Ernst follows gaffe with phony Medicaid claims

Journalist Michael Kinsley once said “A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth.”

In Iowa, a gaffe is something a politician says emblazoned across a Raygun T-shirt.

Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst nailed them both on Friday.

Ernst held a town hall meeting in Parkersburg and faced fiery questions about a Republican budget plan that passed the House, including a $700 billion cut in Medicaid health coverage over 10 years for low-income Americans. In Iowa, 600,000 are covered.

The savings are needed to make room for $4 trillion in tax cuts. Rich folks get the biggest slice.

A member of the audience yelled “People are going to die!”

“People are not … well, we all are going to die,” Ernst said. “So, for heaven’s sakes. For heaven’s sakes, folks.”

The audience member was India May, director of the Ionia public library and a registered nurse who is running for the Iowa Legislature.

We are all going to die. But the “when” matters. Without health coverage, people could die prematurely of treatable conditions. Ernst’s response confirmed callousness is a feature, not a flaw, in the GOP agenda.

Then she released a snarky video mocking the exchange. Those seeking eternal life, she said, should embrace Jesus Christ.

Worse than the gaffes are the phony arguments Ernst employed to defend Medicaid cuts, which, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would leave 7.6 million Americans without health insurance.

Ernst invoked the claim that 1.4 million Medicaid recipients are illegal immigrants. For starters, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid. Even some who are here legally don’t qualify.

The 1.4 million figure accounts for immigrants who are covered under state-funded programs, according an earlier CBO estimate. Many states provide coverage to children and pregnant women using state funds, not federal. Some states waive a five-year waiting period for legal immigrants to receive coverage. The House bill would penalize those states by reducing federal funding.

The only way undocumented immigrants can access Medicaid is for emergency care in the event of a serious or life-threatening condition. The payments go to hospitals to reimburse them for emergency care they must provide. Emergency care makes up less than 0.5% of the Medicaid budget, according to KFF, a nonpartisan source of health care analysis.

Also Republicans’ claim that 8 million people will be removed due to waste, fraud and abuse is baloney. There’s no evidence that’s true. Snopes.com tried to find some and came up empty. Best guess is Republicans repurposed an early CBO estimate that 8.6 million overall will lose coverage with proposed cuts.

According to KFF, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare services defines fraud as when a Medicaid provider knowingly submits false information to increase payments. Abuse is when providers or suppliers create unnecessary costs. Waste is the misuse of resources which drive up costs.

You’ll notice ineligible recipients are not the big fish CMS needs to fry.

Republicans have also been claiming that 4.8 million able -bodied men are getting Medicaid and should be required to work. Swell, except there is no evidence the claim is valid. It’s attributed to the CBO. If so, Republicans are twisting its meaning to suit their Medicaid narrative.

This stuff doesn’t get you to a $700 billion cut. Republicans really hope a new Medicaid work requirement and new eligibility reporting rules will cause people to lose coverage. Shifting more costs to the states may also cut access to care. Their current budget plan depends on it.

Iowa hospitals, in rural areas especially, depend on Medicaid payments to keep the lights on. The current bill will make their situation even more dire. Iowans not on Medicaid would also be harmed by losing nearby care.

The Senate may make big changes in the bill. Instead of just pointing that out, Ernst chose to repeat false arguments.

For heaven’s sake, senator. What would Jesus say?

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com