinking about pulling the plug on those folks

for those of you who oppose this
be sure and dont get fired or get laid off
or
you will be in that not covered category

we pay now or we all pay later

the organicgreen doctor