[Education and Welfare] Medicaid

[dauidr at juno.com]

Thank you, Denny, for letting us know about your getting in touch with Tony at the DISPATCH. I'll make sure ot look over the material and call my reps on it.

David Rosenkoetter
Kansas City, MO

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I just spoke to Tony at the Post Dispatch and he assured me that they are
going to really blast the legislators.

They know they are doing something underhanded when they went about it so
secretly.

We will definitely be talking to our representatives about it.

I hope all of you will pick up the phone today and call your senator and
representative.

We really need to let them know we are very unhappy about this.

 

 

______________________________________________________________________

Denny Huff - President

Missouri Council of the Blind

 

P: (636) 262-1383

TF: (888) 362-1383

F: (314) 558-0298

 

DHuff at MoBlind.Org

www.moblind.org

 

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE JOURNEY

Your host: Denny Huff

Listen live,

SUNDAY MORNINGS AT 8:00 AM CST

WWW.KLPW.COM

 

 

From: Beverly Armstrong [mailto:b_armstrong2 at sbcglobal.net] 
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 10:12 AM
To: DHuff at MoBlind.Org; Education and Welfare
Subject: Re: [Education and Welfare] Medicaid

 

Denny, I am going to call my state Rep., Stacey Newmann.

 

I am not sure this can be done as in the Statutes there is something said
about providing Medicaid to blind people and money is not to be taken from
the Blind Pension Fund.

 

I am going to look at the Statutes again before I do call her.

 

This is very typical of some legislators--they strike at the most vulnerable
people!

 

Bev

 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: Denny Huff <mailto:dhuff at moblind.org>  

To: ew at moblind.org 

Cc: Missouri-L <mailto:Missouri-L at MoBlind.Org>  

Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 7:34 AM

Subject: [Education and Welfare] Medicaid

 

JEFFERSON CITY  . A $28 million Medicaid program for the blind would be
eliminated and the money shifted to higher education under a recommendation
made

by a Missouri House appropriations committee today. 

 

The proposal, which now goes to the House Budget Committee, is apt to cause
a political stir. Even former Gov. Matt Blunt's 2005 Medicaid cuts didn't
touch

aid for the blind, who have been covered under a special part of Missouri's
Medicaid program since at least 1967. 

 

The amendment was offered by Rep. Tom Flanigan, R-Carthage and chairman of
the House Health, Mental Health and Social Services Appropriations
Committee.

 

 

No mention was made at the meeting that the special health care program for
the blind would end. The amendment was worded in a technical fashion, citing

dollars and page numbers. When asked by Rep. Jeanne Kirkton, D-Webster
Groves, to explain the impact, Flanigan declined. 

 

"It was like a kangaroo court," Kirkton said later. 

 

The Post-Dispatch could not reach Flanigan for comment. He told the Columbia
Daily Tribune that his goal was to shift about $65 million from the social

services budget to higher education. 

 

In addition to cutting the program for the blind, Flanigan's amendment cut
about $12 million from subsidized child care and lesser amounts from other
social

programs. 

 

Combined with $40 million from a national mortgage settlement that Gov. Jay
Nixon wants to use on higher education, the savings from social services
would

allow the Legislature to reinstate this year's level of funding for the
state's public colleges and universities. 

 

Because the blind aren't held to income standards, the state can't draw
federal matching funds for their care. The state picks up the entire health
care

tab for about 2,858 people on the Blind Pension Fund and Supplemental Aid to
the Blind. 

 

Deborah Greider, a St. Louis attorney who represents the Missouri Council of
the Blind, said the proposed budget cut "would be a terrible dilemma for
these

vulnerable people, to be left with no ready access to medical care." 

 

The budget amendment does not change the monthly cash benefits - called
pensions -- distributed to people who are at least 18 years old and are
totally

blind. That money comes from a small statewide property tax.    

 

Virginia Young

is the Post-Dispatch Jefferson City bureau chief. For updates on Missouri
politics and the legislative session, follow her on Twitter 

@VirginiaYoung. 

 

 

 

____________________________________________________________________________
_

Denny Huff- President

Missouri Council of the Blind

P: (636) 262-1383

TF: (888) 362-1383

F: (314) 558-0298

Phone Cast: (816) 298-8969

 

DHuff at MoBlind.Org

www.moblind.org

The purpose of Missouri Council of the Blind shall be to promote the general
well-being of our members and legally blind people in Missouri, and to
support

or participate in other programs promoting the best interests of legally
blind people everywhere.

 

 

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE JOURNEY

Your host: Denny Huff

Listen live,

SUNDAY MORNINGS AT 8:00 AM CST

WWW.KLPW.COM

 

 


  _____  


_______________________________________________
EW mailing list
EW at moblind.org
http://moblind.org/mailman/listinfo/ew_moblind.org

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