When a Mississippian sent a message to legislators explaining a problem with insurance coverage for her 8-year-old child’s diabetes medicine and supplies, she was shocked by the response she got from Rep. Jeffrey Guice, R-Ocean Springs.
Guice, a member of the House Public Health and Human Services committee, responded to Nicole Nichols asking if she had considered “buying the supplies with the money that you earn?”
The medicine and supplies amount to thousands of dollars a month, Nichols said in a follow-up response.
Nichols’ husband works as an inventory specialist at a shipping supply company and at nights as a waiter in a restaurant. Nichols, a former hair stylist, quit her job when her younger son was born, and her daughter was diagnosed with diabetes 10 days later, she said.
Guice further responded asking whether insulin was covered by Medicaid.
“Many parents, myself included, have found that while supplies are deemed necessary and technically covered by insurance, we cannot get Medicaid and/or CHIPS (Children’s Health Insurance Program) to pay for them, and suppliers aren’t able to help us,” Nichols wrote.
Nichols posted the emails on Facebook.
“This shows how incredibly out of touch he is with what the majority of Mississippians are going through,” Nichols told Mississippi Today. “We have the highest rate of diabetes in the nation.”
She also noted her family did not receive any other services from the state.
Guice, who participates in the state’s health insurance program, issued a statement Tuesday night through House Information Officer Meg Annison.
“I realize my remarks to Mrs. Nichols were completely insensitive and out of line,” said Guice. “I am sorry and deeply regret my reply. I know nothing about her and her family and replied in a knee-jerk fashion. I’d like to think the people of Mississippi and my constituents know that I’m willing to help where I am able.”
Nichols asked in her email, “Is there someone in the legislature that can and will help these children stay healthy? They must have these medications and supplies which administer the medication in order to remain healthy, and quite honestly, alive!”
Guice wrote a short note back, telling Nichols “I am sorry for your problem. Have you thought about buying the supplies with money that you earn?”
Nichols then responded, telling Guice if she and her husband paid out of pocket for the supplies, the sum would “leave my family of four homeless.” She included a breakdown of her monthly costs, which amounted to thousands of dollars in expenses for her daughter and husband, who also has diabetes.
“Insulin alone amounts to more than my house payment every month,” she said.
According to Guice’s legislative page, he is a member of the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Club and is a real estate broker.
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Mississippi will always be last and this representative is a good example of why.
This woman wasn’t failed by Mississippi alone: Medicaid and CHIPS are Federal/State collaborations. She was failed by government healthcare. Let this be a lesson to those who support nationalizing healthcare.
I was referring more to his ambivalence toward one of his constituents. He’s supposed to be a public servant and could have referred her to a charity or a government agency for assistance with her problem. However, all she got was a snarky attitude since the little folk aren’t his main concern.
I’m not sure where you see ambivalence or snarkiness (can’t be both at the same time). Tone is difficult to read through text. I think we can give him the benefit of the doubt and say that his response was honest and direct, regardless of how disappointing it may have been for Mrs. Nichols.
On another note, why is it the state’s/government’s responsibility to care for the infirmed and disabled?
Its the state’s responsibility bc we don’t let our people just die. Either we pay to keep people healthy or we pay a lot more when they end up on the hospital for a month in a coma. Those bills that can’t get paid are passed on to us. And you can’t blame this on Obama. If MS had taken Medicaid funds and more people were on the roles there would be more options for use in the state. This is self inflicted.
I didn’t mention Obama at all. I pointed out that government-run healthcare is a failure. By “government-run” I mean State, Federal and every other level of government-run healthcare.
Of course we don’t let people die. You’re presenting a false-dichotomy. You’re basically saying, “either the government steps is, or people die.” False. Families, communities, churches and independent charities stepped in to help before Medicaid and CHIPs existed. People weren’t simply dying in the government assumed the responsibility.
So I ask again, why is it the State’s responsibility to provide charity to the disabled?
The dichotomy I posed was not either we pay it or they die. It was that either we pay for it in preventative care w/medicaid or we pay for it in unpaid medical costs at the ER for much more expensive treatment of worse conditions. And I meant to type Obamacare, not Obama.
