There’s been a lot of bragging going on about how many new people now have health insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act. I cannot speak for the nation but I do know something about California. Just a few years ago, there were about 8-9 million people in California receiving their health care via Medi-Cal. Since the ACA, there are now about 14 million people on Medi-Cal. That is almost one out of every three people in California are now on Medi-Cal. Think about that for a moment. 1 in 3. Almost all of those additional sign-ups are from the working poor and lower middle class. This year, the Feds will stop repaying the State all of the cost of this program. That will leave the State with about a 1.5 billion dollar shortfall for this program. Where will that money come from? Now to my point. You have all been reading about the $2 a pack new tax to pay for this shortfall. Big money folks floated an initiative for the ballot. This is their idea for how to pay the shortfall. Sounds OK, right? As shown time after time a tobacco tax is really a tax on who? The poor. Every time. So let’s get this straight, the State took the Federal money to have health insurance for the poor so they could look good. Then when the money ran out, the politicians, who could not just cancel the health care program for the poor came up with a brilliant idea. We can’t raise taxes on billionaires, because that’s where they get all their campaign money, so let’s get some billionaires to propose an initiative raising the tax on tobacco so the poor will wind up paying for the program the politicians gave them in the first place. You have to love the boldness of the plan. As of this date, most of the money is going to administration. There is little to no evidence that anyone’s healthcare is better. By now you might be wondering why you should care. The answer: seniors are included in this plan. Remember most nursing home assistance for seniors is paid for by Medi-Cal. In addition about 80,000 seniors are on Medi-Cal to help pay for nursing home care. Their health care is paid for by Medi-Cal. Now these are all the frail among us. Now remember what I have been talking about on the radio for 18+ years: estate recovery. Most people know about recovery if you are in a nursing home. Effective January 1, 2017 there are even some new rules. The politicians know exactly what they are doing. Providing health care on the backs of seniors. What are you doing to protect a lifetime’s work? What have you done to make sure you are not a victim? You and only you can protect what you have. Admit to yourself that age is inevitable and that you may need help in the future.
