Effect of new Medicaid identification rules
Re: “Medicaid rules hit oldest, youngest,” May 24 news story.
Thanks to The Denver Post for highlighting what is soon to become a messy barrier to health care for the most vulnerable among us.
About a third of the patients at community health centers are Medicaid beneficiaries. These patients, but not others, will soon have to prove their citizenship in order to get health care coverage. This means Medicaid patients – including babies, nursing home residents and homeless individuals – will have to find their birth certificates and get state driver’s licenses or state identification cards.
One must wonder if the supporters of this federal legislative provision really meant that newborn babies would have to get a state ID card within hours of birth. Will residents of nursing homes and institutions who are too frail or ill to travel to government offices for birth certificates and driver’s licenses be excluded from Medicaid coverage? Is there enough staff at these offices to handle the influx of requests?
Fortunately, the new Medicaid law allows the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to determine additional documents that would be acceptable. Jurisdiction for this rests with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which could help Colorado address these questions by issuing a list of acceptable documents as soon as possible. Several federal programs already accept various documents, and it would make sense to look to those programs for guidance.
Annette Kowal, Chief Executive Officer, Colorado Community Health Network, Denver
Governor’s vetoes of Democratic bills
Re: “Dems riled as Owens kills 18 bills,” May 28 news story (early edition).
After Gov. Bill Owens’ “Scorched Earth” veto session, it’s easy to see why a former “rising star” in the Republican Party on the national scene has literally self-imploded. His veto of a record number of legislative bills in one day is proof that he wasn’t the hot commodity that many in politics were hoping for to rescue the GOP (Greedy Old Party). He seriously lacked the leadership qualities that are needed in a chief executive of a state and the strong vision that is the trademark of successful leaders. He wanted more government intrusion into the private lives of people, has no concept of “pursuit of liberty and happiness” and wasted money in areas of the budget that benefit only the well-connected.
Michael Bruen, Denver
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While lamenting Gov. Bill Owens’ vetoing bills which would have brought “more affordable health care” or more “accessible” education, your article ignores any consideration of the costs, both to our wallets and our freedom, of implementing the Democrats’ nanny-state agenda. “Affordable” and “accessible” are code for higher taxes and handouts.
As usual, House Speaker Andrew Romanoff misses the message as well. Government cannot solve a person’s choice between drugs and gasoline, or prevent all “unhappy choices” without stealing from one citizen to give to another – and government should not play Robin Hood.
Owens’ vetoes highlight the necessity for a Republican governor to defend us from the big-spending, power-hungry aims of liberal legislators who think of government as our mother, to whom we owe obedience and whose spending addiction we should support (instead of our own families) in her dotage.
Ross Kaminsky, Nederland
An invasion from across the border
My latest sojourn to City Park has revealed an irrefutable point: Canada geese are foul creatures that have defiled the sanctity of one of Denver’s finest commons. I had to walk with my eyes to the ground, in constant fear of stepping in goose droppings. The birds’ constant honking is noise pollution. The entire grounds were inundated with their off-beat braying, not allowing me a moment of peace. At times a whole lot of them took flight, flapping and honking, feces falling waywardly, sending hard-working, honest citizens like myself diving for cover.
A sign at the civil-rights memorial reads: “Quiet respect, please,” which I obeyed, my tacit reverence disturbed only by abrasive honking and the “plat” of droppings on the stone – just so happening to land square on an imprint of the Liberty Bell. As if it weren’t enough, these fowl are unpatriotic!
I shook my fist at the assailants and gave chase, but they flew north, hopefully all the way back to Canada, where such acts against humanity are tolerated.
The birds must be kept from flocking in Denver’s fine green spaces. The city would be wise to address the Canada goose in forthcoming immigration policy. Not only is it a matter of national security, but these foreign-born birds occupy and squander resources that should rightly go to American species. Stationing small numbers of ground forces at the park will help keep the problem at bay until a more permanent solution can be reached.
A more cost-effective solution could be to release a slew of pythons on the city to rid us of the geese. Once that is taken care of, the city can introduce a weasel- type mammal to eat the snakes. Finally, a primate will be used to “take care of” the weasel problem. The primates will simply die off in the winter.
I admit that I will miss chasing and/or kicking one of the boisterous birds – but it’s a small sacrifice for being able to enjoy an afternoon in the park without obnoxious honking and feces everywhere I step.
Brian J. Eckert, Denver
Gay marriage debate
Federal law and the laws of 44 states define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. So why do some people call the Marriage Protection Amendment “radical” and “mean-spirited”? The obvious answer is that it’s not. It’s simply common sense.
It’s unfortunate that the MPA has become necessary. Due to the irresponsible behavior of activist judges, however, there is no other choice but for the people to put the definition of marriage out of the reach of the judicial branch.
The hubris of activist judges who have imposed their own definition of morality over that of those they serve is truly appalling. The Marriage Protection Amendment will define marriage once and for all as the union of one man and one woman. My prayer is that Sen. Ken Salazar will hear the voices of the vast majority of his constituents, who realize that God doesn’t need any help defining marriage, and vote for the MPA when it comes to the Senate floor.
Mark Cowart, Colorado Springs
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Sen. Wayne Allard can posture and pander all he wants to the Republican Christian base in introducing an anti-gay marriage amendment to the Constitution. But most Christians are awakening to the phony “compassion” of the conservative movement, thanks in large part to the failure of the federal response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the simple fact that every child born in America, with its first breath, is in debt to the tune of $28,000 thanks to Republican policies of tax cuts for the rich and waging unsustainable campaigns of occupation and war, both antithetical to core Christian values.
Clearly, a fundamental change must take place in Washington.
Robert Porath, Boulder
Prosperity in Ireland
Re: “Ireland and the path to peace, prosperity,” May 27 editorial.
If, as The Post’s editorial implies, European Union membership causes a country’s economy to grow 7 to 10 percent a year, why is Ireland, alone among Western Europe’s nations, growing at this rate?
No, Ireland’s boom began when it turned away from the soft socialism still favored by the rest of Western Europe, and embraced supply-side tax policy. We see the same booming growth in Eastern bloc nations, as well as in India and China. The one constant is the turning away from socialist economic policy.
Steve Baur, Westminster