Of course, if the government stepped away from healthcare, the taxpayer would not be responsible for emergency care bills.
Here’s my problem with government charity: Your “right” to health care, or any other charitable government service, infringes on my right to private property, as your healthcare is paid for with the surplus of my labor in the form of taxes.
We have the classic problem of positive rights vs. negative rights. Your “right” to healthcare cannot exist without nullifying my right to private property.
Horse-crap. Our Constitution implicitly details that government provides for “the common good.”
The term “common good” doesn’t actually appear in the constitution. The federal government’s enumerated powers are laid out very clearly in Article 1 Section 8 of the constitution. You’ll be hard pressed to find anything related to social welfare in the constitution.
While I find your ad hominem attacks amusing, they do not characterize me, and do little to further your argument. Anyone who knows me would say that I’m generous and mild-mannered – a far cry form a “greedy, self-obsessed, horror of a human being.
By the way, you’re welcome on my lawn anytime. I bet we’d have an fun conversation/debate. I’ll bring the beer if you bring the bug spray.
The phrase “promote the general Welfare” does appear, however. It’s in the preamble.
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
The poor and the ill are citizens of this country. As such, they have the rights of citizens.
I am sorry if your right to be a greedy, self-obsessed, horror or a human being is being infringed upon by what any enlightened society views as a social contract to promote the common good. And, yes, I will stay off your lawn, too.
Nullifying your right to private property? No. Our rights are not absolute. In exchange for living in a great country that allows individuals to own private property and grants access to so many other opportunities, you pay taxes. Every cent of them will not go to commitments you support, but this is the price you pay to be lucky enough to live here.
My rights are, in fact, absolute (inalienable).
Our rights are not absolute under our constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court. If your rights were absolute the government would not be able to restrict them. So, no.
I promise i’m not trying to be snarky here, but read the constitution some time. The first ten ammendment are literally a list of our absolute rights.
No. Wrong. The Supreme Court, who has the final say by law, says our rights are not absolute. For example, the Constitution says that free speech cannot be infringed..but, in fact, this is not an absolute. The Supreme Court has interpreted this right to not include things such as inciting violence or slander. Property rights are not absolute either. If they were we wouldn’t have eminent domain. The 2nd amendment says has been interpreted as granting individual gun rights, but in the opinion that made that determination Justice Scalia said that, as with other rights, gun rights are not absolute and the government may impose reasonable regulations, like restrictions for the mentally ill.
So, yeah, I’ve read and studied the constitution and am very familiar with it. Perhaps you should read some key Court decisions that interpret it.
Now THAT is a word that does not appear in the constitution.
And all of the charities in the world could not put a dent in this problem. It’s not a problem we leave to the whims of who does this church or that group want to help.
That’s a big conclusion to jump to without evidence. The effectiveness of governments vs. private charities is hardly a settled issue, but it’s safe to say neither one of us will convince the other.
You have an impossibly limited understanding of U.S. History. In fact, your ignorance is appalling.
People WERE dying in the street before welfare and medicare. That’s why we HAVE them now. And it’s the state’s responsibility because we live in a society. We pay taxes and they take care of our needs. Police, fire dept, schools, etc. That’s what we agreed to as a society. These things are not entitlements, they are contractual agreements between the citizens whose money the state takes before they ever see it in the form of taxes. For that, we receive services. Geez, do I really need to explain society to you?
People weren’t dying in the street in much greater numbers than now. That’s simply false.
Some of the services provided by the government are spelled out or implied in the costitution. The rest, I beleive, would be more efficient if privatized.
Given that I never mentioned anything relating to who is responsible for the infirmed and disabled, you may want to have that conversation with someone else.
At any rate “people who work full time have more money” is hilariously obvious. Well, yes, but working full time is often not a choice. Perhaps you haven’t heard of this thing called the unemployment rate?
Because the government is the people, and we as a civilized society have decided that we don’t want to just let the infirm and disabled suffer and die if they’re unable to care for themselves.
