States continue to debate whether they should expand their Medicaid programs under Obamacare. While the siren song of “free money” from Washington, D.C. lures governors from both parties, states often cut the budgets of programs helping the truly needy to prioritize a massive influx of able-bodied patients. Even worse, one third of those patients have criminal histories:

Lawmakers in expansion states have decided to put their most needy citizens on the chopping block so they can move able-bodied, working-age adults; almost all of whom (82 percent) have no children to support, nearly half of whom (45 percent) do not work, many of whom (35 percent) with a record of run-ins with the criminal justice system to the front of the line. So what happens to those on the ObamaCare chopping block? States that previously expanded Medicaid had to eliminate coverage for life-saving organ transplants, overload waitlists for services, cap enrollment and raise patient costs, all because promises were broken and costs exceeded projections.

ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion is funded by new taxes and $716 billion cut to seniors’ Medicare, likely resulting in restricted access, slashes benefits and being kicked off their Medicare Advantage plans.

Earlier this year, Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (D) submitted a budget that covered the costs of his state’s early ObamaCare expansion by slashing payments to hospitals, nursing homes and insurance companies managing Medicaid plans, while also adding a $250 monthly premium to a program that helps the parents of severely disabled children access services not covered by their insurance. None of his proposals cut funding for services to the newly-covered felons and working-age able-bodied adults under his expansion.

The Foundation for Government Accountability put together a fun and helpful video to explain this travesty:

http://youtu.be/GxqNuxWNCNw

FGA’s Tarren Bragdon is sounding the alarm. “Everyone should know that a lawmaker calling for expansion is asking for criminals to get priority medical care at the expense of the disabled, elderly, children and others already enrolled in the current Medicaid program,” he said.