I knew the decision to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients was clearly to terminate their ability to get help- even though they really deserved it.  After all, the GOP believes that these folks are all sucking at the government tit, getting wealthy doing nothing. (As if.)  Even though the data demonstrate that most of these recipients can’t work for a variety of reasons.

But, it was a provision that I hadn’t anticipated in their vindictive policies that is the problem.   It’s one I run into all the time with other branches of the government.

What am I talking about? I have about 39 clients who are small firms- and don’t really use the internet. And, they use our office as their legal address.  Why?  Because they have one to three employees, often working remotely.  So, our office gets their mail and keeps them up to date with tax filings, government requests, etc.

Now, along comes the Bureau of Labor Census.  (Yes, I feel like Little Miss Muffett right about now.)  Which demands these firms fill out a complicated form so the Census will be able to discern business conditions.  Except…

The form requires one to have a specific eMail for each filing.  Well, after the first 12 forms for 12 firms, we ran out of eMail addresses.  And, we notified the Bureau of Labor Census we have no problems providing the data, but they are going to get it via paper- since there is no internet service used by these entities.

But, no….   They won’t accept the forms that way.  As if they pay for our clients internet connections- or our security and eMail administrative costs- just so they can get the form.   And, we have checked- the government cannot require someone to obtain internet service just for their needs.

So, you wonder, what does this have to do with the price of tea in China?

Well, if you are a citizen of Arkansas, and were getting Medicaid- which by definition means you are poor…

Yup, you guessed it.  The requirement in Arkansas is that Medicaid recipients must complete the forms allowing them to continue to receive Medicaid via the internet.  So, these folks either have to find money to get internet service and a computer, or have to be able to get to a library where they must fill in the data to keep getting Medicaid.

And, that also assumes the folks who got the letters understood what was required of them!  Or, that their libraries have such internet access.  (The government asserts that at best 75% of the Medicaid recipients can get internet access!  But, we also know that in the Mississippi Delta [Lee County], 75% of the folks lack internet access.)

The data by these internet forms require the listing  of how many hours they worked that month or how many hours of community service they performed.

So, it’s not surprising that the Governor could declare the other day that 4353 folks out of 26000 (yes, that’s the initial number they feel are cheating) have been cut from the rolls of Medicaid.

I haven’t studied the whole situation in Arkansas, but I’m betting it’s no different that nearby Kentucky  in the number of folks who can’t work and still get Medicaid.  In Kentucky’s case, it was about 93%.

Yes, only 7% could work- and, the money Kentucky was spending to enforce workfare was about the same amount of money it would save in dispensing Medicaid to those folks.

Kind of reminds me of the big-mouthed, bigoted GOP congressman, Trey Radel, who wanted folks tested for drugs before they could get state aid.  Oh, wait, he was sentenced to 1 year of probation for drug use (cocaine).  A much more lenient sentence than a minority or poor person would get for the same infraction.