Friday night on MSNBC’s The Last Word, two moving guests, a mother and her severely disabled, intellectually vibrant son, explained what the impact of Trumpcare will be on disabled people who are now able to live at home thanks to Medicaid. One point that has not received air time came up in their comments. The mother explained that if her son can no longer receive the help that Medicaid provides which allows him to live at home, he would have to be institutionalized, although there are no available institutions in their home state of Florida. She went on to point out that the only other option would be to move her son into a hospital permanently. She explained that the cost of permanently hospitalizing him would be much greater than the amount spent on his care now. Of course, there are other very good reasons for not wanting her son to be hospitalized. But for people who care only about the bottom line, this ought to be a wake-up call. Tom Ashbrook’s program this morning on NPR also had an analysis of the costs to hospitals, providers, employers, and employees that would result from passage of this bill.
Here is the YouTube link for the show:
The Last Word June 23, 2017