They are really hurting the poor.
They might soon turn their attention to Texas, where Republicans, led by Gov. Greg Abbott, have spent the past several years trying to wrest Medicaid dollars away from Planned Parenthood and are close to making their efforts a reality. If legislators are successful, thousands of Texans will be forced to find new health care providers. But they won't do so easily. A 2016 survey of Texan physicians found a majority were loathe to take on Medicaid patients, because the benefit pays so poorly. |
As Dr. Samuel Dickman, the medical director for primary care at Planned Parenthood South Texas, writes in an Op-Ed, "If it goes into effect, this policy would block patients' access to blood pressure checks, cancer screenings, birth control, S.T.D. treatment and other medical care routinely provided at Planned Parenthood health centers in Texas." |
And all of it is based on a political sleight of hand. Mr. Abbott recently tweeted that once the policy goes into effect, "innocent lives will be saved." There is little evidence to back up that claim. After all, in Texas, Medicaid dollars don't cover abortion services. But Planned Parenthood, of course, has long been code for abortion. |
As Dr. Dickman told me, the restrictions on Medicaid, like the work requirements the Biden administration is aiming to unwind, weaponize what it means "to be deserving — or undeserving — of public benefits." |
Pushing patients away from Planned Parenthood, in Dr. Dickman's view, is also likely to cost the state money. He pointed to the complications for untreated sexually transmitted diseases that could land a patient in the emergency room if not treated early, and the birth control that allows women to prevent pregnancies — and so, indirectly, abortions. He also pointed out that politicizing abortion is, in and of itself, politicizing health care. |
The answer, Dr. Dickman argues, is to expand the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, not restrict it further. |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
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