AARP poll: SC grownups favor Medicaid expansion

I say “grownups” because all the respondents were over 45. It was the first word that came to mind. I’ll allow that there may be some grownups out there younger than 45. Anyway, here’s a report from the Charleston paper on the poll:

Most South Carolina adults interviewed for a new poll think the state government should expand Medicaid eligibility to include more low-income residents.

The poll was commissioned by AARP, a group in favor of expanding Medicaid in South Carolina under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. A statement about the poll was published Tuesday on AARP’s website, but the full results have not been released.

It found that 54 percent of 800 adults polled in February favor Medicaid expansion and 57 percent disagree with Gov. Nikki Haley’s decision to decline federal money to accomplish that. All of the adults included in the survey were 45 and older.

South Carolina has a choice to opt out of the expansion because the state would eventually need to pay for part of it — 10 percent of the costs by 2020. The federal government would fully fund Medicaid expansion for three years and at a minimum of 90 percent after that…

Maybe when Nikki Haley gets to be 45, she’ll develop a more sensible approach to this, too. It’s possible. I don’t know what the excuse of the GOP majority in the Legislature might be.

By the way, AARP is lobbying in 40 states (including SC) for Medicaid expansion. But that should come as no surprise, since AARP has a lot of grownups in it…

10 thoughts on “AARP poll: SC grownups favor Medicaid expansion

  1. Doug Ross

    AARP makes nearly all its revenues from its insurance plan thru United Healthcare. It isn’t an advocacy group, it is a profit seeking entity.

  2. Steve Gordy

    Some people may know (many don’t) that Medicaid picks up a lot of the cost for long-term care for those who don’t have long-term care policies or have exhausted their personal resources.

  3. Doug Ross

    Most AARP members have trouble remembering their keys…they certainly don’t have any more intelligence than people who can figure out how to use a remote control.

  4. Kathryn Fenner

    You only have to be 50 to join the AARP. I know where my keys are. Besides, it isn’t intelligence that Brad is talking about. It’s judgment!

    1. Steve Gordy

      Seconded. Doug, if you’re lucky, one day you will be old and you may learn that, no matter how well you’ve run your life, things happen that you can’t foresee.

    2. Steven Davis II

      So you can start using their welfare program even before eligible to be considered at retirement age.

      AARP is no different than the Hoveround or comfortable catheter groups feeding off of Medicaid/Medicare.

          1. Steven Davis II

            All I know is that they polish the inlet on the side of the tube so it doesn’t scrap the inside of your pee hole.

  5. barry

    The feds are going to pay for most of it – or South Carolina citizens can pay for all of it.

    Our choice.

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