Medicaid alone may not help

I certainly agree with John Crabtree's opinion (“What Medicaid expansion means,” Nov. 4) on the value of Medicaid to those with limited incomes. It is true that those who have incomes below a certain level will be covered by Medicaid; however, that doesn't mean they will have access to health care.

More and more doctors are refusing to accept Medicaid patients because the reimbursement that they receive is not sufficient to cover their expenses. You can attribute the high cost for doctors to practice to the greed of the legal profession and the generosity of the bleeding hearts that make up the juries sitting in judgment on malpractice trials.

The level of reimbursement is not the only problem with the new Affordable Health Care Law. If you can't afford health insurance and your income is above that which would qualify you for Medicaid, the government will subsidize your purchase of health insurance.

Unfortunately, that probably isn't going to help since their idea of subsidy is tax credits. How much good are tax credits when you do not have a tax liability? It's like everything else the government does. Did the cash for clunkers help those that needed decent transportation? No, but those who had discretionary income received a 20 percent discount on the purchase of a new vehicle whether they needed one or not.

If I appear to have a negative view of our government, it's because I do have. If the government continues to operate in their accustomed manner, we can look forward to a dismal future.

Look at what governments that operate in a similar fashion to that of ours have done to their citizens. You need look no further than the financial news and the situations of Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Greece or Italy. It won't be the end of the world but it will be the end of the world we have become accustomed to.

Robert Hibbard

Foothills