Not everyone has a family or community or church to help them, and charities aren’t always available either. For some people there is literally nowhere else to turn. The government provides a safety net for these people who can’t get help anywhere else.
If you find yourself in a situation where there is litetally no one to turn to (family, friends, church, neighbors, employers, charities), perhaps it is time to evaluate your life choices. If one is that isolated in such an interconnected world, it is by choice or temperment.
Are you kidding? Charities do what they can but many operate on very little and are spread very thin. And you think that everyone knows someone with expendable income who is willing to share? Many, many people live in a world where they know not a single person that has extra money. You think it is because of their personalities or otherwise their fault? Ridiculous and very silly!
No, I’m not kidding. Charity is not difficult to come by. Most people have extra to give. Those that don’t have extra, in large part, have made bad decisions.
Charity is not difficult to come by? Really? Maybe not in your circles, doesn’t mean it’s true for everyone. And in large part not having extra is due to bad decisions..yeah, and in a very large part it is not.
97% of people who do these three things stay out of poverty: graduate high school, work 40 hours a week (at any job) and don’t have a baby before you are married. The formula is not complicated. It’s based on behaviors ( decisions/choices).
I can infer that you have access to a computer or smartphone by virtue of the fact that we’re having this discussion, so please don’t claim poverty.
Not sure about that stat but ok I’ll take it. So what, not everyone can do all 3 of those things. And staying out of poverty (above the low level considered poverty) does not equal having extra money, let alone thousands that are sometimes needed for catastrophes or whatever else. I saw a recent study that said 60 something percent of Americans would have a hard time coming up with 1,000 for an emergency.
That statistic is complete fantasy.
One of the best ways of not ending up in poverty is to be born to wealthy parents.
It doesn’t matter even if that stat were true. If one works 40 hours and does not have kids, then, yes, he will probably stay above the official poverty line. But that doesn’t mean the person is still not poor and that doesn’t mean he will one day be able to enter the middle class. Also, just because one does not have children, which is the dependent status looked at when such stats are complied, does not mean that the person does not have others to support financially, such as a parent. Lastly, not everyone can do those 3 things, often through no fault of their own.
Why would I claim poverty? I don’t have to be in the same situation as others to feel sympathy and discuss the realities of their situations.
Where did you come by those statistics?
And you are speaking solely of adults. The person in question with diabetes is a child.
Check the context.
Provide the citations to the source of your statistics.
Your response makes absolutely no sense.
Very interesting. Can you cite a source for those statistics, please?
Ron Haskins, of the Brookings Institute, has done a great deal of writing on the subject. He said, in his 2012 testimony before Congress:
““young people can virtually assure that they and their families will avoid poverty if they follow three elementary rules for success – complete at least a high school education, work full time, and wait until age 21 and get married before having a baby. Based on an analysis of Census data, people who followed all three of these rules had only a 2 percent chance of being in poverty and a 72 percent chance of joining the middle class (defined as above $55,000 in 2010).”
So the actual number is 98%. I was off by a percentage point. The Brookings Institute is about as non-partisan as a think-tank gets.
And as a side-note, if you really do need a hand, let me know… seriously.
Does he talk about what happens if you do everything right but then end up with a baby who is brain injured during birth or has a hereditary illness requiring thousands upon thousands of dollars of medical care per month for life. Does he talk about what happens if your family is in a horrible car crash leaving the primary bread winner paralyzed from the neck down and requiring 24 hour care? Don’t pat yourself on the back to much, you’ve simply been lucky so far, you’re really only one illness or accident away from being in this family’s shoes.
Too bad the study is deeply flawed.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/08/29/rick-santorum-says-stay-in-school-work-hard-wait-to-have-kids-and-youll-avoid-poverty-its-not-that-simple/
Ron Haskins has a Ph.D. and over 35 years of experience as a high-level researcher.
Dylan Matthews (writer of the article you cited) is a 26 year-old blogger.
I think I ‘ll defer to Haskins.
So you’re suggesting that this child should have made a better choice of parents?
No. I’m suggesting his parents turn to their community for help.
As discussed earlier, that is not an option for a great number. It is delusional to think it is.
