tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073408154989541312.post5793694438410648491..comments2023-10-09T05:12:27.575-05:00Comments on psst!: Third in a series: The Tragedy of Elder AbuseShane Foxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10521638324367767546noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1073408154989541312.post-43532172163531799172008-07-25T18:38:00.000-05:002008-07-25T18:38:00.000-05:00Your suggestion is just not fair to the poor and t...Your suggestion is just not fair to the poor and the working class.<BR/><BR/>The problem with having a “federal long term care program” is that the federal and state governments ALREADY pay for long term care services for the poor and for most of the middle class. <BR/><BR/>A new federal program covering long term care would benefit the rich and the upper middle class who can’t qualify for government-funded long term care. <BR/><BR/>Why should a new tax (because that's what you're really proposing) take more money from working Americans in order to primarily benefit the richest Americans? It’s just not fair to working Americans. <BR/><BR/>Certainly, Medicaid needs to be streamlined and improved. Some states are working on expanding home healthcare benefits under Medicaid. That's a good thing.<BR/><BR/>To suggest that "a portion of the profits of HMO's, oil companies, and insurance companies" shows that you have no idea how much money is spent on formal and informal long term care costs. The entire profits of all the oil companies (in these years of record profits) would not even cover all the costs of care. Your wonderful program would then force Congress to tax the poor to continue to fund a program for the rich.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03547473570553596917noreply@blogger.com