Chuck and Anna Miller say the Democrats know better, but fear is a great fund-raising tool
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and do not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com
Last night at the County Council meeting a number of disabled people came to the mic to make a plea to the councilors for them to issue a public statement against any cuts in Medicaid. These folks were obviously very worried that their much-needed services would be yanked out from under them by the federal government.
So, where is the cruelty? Because there is no realistic basis for their fears. The Democrats in their desperation are out in full force fear mongering and they don’t care who they scare with their lies.
Did we say they are telling lies? Yes, we did.
When asked, President Trump made this similar statement repeatedly, “We’re not going to do anything with Medicaid, unless we can find some abuse or waste. The people won’t be affected. It will only be more effective and better,” during an interview with Politico on January 31, 2025.
He also reiterated, “We’re not going to touch it. Now, we are going to look for fraud,” as reported by the Washington Post on February 27, 2025. President Trump expressed his frustration with a reporter who asked if he was planning cutting services to Medicaid. He replied, “I have answered that question over and over. And you keep asking it”.
Speaker Mike Johnson, in an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on February 25, 2025, stated, “We’re not gonna do that,” referring to cutting Medicaid benefits. He added, “We’re gonna take care of those who are rightful beneficiaries of the program. We’re gonna cut the fraud, waste, and abuse out of Medicaid.
The federal government is looking for fraud in the system. They are going to root it out and make it better. Better means more money for people who need it and no money for people who are faking, lying or gaming the system by fraudulent means.
The Democrats know better, but fear is a great fund-raising tool. That is a form of cruelty.
Anna and Chuck Miller
Camas WA residents
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Spot on. I found out D’s using Dept of Health resources to organize this new tactic of fear-mongering
Although I would love to be have the confidence to simply take Mr. Trump and Mr. Johnson at their word, the budget numbers they’ve passed into law seem to disagree with their promises. To paraphrase the old saying, “should I believe them or my lyin’ eyes?”
As you are no doubt aware, the federal budget is divided into sections. Each of those sections is overseen by a Congressional Committee. The section of the budget that contains Medicare and Medicaid programs is managed by the Energy and Commerce Committee.
The budget that was recently passed by the Republican majority (H.Con.Res.14) requires Energy and Commerce to cut $880 billion from their particular section. So one might naturally ask, “What is available to cut from the Energy and Commerce budget?”
Great question.
60% of the total budget is Medicare, 38% is Medicaid, 1% is the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and 2% is miscellaneous other programs.
Many of the minor programs in that last 2% are revenue neutral (meaning that they pay for themselves with service fees). We can certainly cut them, but it doesn’t change spending. But let’s say we cut all the other programs anyway (not counting Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP). A good start, but that would only get us to around $135 billion of the required $880 billion.
That means we still need to find $745 billion in cuts from elsewhere in our accounts. Ominously, there are only three pots remaining for us to look at.
It may feel a bit distasteful, but suppose we completely gut Child Health Insurance next. We do get some more savings, but sadly that’s only worth about $201 billion. We’re still short $544 billion of our required $880 billion total.
Unfortunately, for those playing along at home, you know that we’re now down to just two pots remaining – Medicare and Medicaid.
We’ve got to get that $544 billion from somewhere, and we seem to have run out of other options. So, which will it be?
(And you don’t have to take my word for it – the Congressional Budget Office publishes their own budget breakdowns and projections here: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60870)
You lost me at “98% of the total budget of Energy and Commerce is Medicare and Medicade….Uhhhh…no
What part did you find confusing?
If we assume that Medicare is off the table, Medicaid comprises roughly 93% of the remaining mandatory spending overseen by the Energy and Commerce Committee. There just aren’t other pots of money available there to cut.
Again, you don’t have to take my word for it, there is a veritable mountain of actual budgetary materials. I’d recommend starting here, since this response letter gives details in a short and digestible format:
https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-03/61235-Boyle-Pallone.pdf
Happy to try to explain it another way if you still find it difficult to understand.
Anna and Chuck Miller Thank you for your letter.
I am making a public announcement I have my Medicare health insurance. I recently changed to another company (In February 2025) that has holistic doctors on it. I do have part A &B. I am making this public announcement because I am tiered of the AI phone calls every day since October, last year! I get between 6 to 10 calls a day! Sometimes starting at 6 AM. I keep telling their robot or phone solicitor to take me off their list. This harassment has got to stop!!! My sister lives across the street from me and she gets the same number of calls daily, too. Do we need a law to stop this harassment? I am well covered, and she has Kaiser. I hear those calls for her, when I visit her home.
In the day of technology, the government should know we are covered and paying into it. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
How many of you get those calls every day? What can we do stop them? This is so irritating. Who do we call or write to, to stop this harassment?
John Ley and Stephanine McClintock are on the consumer Affair committee. Do they need to suggest a law to stop these daily harassing phone calls for senior health care part A and part B?
Wynn – sorry to hear about your annoyances with the robocalls.
Those calls are almost always spam and you can safely ignore them. Medicare will only call under very narrow circumstances and they will never ask for your personal information or social security number.
As a first step, you can register your number with the National Do Not Call Registry – this won’t solve all the problems, but it may help (https://www.donotcall.gov/).
You can also report repeat numbers to the Federal Trade Commission here: (https://www.usa.gov/telemarketer-scam-call-complaints).
I would recommend not answering the phone if you do not recognize the number. You can always call the Medicare help line (1-800-MEDICARE) if you have questions.
Thank you for this advice.