Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The limits if limited government

Excellent piece looks at Louisiana and its attempt to live within tight limits on government expenditures.
 Going beyond the numbers, what was the actual impact of DHH's plan for "doing more with less"? DHH would close eight parish Medicaid offices, reducing by 61 people the number of DHH employees serving Medicaid clients. And it would reduce the number of prescription drugs allowed Medicaid patients. Medicaid currently pays for up to five prescription medications. DHH's proposal, if approved, would reduce that to four. Thus, Louisianians in need of medical services would have to drive farther, wait longer and figure out which drugs they could do without.

Y'see, this is what happens when the philosophy of limited government crashes headlong into the realities of actually governing. Glorious theory gives way to drab reality. Ideas that looked brilliant on paper or that sounded great sitting around a well-furnished conference room table don't look so hot when you're actually trying to govern.

And this poor guy is just absolutely flummoxed when he runs into the very same problem that millions of his fellow citizens are currently facing.  He's very upset that he and his family don't get health care coverage immediately upon his becoming a Congressman. They  have to wait about a month before that kicks in. Of course, he's a far-right wing Congressman who fought against health care for everyone else, so while he has to wait a whole month during which he can get by on his existing coverage, 59 million Americans don't have any coverage at all.

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