The New Hampshire legislature, under the tyranny of O’Brien, have made the predictable move to use poor people as their pawns to make a political point.
Apparently in New Hampshire if you are so unfortunate as to not have health insurance because you fall below federal the poverty line, the Affordable Care Act will do precious little save you.
Not because the Obama administration wanted it that way, but because O’Brien and his pack of baying coyotes have decided that poor folks exist as political pawns, not humans entitled to the most basic care.
Under the Affordable Care Act, those whose income falls under 133% of the federal poverty line who still don’t qualify for Medicaid under existing state guidelines would qualify for an improved insurance pool called an “exchange” or would be qualified for an expanded Medicaid program. For an example of how difficult qualification for any public program is, just check out these guidelines and rules here. For some reason, a lot of people who’ve never had to get on assistance of any kind think that applying and qualifying (two entirely different activities, one you do the other you wait for) can be worked between a burger and fries on a lunch break.
Unfortunately a lot of middle class people who suddenly get very ill or lower middle class folks who never could afford insurance and suddenly get very ill learn very quick that public assistance is no cake walk.
But its a cake walk for politicians eager to make political points by scribbling a few noxious lines on a piece of legislation that could put the health and welfare of thousands of people on the losing end.
Currently O’Brien and his cronies have decided, as Senator Jim Forsythe from Strafford told the Foster’s Daily Democrat on Friday, that they will use the their refusal to participate in the insurance exchanges on the state level or the Medicaid expansion “As a way to obstruct ObamaCare.”
Hear that New Hampshire? Your health and welfare doesn’t matter, all that matters is that you suffer enough to hate Obama. The Republicans are banking on millions of ill people who won’t qualify for Medicaid coverage because the state Republicans are refusing to expand the coverage or put together a workable exchange program.
Republicans in New Hampshire, like Republicans in other states such as Texas and Florida, banked on the Supreme Court going their way and as a result sat on their hands when the time came to prepare for the changes.
Here’s the crux of it all; O’Brien, Forsythe and others hope that when a citizen gets sick and gets turned away until they are left struggling to the emergency room in the last minute, waiting buckled over in pain, that instead of wondering if they’ll make it through the next minute or hour; instead of contemplating why they can’t get basic medical care when the rest of the civilized world cares for its own; they are hoping instead those people will instead blame Obama’s program that they denied.
Here’s hoping that the majority of New Hampshire’s citizens have far better ability to understand basic ethics than the Republicans do.
Progressive Action New Hampshire 