US poor denied state-run medical service

Friday, July 19, 2013




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Published: Thursday, July 18, 2013







Letters to the Editor







US poor denied state-run medical service











Ted Rudow III, MA, Encina Ave, Palo Alto, CA

California lawmakers improperly stopped funding certain medical services that rural and other specialised health clinics provided to low-income residents under the state’s Medicaid program. A three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the finding of a trial judge and said federal law requires states participating in Medicaid to reimburse clinics serving migrant workers, homeless people and other poor populations for “a panoply of medical services to under-served communities” that includes chiropractic care, dental care, optometry, podiatry and speech therapy.

To save money, the Legislature in 2009 eliminated coverage for adults receiving those services through the state’s Medicaid programme, known as Medi-Cal, saying they were optional because they were not provided by medical doctors. They even convinced lots of poor people that they were right and persuaded them to voluntarily give up some of the few things they had to make them even poorer and the rich even richer, so the rich could have more and more and the poor less and less.



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