Healthcare

Cost of Healthcare

Unfortunately, health insurance companies have become doctors, or they think they have. Healthcare decisions should be made by doctors and patients, not by an accountant or actuary crunching numbers in a cubicle somewhere.

I will battle insurance companies, ensuring that you have the best and most affordable health care possible.

Frivolous lawsuits have driven the cost of insurance premiums to astronomical levels, the cost of these lawsuits are passed onto you, the consumer.

All medical insurance premiums and healthcare costs should be tax deductable in the State of Missouri, next year I will fight to save you and your family money.

Just a tip...

The next time you go to your pharmacy to fill a prescription, ask the pharmacist what the cash price is for your medicine. A lot of times it is actually cheaper than your co-pay, especially generics. Those of us fortunate enough to have insurance, we instinctually use our insurance to pay for drugs. Why pay a $10 or $20 co-pay for a medication the pharmacy would charge $5.50 for if you paid cash?

Medicaid "cuts"

As a society, we have a responsibility to help those individuals that are unable to help themselves, but not those individuals unwilling to help themselves> There is a huge difference.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of fraud and abuse that has crept into the system. The Missouri Legislature is using tax dollars, your tax dollars, in a responsible manner to deal with the healthcare needs of those that are unable to help themselves.

There is a finite pool of money available, and I am trying to use that money to provide the neediest people with the medical services they need most.

As this election progresses, you will hear a lot about Medicaid "cuts" from liberals. You will hear that 170,000 (I think that is the number they agreed to) people were "cut off" of Medicaid.

This needs to be explained; during the previous administration one in six Missourians were receiving your tax dollars via governmental assistance. One in Six. Walk outside, look three doors down to the left and two doors to the right. Five of you were supporting the sixth. As a society, that is simply not sustainable.

Previously, Medicaid had an unwritten policy called "presumptive eligibility." Simply put, when you walked into the Medicaid office and requested assistance, you were presumed to be eligible. Literally, Bill Gates could have walked in, fraudulently filled out his application, and received Medicaid services.

There is a line on the application asking you to state your income. If the arbitrary number you put down fell below the threshold, you were given benefits no questions asked. As with any governmental program, the word spreads like wildfire when people learn how to game the system. Remember, they gamed the system to benefit from your tax dollars.

These Medicaid "cuts" came into play because the current administration actually verified income levels. That is a novel idea! If you lied on your application and received benefits through fraud and deceit, then your benefits were rescinded. These are the "cuts" the liberals are referring to.

Each year, more money is spent on Medicaid and, as the cost of healthcare increases, so will funding levels. A responsible government has the obligation to spend your tax dollars wisely and ensure your tax dollars are not being spent on recipients who have committed fraud.

Hypothetical situation: An individual currently on Medicaid gets a job with an employer that offers health insurance benefits.

Ask yourself this, should that individual be able to decline their employer's benefits in order to remain on Medicaid?

As it stands now, the Medicaid recipient can reject their employer's health insurance benefits and remain on Medicaid.

To me, that is unconscionable and is something I am going to work on next year in Jefferson City.

I have a great record on making sure we don't ask you to send more money to Jefferson City.

More must be done! I hope that you will join me in these efforts!

Please become a member of Team Parkinson and together, we can move Missouri forward.