From The Daily Herald:
Under the theory that perhaps thousands of Utah college students are having babies paid for by Medicaid that they could pay for themselves, one lawmaker has a plan: cut all elective epidurals and elective C-sections.
Sen. Dan Liljenquist, R-Bountiful, has vowed massive Medicaid reform in next year's legislative session, and first on the list is people who may be freeloading. Medicaid pays for 15,000 births a year in Utah, a third of the total, Liljenquist says.
"Do we save some kid or make birth easier?" he said, noting that the waiting list for Medicaid in Utah just for the disabled has reached 4,400 people.
Liljenquist says the state could save millions. Epidurals, a shot given in the spine, are a common method of relieving pain during labor. At Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, 86 to 87 percent of women who deliver babies at the hospital get an epidural; studies show about 65 percent of births nationwide happen with an epidural.
Cesarean births have risen to nearly a third of all births nationwide and cost nearly double a vaginal birth. The average charge for a Cesarean delivery in Utah County in 2008 was $8,989, according to the Utah Department of Health. In 2008, the average cost of a vaginal birth in the county was $5,079, but that does not include an epidural.
Mr. Liljenquist believes that these women that qualify for Medicaid are college students just coming to milk the government for a free birth they could otherwise pay for. Ever met a college student that had a few thousand laying around? And what exactly is an 'elective' epidural? Under what circumstances would Mr. Liljenquist and the government allow me to choose pain relief for my birth? These are choices that are available to women that are well within the approved guidelines of American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Punishing women by removing their choices if they're poor is despicable.
Why is it that the party that screamed the loudest to keep the government out of their health care wants to meddle in health care all the time? These choices are between the patient and the doctor and the Utah Republican Party should stay out of it.
The debate about these choices is fierce and divisive, for sure. One thing all women can agree on is that they want to have the choice. This is the worst type of political posturing - insinuating that someone is being selfish for wanting pain relief during child birth and at the same time offering fewer choices to poor people regarding health care. A woman that wants to have a numb child birth or chooses to have a caesarean section shouldn't be denied that based on the fact that she's on Medicaid.
Does Mr. Liljenquist believe pain relief for passing a kidney stone is elective, by the way?
Or there is always another personal favorite of mine from my days as a surgical assistant: LOTS of the anesthetic injected locally for a vasectomy (you know where) which actually hurts more than the actual procedure.
Men like this shouldn't be allowed to have opinions on anything related to female anatomy.
Thanks for your comment. Read mine again. I said I think it will be more effective if we start TALKING to them.
ROFLMAO!!!!
Oh that is so true!
And do we love to watch bubba in action!
Let's just tell him that he needs to put his cojones in the hands of a woman giving birth with no epidural.
He might change his mind, after his head explodes.
Doug, go to any of the blogs at chron.com, specifically the "liberal" blogs. They're infested by screaming wingnuts. Nothing sinks in with them, least of all reason, logic, and facts. Let me know how you fare. I go there for the entertainment value of watching their heads explode as they talk themselves in a circular hissy fit. Especially when I return to them the same "courtesy" they extend to anyone not in total lockstep with their "politics".
http://www.chron.com/commons/commons.html
Everything you're saying is true. My comment was off topic a little bit, but I believe if we start talking with Republicans either in person or over the phone, (internet might give too much seperation) you would be suprised at how that can have an enormous effect. But you have to have your facts straight, because if you say even one thing that is not fully accurate you'll lose them, because they are looking for an excuse to hold on to their positions. You have to SHOW them where they are wrong as opposed to telling them.
I'm not saying this isn't hard, or that you don't have to have the patience of a saint, but I do think it is going to be the only way we'll EVER reach them.
It's a subject close to my heart these days.. :)
BTW, great post Kel. Leaving the pain of child birth out (which is hard to do). Why would someone go through nine months of that simply to collect on Medicaid?
Thanks for bringing that up Doug. We had some teaparty people come over here a few months ago. They invited me to speak at their teaparty meeting and I said, go ahead and set something up. I've yet to hear back from them. The "debate" we had around here is in the archives if you weren't around then. Otherwise, ask around. It was interesting to say the least.
heck yes that's a word...and it's high on my list of words used to elucidate the goals of the rebuptilians. :O)
If you can find someone who wants what is best for the country more than they want to beat liberals, you've got yourself a deal.
Sadly, that's not who's left in the Republican party. Those that really want good policy and are willing to listen to reason are now calling themselves "independents" or "libertarians."
It's difficult to reason with someone who hasn't been reasoned into their position, kwim?
The Daily Hurricane is a place where we can come together without the loud, insulting voices on the right. They're welcome if they're able to debate with good purpose, but once they're told that name-calling and obfuscation isn't tolerated here, they usually just go away.
Is obfuscation even a word? :D
I don't know if it will help, but we need to start making our opinions known to people on the other side (Republicans) as well. How many of them probably read this blog? Very few. I think that speaking with them directly is a tact that liberals should take more. Not backing down when they start to get louder. Make darn sure in any discussion that you get your opinion across without sounding like a bully. There is a bit of an art form to it. But the main point is to talk to them! Many of them are only exposed, mostly out of their own choosing, to right wing/corportist media. Challenge their lazy minds. I've started doing this. It's comforting talking with people that can think, and can understand what were saying, but we need to talk with Republicans and corporate Democrats too.
go fantasyland. I just wonder what prominent eugenicist would step up and declare people such as Liljenquist prime candidates for sterilization?
Women and kids. Traditional targets for people with p**p for brains.
Please God, in my lifetime...let this asshole go through childbirth..just once.
Then, let him come back and say this again!
In response, I think I have a plan:
let's neuter these asses. Without anesthesia.
Maybe the world does need a few more sopranos.
Dickheads. Pure evil dickheads.
Lobotomy to some people should be covered by Mediacaid...
Let's get this guy and give him a "procedure" without anesthesia. I'll make the first incision; my wife has a specific area in mind.
Utah leads the nation in mistreatment of women. 1 our of every 3 women can expect to be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. The patriarchal religion that controls the state is among the most oppressive to women in Christendom and this guy wants to make things worse.
Shame on him; off with his cojones.
This is not a subject to be funny about. It's too bad Mr. Lijenquist can't be forced to becomre pregnant and have a child. He'd change his tune real fast. I have a real problem with women's health issues being decided by men, who have no clue as to what they are talking about. A woman's health issue should be decided by her in consultation with her doctor, period.
It's always been my understanding that Utah has the lowest unwed mother birthrate in the US, primarily due to the majority of the citizens being practicing Mormons. I wonder where he gets the idea the ones using Medicaid are college women; is he thinking maybe they are from out of state? Maybe it's caused by all the fundamentalist who have a number of wives, many of whom are on welfare because they are legally "unwed."
As far as caesarean sections are concerned, both doctors and insurance companies have expressed concerns recently because of the rising number of elected ones. Certainly if there is the slightest reason one would be better for the child or mother, it should be allowed. I'm not sure if the mother wanting to have the baby on someone's birthday is a good enough reason.
Pure evil. No surprise he is male.
Sooner or later everyone needs to wake up to what we are dealing with.
Myopic hatemongers who would rather kill off people that don't measure up to their warped since of reality.
These morons are crazy. Think about it. Spending a trillion dollars on an illegal war doesn't bother them. But, spending money on pain relief during pregnancy for the poor does.
Killing innocents for THEIR resources? Not a problem for them.
Providing adequate health care for our own citizens? No way...
Still think revolution isn't necessary? These assholes are the scum of the earth, perpetrating that they are pillars of the community.