The Republican method of handling household budgets includes letting grandma die

Congratulations are in order to Representatives John Kuempel and Doug Miller and their Republican colleagues in the state legislature for achieving a balanced budget on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens. Starting Sunday January 1, elderly Texans who are so poor that they qualify for Medicaid in addition to Medicare will find that some treatments for their ailments, including life threatening ones, aren’t available because our courageous legislators cut reimbursements by 20%.

The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders reports that it will “be unable to provide life-saving cancer treatment medications after Jan. 1, 2012, due to cuts to dual eligible patients (those elderly on Medicare who are also poor and on Medicaid - the Medicaid covers the Medicare deductible) - because they are already losing money on those patients and without the Medicaid match the financial losses are just too great.”

The contenders for the Republican nomination keep saying that our nation’s budget should be handled like a household budget. Apparently if grandma gets sick they’d just let her die.