Nope — you said that these problems are the result of bad decisions. The only bad decision here is that this child chose to be born to poor parents.
As for turning to the community, they are. We, the people, of the United States are a community. We provide for each other.
Still waiting for the source of your supposed statistics.
The source is a Brookings Institute paper called “Work and Marriage.”
And check back further in the thread for more context.
It doesn’t matter even if that stat were true. If one works 40 hours and does not have kids, then, yes, he will probably stay above the official poverty line. But that doesn’t mean the person is still not poor and that doesn’t mean he will one day be able to enter the middle class. Also, just because one does not have children, which is the dependent status looked at when such stats are complied, does not mean that the person does not have others to support financially, such as a parent. Lastly, not everyone can do those 3 things, often through no fault of their own.
They aren’t even “poor” though. They’re middle class. However, no one solidly middle class can afford to pay thousands of medical costs every single month. The real shame no one is mentioning is how insanely inflated these medical supplies and medications are to begin with. They shouldn’t cost this much! They certainly don’t cost anywhere near that much to manufacture and distribute. The companies are making a flithy profit on the backs of all of us!
They did! *We* are their “community.” That’s how the social compact works. If you don’t like the social compact: write, print, and bind your own books and stay the hell out of the public library; build your own solar or nuclear or water-wheeled power plant and stop using the electricity grid we all contributed to build; and build your own damn roads and stay the hell off ours.
Health care in this country has, at least until very recently, existed outside the bounds of our national social compact.
Our arrangement with our government is only one of many layers of communities to which we belong. I believe in, and am defending, the notion that health care should be taken care of at the family level.
Yeah, that would be great. Unfortunately it is not a realistic option for many, and probability not realistic for most if the need surpasses a certain amount.
So if you don’t have family to help you, then what? You deserve to die, and so do your children?
What if your family and community simply can’t afford to help you? What if they have no money to offer you? Also, tough luck to you?
The child’s parents did turn to their community for help. That email HER mom sent to the Representative? That’s what turning to the community is!
JFC, I cannot believe the stubborn willing ignorance of you and people like you. I know the text of the email was long and filled with large words, but basically what it said was: “I’m a participant of a government program that’s supposed to pay for this stuff, and until recently it did with no problem. But the vendor the program bought the stuff from changed their policy, and now even though I’m supposed to be covered, I can’t get the coverage to work. Can you help me with that so my kid doesn’t die? Oh, and also not just me, but lots of other families in the same boat.”
This woman had a bureaucratic, administrative tangle, so she asked her state government to help her untangle it.
And the guy she asked said “Have you considered just paying for it yourself?”
EVEN IF SHE COULD AFFORD IT, which she CANNOT, why the hell should she have to?! The program’s supposed to! The program she’s a member of! The correct response to “the program isn’t working, can you help?” is not “stop using the program”.
Medicaid and CHIPs aren’t simply programs one becomes a “member of,” they are charities. When a family can’t pay their bills, “the program” doesn’t pay them, you and I do as taxpayers. If one shouldn’t have to pay their own way, why should you and I?
Charity should happen on the local level: family, church, neighbors, employers, etc. If a neighbor came to me with a need – I would (and I have) gladly give to the best of my ability, with no resentment or expectation of return.
You’re missing the point. The philosophical debate about whether the programs should exist is irrelevant. They exist, and the family qualifies. If you’re part of government, your job is to work with them.
This representative didn’t do his job, and straight up said that being requested to do his job was the equivalent of a handout.
Personally, I would much rather everyone pay their fair share of taxes and have a working society that deals with issues of medical need and poverty than have folks ringing my doorbell asking for help. But, just in case need should arise, what’s your address, please?
You really are quite . . . um, uninformed — to put it most charitably.
Oh that’s convenient. We have no safety nets in this country, and if you don’t have your own, it’s your own fault and your children deserve to die.
Isn’t it nice when everything is always someone else’s fault and you never have to lift a finger?
She contacted an elected official who serves on the insurance committee about an insurance concern. His job is to deal with exactly the sort of situation she is faced with. She isn’t asking for a hand out, she is asking for assistance with a SNAFU concerning covered benefits.
