[StBernard] Does Bobby Have Any Shame?

Westley Annis Westley at da-parish.com
Thu Sep 20 22:53:31 EDT 2007


I might be one of the few who have a good memory to recall it was President
Bill "I feel your pain" Clinton who made drastic cuts to the
Medicare/Medicaid system. Louisiana's funding for the program comes
strictly from Washington, DC. Medicaid is a "federal" program that is
administered on the state level.

When Washington DC and Clinton cut funding nationally, it seriously cut the
funds Louisiana got. As a result, I can remember Governor Foster on tv
announcing the State would be forced to tighten the criteria to qualify for
state Medicaid assistance. He said back then that good, deserving people
would get cut from the program because of the severe funding cuts from
Washington DC.

It sounds to me that Jindal only carried out the orders given to him by his
boss Governor Foster and made sure only the most needy would be gauranteed
of Medicaid assistance so the money would not run out. Otherwise the system
would have gone bankrupt on each patient's needs and everyone on Medicaid
would have been hurt by it. Maybe that's what many newspapers meant when
they said Jindal's actions (or Foster's) actually saved the state's Medicaid
system. I'm sure there were a lot more people than Mr. McNiece who were
denied Medicaid assistance, but it wasn't Governor Foster or Jindal who cut
the funding.

Remember, it was President Clinton, a democrat, who made the severe funding
cuts to Louisiana's Medicaid system, not Governor Foster or Bobby Jindal.
Those are the facts. Surely, the Boasso campaign has to know this.

DEB


-----Original Message-----
Does Bobby Have Any Shame?

Shrugs Off Responsibility as DHH Head while Calling McNiece a Liar



For Immediate Release
September 20, 2007

Baton Rouge: Bobby Jindal, who as Secretary of Health and Hospitals, was
successfully sued for personally and arbitrarily cutting off Medicaid Funds
for John McNiece is scrambling to protect himself by calling John's sister
Lynn a liar.

In an ad attempting to respond to Lynn McNiece's story of how Jindal "threw
her brother out on the street," Jindal sinks to a new low. Specifically, the
ad says:

". . .now they're lying about Bobby's service to Louisiana."

Here are the facts:

John McNiece, having been tested and diagnosed with severe mental illness,
had been receiving Medicaid funding for his placement in a nursing facility
for eight years. Jindal, ignoring Federal law and the results of testing by
the state Office of Mental Health, personally and arbitrarily cut off those
funds.

In the suit, Jindal argued that he had the power to override the results of
OMH testing and Federal law and personally cut off Medicaid funding for
thousands of Louisiana residents. The court ruled that Jindal broke the law
and ordered him to reinstate Mr. McNiece's Medicaid funds as well as pay for
attorney's fees and costs.

"Bobby Jindal cut off John McNiece's Medicaid funding, kicked him out onto
the street and now he is calling his sister a liar," Walter Boasso,
(D-Arabi), Democratic Candidate for Governor said. "Does Mr. Jindal have any
shame? Does he have a heart?

"This is a new low, even for Mr. Jindal. What does he have to say to Ms.
McNiece other than to call her a liar and shrug off the entire thing as a
"sad case?" Boasso said. ""If Mr. Jindal cared half as much for what he did
to Mr. McNiece as he does for his own political ambition he would get on his
knees and beg her forgiveness."

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