Your view: Fix Medicaid

Michael Jensen hit the nail on the head with this article concerning Medicaid funding in Missouri. He certainly did not take the politically correct road through this political minefield that many are taking regarding cuts to this increasingly bloated program.

Many of the arguments to keep Medicaid intact as we know it may be valid … to a point, but most miss the point that Mr. Jensen was trying to make. That point is "personal responsibility." As a society, we have eliminated the very concept of personal responsibility for any aspect of out lives. We have built the idea that we don't need to financially participate in our medical care, housing, grocery shopping because the government will and should do these things. We have been taught that it is our right to expect these things from government.

But the fact is as Mr. Jensen points out, each one of us regardless of economic standing, color of skin, national origin, gender or any of the other buzz-words that today imply inability to influence our lives, we do have a moral, fiscal and ethical responsibility to "take care of our own." It is our responsibility to provide for the needs of our children ... before we provide color TV, VCRs, new cars, name brand clothes and so on. These things are not rights, but children have the "right" to expect parents to works at any available job to first provide shelter, food and other real necessities of life. Remember, the TV/VCR is not a necessity of life.

Can opponents of the effort to fix Medicaid in this state honestly say that there is no abuse in the Medicaid system? Certainly there is much need for some of the things that Medicaid provides in the lives of some families but just as certainly there are major and costly abuses in the system. If one individual can make the trip to the beauty shop or purchase shiny wheels for his car, or buy that big screen TV, and still participate in the Medicaid program, the system is corrupt and those truly needing services pay the price. It is a matter of responsibility.

This has become a political issue as opposed to a program issue which generally means it won't be fixed. But the financial issues will not go away. If we bury our heads in the sand and continue to throw around all the numbers of people who will be hurt or tossed off the Medicaid roles, then we proceed in the direction of non-responsibility. The government cannot and absolutely should not do it all. The government has a moral responsibility to breed responsibility in its people. Fix Medicaid!

Dale Carlson

California, MO