New Medicare Guide Justifies Cutting Food Stamps

[BrklynLiberal]

Apologies if this has already been posted...but now the government is HELPING poor people decide between buying medicine and buying food.
from Sirotablog

If ever there was an example of how the Bush administration robs Peter to pay Paul, this is it. Hard-right political hacks at the Department of Health and Human Services are actually sending out a fact sheet to Capitol Hill and the public about the new Medicare bill that justifies eliminating food stamp benefits to Medicare recipients. This is radical conservatism, without even a hint of compassion.

Specifically, page 2 of the fact sheet asks a hypothetical question that Medicare recipients might ask: "Will I lose my food stamp benefits if I apply and qualify for extra help paying for the new Medicare prescription drug coverage?" The Bush adminstration's answer: "With the Medicare prescription drug coverage, you may see your food stamp benefits go down" and even possibly eliminated. How could they be so heartless to do that? Because they say, "you spend less on drugs" and "the extra cash you will have to spend on food makes up for not getting as much in food stamps." Download the fact sheet sent out by HHS here and see this travesty for yourself.

In other words, for the poorest of the poor, the new Medicare "benefits" aren't necessarily an overall benefit, because the Bush administration openly admits they are taking that benefit out of poor people's ability to put food on their table. This comes on top of Bush's earlier proposal to gut food stamp funding. How disgusting.

http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/05/new-medicare-guide-justifies-cutting_06.html

[DulceDecorum]

1. Let them eat

Soylent Green.