Blog - The Toothless Face of Deficit Posturing

Author:

Tim Hiller

July 6, 2010

Issue Areas:

Cost, Coverage, Disparities, Vulnerable Populations

Literally.

If you’ve been following the news at all lately you have probably heard that states around the country are running huge budget deficits. For weeks, states have warned that without an extension of additional Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funding, that they would be forced to make major cuts to Medicaid and, for weeks, Congress has failed to take action in the name of taming the federal deficit and national debt.

So it’s come to this:

On July 1, Michigan eliminated basic Medicaid dental benefits for adults 21 and older, a measure that will save the state about $5 million in 2010. The state has 1.6 million people enrolled in Medicaid….

Because Medicaid will[still] pay for tooth extractions but not restorative work, Cathy Ortman, manager of Ferguson Dental Clinic, said many patients are opting to have the tooth pulled.

“You are going to see a lot more people with no teeth. They are pulling a tooth they could have saved. They are going to opt for what’s free,” Ortman said.

The problem isn’t unique to Michigan either.

The critical FMAP extension to the states that could help prevent these kinds of devastating cuts have been held up in the Senate largely by those who want us to believe that they are gravely concerned about deficit spending. Never mind that some of these same Senators, hailing from both sides of the aisle, who now are willing to campaign on the righteousness of short term savings borne by America’s neediest, can be counted among those who were major contributors to our current deficit problems.

Deficit posturing aside, there is a larger point to be made. Americans have to decide what kind of society do we want to be? As for me, I think that if those who govern fail to take care of the poorest and weakest among our citizenry, then we fail to sustain our moral obligations.

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