Stuart H. Shapiro – 8/23/07

This page was last updated on August 28, 2007.

Find another way to fund CHIP; Stuart H. Shapiro, M.D., President and CEO - Pennsylvania Health Care Association; Beaver County Times; August 23, 2007.

In summary, Mr. Shapiro doesn’t want his industry to lose its place at the trough of taxpayer dollars. You can find my overall comments regarding healthcare here.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Every child in America should have access to health care; this should be a fundamental value of American society, and, thankfully, both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have passed reauthorization and expansion of the federal Children’s Health Insurance Plan.

“But funds to expand health care for children should not come at the expense of America’s historical and fundamental commitment to our elderly, as just happened in House Bill 3162.

“Unfortunately, many House members were forced to make a Hobson’s choice when deciding whether to support this legislation. While the legislation contained the noble goal of expanding insurance for kids, it also included many destructive components.”

[RWC] FYI, a “Hobson’s choice” is when a person believes there really is no choice. This is the battle cry of everyone who wants to feed off of taxpayers.

“First and foremost is the plan to slash $2.7 billion in Medicare payments for America’s elderly, which would reduce funding by $140 million over five years for Pennsylvanians in nursing homes.

“In America, our legislators should not be placed in the position of choosing between kids and the elderly.”

[RWC] Of course, not. We don’t elect representatives to make tough decisions, do we?

“Roughly 80 percent of nursing home residents in Pennsylvania have their care funded through Medicaid and Medicare. For years, Medicaid reimbursements have not kept pace with the real cost of care, and Medicare payments, which typically cover rehabilitative care for the sickest elderly, help nursing homes to bridge the gap.

“Cuts of this magnitude make the delivery of the highest quality an overwhelming challenge and will hurt our lower wage earners the most.

“Cutting money to the nation’s nursing home residents is not the right way to fund expanded health care for children. Both our children and our greatest generation’s most vulnerable and ill seniors deserve quality health care.

“Our Washington lawmakers can demonstrate their commitment to both the young and old when the House and Senate versions of the legislation are reconciled in a conference next month.”

[RWC] Rather than repeat my comments from elsewhere, below is what I wrote in a comment on the Times website.

“How about this? Why not tell parents they have responsibilities and one of them is to provide their kids with proper healthcare out of their own pockets? As long as taxpayer-funded “safety nets” (CHIP, Medicaid, etc.) enable/encourage/reward poor life choices, we’ll never minimize the problem. It’s simply not right for people to dump their financial responsibilities on their neighbors. When people do this, they impair the ability of their neighbors to meet their own responsibilities. I’m not picking on parents; I believe we all should provide for our needs out of our own pockets.

“Finally, should we be surprised to read a letter like this from a healthcare industry spokesman, and a segment that gets so much of its funding via federal taxpayers? According to its website, the PHCA ‘is a professional trade organization representing the long-term care community in Pennsylvania. Specifically, PHCA represents more than 300 for-profit as well as not-for-profit nursing facilities, personal care homes (also referred to as assisted living facilities), and continuing care retirement communities.’”

In response to this comment, among other things Linnea Clear of Freedom wrote, “So think before you trash hard working American parents for doing the very best that they can.” I responded, “Ms. Clear, when did taking a position that ‘we all should provide for our needs out of our own pockets’ become trashing ‘hard working American parents?’ I don’t care how hard you work, it’s not right to use the government to force your neighbor to shoulder your financial responsibilities for raising your children.”