As Republicans in Congress move toward slashing Medicaid, I want to focus on Congressman Cline’s attitude toward the program which provides vital health insurance for more than 170,000 of his Sixth District constituents.
Cline has said that cuts to “traditional Medicaid” are off the table.
On Monday I called Cline’s Washington office and asked the following questions:
• What does he mean when he talks about “traditional Medicaid”?
• Does he mean Medicaid before the expansion that made more people eligible under the Affordable Care Act– which he staunchly opposed as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates?
• Does he want to take away Medicaid from the hundreds of thousands of Virginians who have been able to get health insurance for the first time when Medicaid was expanded– including more than 60,000 of his constituents?
The staffer who answered the phone promised to pass on my questions to the congressman. I await his response.
Cline has also joined the Republican demand for “work requirements” for “able-bodied” adult Medicaid recipients.
In fact, nearly two-thirds of adult Medicaid recipients are working full- or part-time. Others are not working due to caregiving, illness or disability, school attendance or inability to find work. So while there may be a tiny fraction of recipients who can work but don’t want to, the bureaucratic effort involved in trying to track them down would probably cost more than any savings by removing them from the rolls.
As with school meals, Cline– the self-styled opponent of “burdensome regulations”– is pleased to impose them on low-income people who just might be trying to get away with something.
Cline Watch 