LB, what do you suppose will happen to folks who can’t afford ? Where do they turn? Seems that you are in favor okc watching them die.
Heartless and hateful. Selfish and self-centered. That’s not ad hominem, that’s the facts.
I believe everyday people are charitable enough to look after folks who are too poor to care for their own needs. You see, I have hope, faith and optimism in the ability of my fellow human beings to privately and voluntarily care for the needy and disabled.
To call me heartless, hateful, selfish and self-centered is actually an ad hominem attack. It’s also mean-spirited and rude. *Those* are the facts.
By the way, I’m still waiting for you to show me a charity that provides assistance to pay for people’s diabetic supplies. You seem to think there are tons out there, so it should be easy for you to list me a couple.
Google is your friend.
So you’re saying you couldn’t even find a single one. That’s what I thought.
I think this article is about the fact that this guy is an asshole.
Ding, ding, ding. Somebody GETS it. (Snark is not directed towards YOU but to the asshole you have correctly identified.)
Maybe you could suggest some charities that will provide supplies and help for this family, since you seem to believe there are hundreds of charities with lots of money ready to assist families like this.
A quick google search should satisfy your curiosity.
Aside from diabetes-specific charities, this woman has family, friends, church, neighbors and others to lean on before expecting the State to jump in.
How does you know she has family, friends, church or neighbors?
And yes, there are lots of diabetes specific charities on Google, but nearly all of them are research related. I couldn’t find a single one that pays for supplies for diabetics or diabetic children. Perhaps you know of one?
I couldn’t find a charity that pays for ongoing monthly diabetes supplies for children. Do you find one? If so please link it. Would be very helpful for someone I’m sure.
Email: jguice@house.ms.gov
He can’t be contacted at the phone numbers
listed. Not that he gives a shit, but I
sent the following e-mail
jguice@house.ms.gov
Relative to your comment to the mother of the Type 1
child:
I note you claim to adhere to the Presbyterian
faith. In your case I’m hoping the
Calvinists are right in the matter of predestination.
Josef Nix
Type 1 Diabetes Household
believe me, he’s NO Presbyterian.
A REAL Christian wouldn’t be the total jackass this guy has proven to be. He is, however, a total HYPOCRITE.
How are the rest of US supposed to tell real Christianity the fakes, the fakes seem to be a large majority even including the clergy. If this was his n knee-jerk reaction perhaps he should crawl back under his rock along with the people that voted for him
Real Christians don’t bray and brag about their Christianity. Real Christians don’t preach hate, bigotry and ignorance. Real Christians do everything they can to help those less fortunate, rather than ridicule and shame them.
This total jackass is NO Christian. He may like to THINK he is, but he doesn’t know the 1st thing about being a Christian. He is a TOTAL hypocrite and representative of his kind.
Ghandi was exactly right about morons like him.
I hope Mrs. Nichols see this comment: MSMED covers diabetic testing supplies, including syringes, lancets, strips, glucometers, ketostix, alcohol swabs, etc. under the medical portion (vs. pharmacy portion). If your local pharmacy cannot help you figure this out, call the customer number on the back of the msmed card and they should be able to direct you to someone who can fill and bill under DME. I know Walgreens can bill these supplies.
See FAQ #9: https://www.ms-medicaid.com/msenvision/questionanswer.do?CATEGORY_TYPE=Pharmacy
What the whole mess started over was a specific part to their insulin pumps that the kids need that costs upwards of $500 a month, some sort of tubing that needs to be replaced regularly, this item would not be covered MSMED.
LB, I just want you to know that I despise your brand of middle brow conservative philosophizing about law and public policy. Unfortunately, there’s an army of you people out there, and I find that terrifying. Do you have any idea what it’s like to try to pay out of pocket for health care with a reasonably sized family on a hard earned middle to lower middle class income? Frankly it’s impossible. Our health care system (and pretty much our entire economy) is just a ramshackle financial construction made up of both free market and socialist materials. It’s a Frankenstein like monstrosity, and it’s far from perfect, but it mostly works. It would collapse if someone like you had access to the levers. I mean, you can play Ron Paul in your Friday night beer induced debates, but I just want you to know that you’re playing a game, not reality.
