Are we to consider it wrong for a person who has not been working for 20 years to receive Medicaid benefits? Some consider it wrong. Their thought is, that if he hasn't been paying taxes, and now of a sudden expects health care, then he is expecting someone else to pay his bills. That is just wrong, they say. Why should one person reach into another's pocket and expect that person to pay his bills?
For my part, I think Medicaid should pay the way for those who do not have private insurance. The high price of our medical care makes it so no one can afford care unless they have insurance. I do not like the notion of not covering a person, any person, regardless whether they have been working and been paying taxes. To me, you just don't let a person die -- and some of them do die. Nor do you deprive them of health care that is crucial even if they are not dying. You provide them care, simply because they need it.
In theory, though, I do think we should have them work when they reach that point, when they reach the juncture of receiving Medicaid. In practicality, however, I can see this often would be difficult. I think in some cases -- say they are so incapacitated they can hardly get out of bed, for example -- actually having them do any work would be a hard thing to accomplish.
But, many of them can work. Those who can, should. We should revamp our system to allow it. We should place all those who can do such work into productive jobs.
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