Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Death Tax for the Poor


There is something wrong here:
ORLANDO, FLA. - Ever since Judy Clifford's parents died, she had planned to move with her husband into their Nashville, Tenn., home, which she knew so well.

"I felt like they were still there," says Ms. Clifford, who is retired. "I could see my mother standing at the sink washing dishes and my daddy watching TV, and I wanted to stay in the house because of that."

Instead, the two-bedroom ranch-style home is for sale for $122,000, the subject of a bitter tug-of-war between the Cliffords and TennCare, Tennessee's healthcare program for the poor and uninsured. TennCare has laid claim to the home to recoup the cost of caring for Clifford's mother, who was on TennCare when she died three years ago.

In the face of soaring Medicaid costs, Tennessee and every other state are required to set up a Medicaid estate-recovery program. Many have been launched only recently, and some - like Tennessee's - are becoming more aggressive. Often, they target the home because it's all that's left after beneficiaries have spent their assets to pay for nursing-home care.
Hmmmm. We have a ex-Congress composed of a Republican majority that frittered away legislative time (less than 100 days a year) passing tax breaks for their buddies including an attempt at a big estate tax break for the wealthiest Americans and then they turn around do this kind of crap.

Time for the majority to stick it to the Scrooges. I'd say a progressive tax to make Trump's head spin.

2 comments:

markfromireland said...

Geetings DOc,

Hope Christmas went well for you.

1) I'm back.

2) Gorillas Guides has moved from blogger to it's own domann.

Happy New Year

Dr. C said...

MFI,Glad you are back. I like the layout of the new Gorillas Guides. It makes me so sad reading it. There seems to be no end to the awfulness that Bush and his cronies have perpetrated in Iraq. He seems to be getting ready for more, in spite of overwhelming opposition to his position in America.