I accept your scorn. I ulso understand that you live in terror of people with different worldviews, and you find it difficult to thrive in our current system. I’m sorry.
I understand quite well the realities of economic struggle. I spent most of my life at a lower middle class wage, made a lot of bad decisions.
Now I work two jobs, run my own small business on the side, and still manage to maintain meaningful personal connections.
I don’t aspire to control any levers, I don’t even think there are economic levers. I mostly just want the government out of my checkbook so much.
That’s my reality.
Seems like the only person who is rejecting any other view is you. It’s rather arrogant to assume that your personal situation is identical to that of every other single member of the human race.
And, as you claim below that everyone has family and friends who will step in, I very much doubt that you made it on your own. I suspect that family and friends bailed you out time and again, and you have simply taken that for granted as your right and your due.
Your reality is seriously skewed. Do you pay for your own private police and fire service? Do you drive only on toll roads? Were you educated at a private school that you paid for? Do you have a private well that you dug for water and do you provide your own power? Do you grow all of your own food?
Or have you benefited from the taxes that everyone else has paid to provide these public services?
I don’t assume other people are like me, but I do give them the benefit of their own agency.
And yes, I would love to take basic services out of the hands of government. Government services are an abject failure on every level. Surely, if you read this site you must understand that. Jackson can’t fill potholes or send water bills, Mississippi can’t balance a budget, etc. And it doesn’t get any better on a national level: the FBI lets crazy people have guns, the EPA poisons rivers, the VA lets veterans die on wait lists, thanks to the TSA we have to show up four hours early for flights, have you been to the DMV lately?… shall I go on?
Yes, private companies do a far better job at a far better price than the government.
What bs, LB, I’ll leave it to Francis Bacon, who said it best, “There is nothing makes a man suspect much, more than to know little.”
Got it. Another ad hominem.
If you get a chance, scroll through the comments and get an idea of how I’m being personally characterized. I’ve been called arrogant, greedy, ignorant, middle-brow, etc., etc. All this because I believe the function of the government should not extend to healthcare. If you’ll notice further, I have not responded in kind, I’ve actually been careful to stick to arguments alone.
I find it the height of irony that I am being personally attacked by a bunch of folks that think the world needs more empathy and more helping hands.
If you want to address any of my arguments, maybe I’ll learn something, or maybe you will. If you want to attack me, feel free, but it only displays your inability to live out your principles of empathy and charity.
I haven’t scrolled through to see how badly you are treated…I liked your response however, although I still disagree with your blanket statement, “Private companies do a far better job at a far better price than government.” I didn’t see in your post that I had responded to that you were referring to “healthcare”, you named everything but–either way you have your dearly held beliefs and it wouldn’t matter how much evidence to the contrary I produced you would hold steadfast, no doubt. If a private business is doing it at such a better price, there’s a reason for it, like on the backs of its workers for one, which then puts the costs off on whom? The EPA doesn’t “poison” rivers, yes, a mistake was made but the original problem was caused by industry, who left it behind for the tax payers to clean up & it was going to happen eventually with or without the EPA trying to fix it. So you think private industry polluting & not cleaning up there mess is ok? The VA didn’t let people die, more bs. Did they have problems? Of course, but your idea that if it’s private it will be done at a great price & so efficient & nobody would die! Yeah, tell that to all the Health Insurance Co. that worked diligently to deny sick people, by canceling their policies for the most ridiculous reasons. I thank Wendell Potter, a former executive with Cigna, who has become a whistle blower & shared all the ways health insurance co. deny healthcare. If private can do it cheaper, something has to be cut & it won’t be CEO pay, hmmm what could it be? Volkswagen, is now paying for their nefarious behavior, oh, I forgot private companies are the best! They just pay their fines & don’t have to admit wrong doing. Look, some things private companies need to do & some government needs to do, I’m not against private industry for heaven’s sake, but you are ignoring all their bad conduct & acting as though government is the enemy. I imagine you don’t like government regulations? The history of industry behavior says otherwise. Try looking at Good Jobs first for all the tax goodies these businesses get. Nobody likes going to the DMV–I haven’t been there in years! I’m going to guess if you are at the DMV you’ve not taken care of business in a timely fashion, sorry. They do take appointments, however 🙂
This guy is a total jackass.
