Editorial: The gateway to cruelty

Thursday, April 28, 2005 | 9 a.m.

There is never a good time to be poor and in need of medical care, but to be in such a situation today can be perilous. President Bush is recommending sharp cuts to Medicaid, the federal-state partnership that pays for medical care for the poor. States around the country -- in response to the Republican president's proposed cuts and increasing health care costs -- are also proposing deep reductions of their own.

In one of the most dramatic examples of cuts to Medicaid spending, and which is nothing short of heartless, Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt this week signed into law changes that will eliminate Medicaid coverage for 100,000 impoverished adults, including those who are disabled and who are elderly. Additionally, Missouri could drop medical services for adults that most people would consider essential: dental care, eyeglasses, artificial limbs, wheelchairs and home oxygen equipment. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in a story about the cuts, noted that it is part of an overall Republican strategy to constrain government spending: It's the first time in 80 years that Republicans have controlled the governor's office and both houses of the Legislature at the same time.

Nevada's Medicaid program, less than generous itself because the state has set strict income standards for those who are eligible, isn't immune to escalating costs, either. Over the next two years, because of a growing population and increased medical costs, spending on Nevada's Medicaid program is expected to rise 28 percent to a total cost of $1.1 billion. But fortunately Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn and the Nevada Legislature (whose Assembly is controlled by Democrats and Senate is led by Republicans) are trying to keep intact our state's relatively modest Medicaid program. Guinn even has proposed increasing eligibility so that more pregnant women and children of the working poor can receive medical care under Medicaid. We are encouraged that so far the momentum from the Draconian agenda adopted by Republicans in Missouri isn't catching on here in Nevada .