No job; wants those who have jobs and contribute to Medicaid to pay her kids’ expenses. OK, get a job that includes or will pay you so you can buy sufficient insurance, like the rest of us do, instead of trying to get a free ride on taxpayer-funded Medicaid. If you can’t afford kids without having a job, don’t quit your job, or don’t have kids. But for sure don’t blame the taxpayers or the government for your choices to be fiscally irresponsible. Next I suppose they will be wanting us to pay for rent, food, cell phones, and cars for those who choose not to work for them. Oh wait, they already do.
Her husband works 2 jobs. Should she get a job and dump her children with some caretaker or leave them at home alone considering that daycare can be extremely expensive? Especially since she would need to earn several thousand dollars a month to afford the medication that keeps her daughter alive.
Should she allows her daughter to die then?
May you be required to pay all medical expenses out of pocket.
Children are expensive. Medical care is expensive. Neither is justification for quitting your job and asking those of us who didn’t quit to pay your expenses. I am already literally paying “several thousand dollars a month” in taxes, which y’all seem to think are yours for the taking. But I earned it; she didn’t.
As a member of this society, we all contribute taxes so we can have schools, roads, public parks, social security and welfare if you ever need it. Even poor people pay sales tax. You aren’t special!
Sales tax doesn’t fund medical insurance, at least not in her state. And you have to buy things to pay sales tax. Or you could instead buy insurance.
or she could just let her kid die you mean. Decrease the surplus population huh?
She quit her job to provide care for her sick child. Should she have dumped the baby in a care facility and let her be brought up in an institution?
If you are paying “several thousands a month” in taxes it’s because you are making SEVERAL THOUSAND MINIMUM A MONTH.
How many jobs do you have?
Also “y’all” is bull fucking shit. I’m a military spouse, to a frequently deployed service member, and main parent to a toddler.
You “earned” the privilege of medical care? The privilege not to watch as your child slips into a coma and dies?
How exactly did you earn that?
You’re as big of a jackass as the representative is. You didn’t even read the article, did you, moron?
I got all that from the article.
Who can afford multiple children with medical condition that cost thousand upon thousands of dollars a month?! I don’t know anyone in the middle to upper middle class who could afford it out of pocket. If their children didn’t have diabetes they wouldn’t have any problem affording them, but things happen! You, me and everybody else in this thread is just one horrible car accident away from not being able to afford our own monthly medical expenses.
As far as her job status, the husband works two jobs and she stays home because childcare is so insanely expensive its financially better if she provides childcare while her husband works two jobs.
Just saying people should buy their own insurance (or utilize insurance provided as a job fringe), instead of asking the rest of us, who did get our own insurance, to pay for their costs. The point of insurance is to spread the risk, but you have to PARTICIPATE to reap the benefit. The chronic illnesses in my house are paid through our insurance policies (plural) or out of our pocket, and NOT through asking taxpayers to foot our bills. And if there were an accident, we have arranged not only for medical expenses (and lost personal property) to be covered, but also for lost income to be covered, all without taxpayer expense. Be mature and responsible, not dependent.
“Get a job that pays more” LOL okay. That’s so easy to do. Why didn’t they think of that??
Let’s face it , Mr. Guice is just another political Hack that probably has state sponsored benefits including Medical Insurance which is subsidized from taxpayer dollars so why would he care about a constituent that was asking for help. Just another hypocrite! What legislation has this moron sponsored to help people in need of comprehensive health insurance or reasonably priced pharmaceuticals? I think I know the answer to this!!!! Probably still hung up on those Death Panels and spending way too much time watching Fox News and American Idol! The voters of Mississippi should make sure this hack has plenty of time to watch TV on the next voting cycle.