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A New One: House Speaker Blames Video Games For Medicaid ‘Abuse’
from the nice-try dept
I guess it’s good to know there are still surprises left for me in this universe. We have talked about the common absurdity in which video games are blamed for all manner of things. It’s the moral panic of our time. Video games are blamed for violence, for supposed addictions, for violence, for the eventual end to the human race due to men not dating enough, and also for violence. That list isn’t exhaustive, by the way. Plenty of other things are blamed on video games beyond those, but you get the idea.
Rarely, if ever, have I heard that video games are the reason there is so much waste in Medicaid, however. And, yet, that appears to be, at least in part, the exact theory House Speaker Mike Johnson is engaging in to justify the GOP cutting into the Medicaid program despite Dear Leader claiming his adoration for the program.
“No one has talked about cutting one benefit in Medicaid to anyone who’s duly owed—what we’ve talked about is returning work requirements, so, for example, you don’t have able-bodied young men on a program that’s designed for single mothers and the elderly and disabled. They’re draining resources from people,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson last week.
“So if you clean that up and shore it up, you save a lot of money, and you return the dignity of work to young men who need to be out working instead of playing videogames all day.”
Ah, the old “nerd in Mom’s basement” routine. How droll.
Meanwhile, here are some inconvenient facts. Medicaid is a program to essentially supplement health coverage for those that can’t otherwise afford it. Recent studies indicate that something like two-thirds of the folks on Medicaid are, in fact, already employed. The majority of those that are not are folks who are typically elderly, disabled, or have life circumstances precluding them from fulltime work, such as taking care of unwell family members that have nobody else to rely on.
Are there some in the program that are taking advantage of the system? Undoubtedly. That is surely the case in every sizable system everywhere, government or otherwise. But Johnson’s work requirement will do very little other than to put the sick and elderly in the crosshairs of a government that seems to believe cruelty is the chief mechanism for governance.
But these are, again, inconvenient facts that serve only to stand in the way of Johnson’s desire to hand-wave concerns about cutting this program by invoking the demon that is video games. It’s lazy. It’s cynical.
And it’s another proof that this current government thinks we’re too stupid to know when we’re being lied to.
Filed Under: blame, medicaid, mike johnson, video games
Comments on “A New One: House Speaker Blames Video Games For Medicaid ‘Abuse’”
Oh for fucks sake.
I’m so tired of this. It was dumb 20 years ago. The same people who get off work and sit in front of a tv, gamble, drink, golf, or all the other activities and just complain because they don’t get the new thing people spend their time on.
Mike dumbfuck Johnson should maybe actually spend some part of the year actually fucking working instead of being a useless leech before complaining.
I’d say “And now I’ve seen everything”, but I know for a fact I will live to see an even dumber example of videogames being blamed for something.
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RFK claims covid is entirely 100% caused by playing Minecraft and Doom. Stupidly retarded enough for ya?
'We need a surgical solution to this problem, that's why we're using a chainsaw.'
“No one has talked about cutting one benefit in Medicaid to anyone who’s duly owed—what we’ve talked about is returning work requirements, so, for example, you don’t have able-bodied young men on a program that’s designed for single mothers and the elderly and disabled. They’re draining resources from people,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson last week.
Two and a half things comes to mind:
‘Able bodied’ according to who? Because unless I missed something pretty sure there’s already a fairly comprehensive vetting process to get on medicaid so if someone’s on there I’d give better than even odds that they’ve already shown that they should be on there, and on top of that if he actually bothered to care he’d already know that disability covers more than just physical issues, and that it’s entirely possible for someone to be physically ‘fit’ and capable of holding down a job but would struggle mentally for any number of reasons.
And second, ‘the program is for single mothers and the elderly’ might sell a bit better if republicans were talking about surgical cuts to funding and not demonizing welfare programs as a whole.
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“Because unless I missed something pretty sure there’s already a fairly comprehensive vetting process to get on medicaid […]”
There is. It took me four months to be verified and I had to supply quite a few documents during that process.
I was working for a major university but with no benefits of any kind. I also had a second job, also with no benefits. I could just barely cover rent and food but couldn’t even dream of having healthcare. Medicaid allowed me to get routine dental care, a once-a-year general checkup, etc.
That’s a bizarre misreading of that quote, which doesn’t say anything at all about video games being the cause of the problem. Just a thing that people do while on disability leave, presumably because they’ve got time to kill—and maybe because they can’t do anything too physical on account of their injuries.
But Johnson could’ve just as well said “watching television”, “chatting on the phone”, or “reading the bible”. It’s still cynical, of course. Possibly the best way to get these people back to work is to solve their underlying medical problems.
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Hardly bizarre. He didn’t say “reading the bible” but did say “playing video games” for a reason.
He said it that way so he could do the thing you just did.
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“No one has talked about cutting one benefit in Medicaid to anyone who’s duly owed—what we’ve talked about is returning work requirements, so, for example, you don’t have able-bodied young men on a program that’s designed for single mothers and the elderly and disabled. They’re draining resources from people,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson last week.
“So if you clean that up and shore it up, you save a lot of money, and you return the dignity of work to young men who need to be out working instead of playing videogames all day.”
He’s not talking about disabled people who are playing games because they can’t do more demanding things, he’s claiming that there’s a bunch of people on the program who he believes can work but who instead are just ‘playing videogames all day’ and he’s using that claim to justify cuts/changes to the program because those hypothetical people are ‘draining resources from people’.
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Yeah, but the statement still has nothing to do with blaming video games for abuse. The mention of disabled people is an attempt to describe the intent and maybe the reality of the situation, instead of whatever’s mostly just happening inside Johnson’s head.
I’ve sat home playing video games while taking sick days from work or school. It’s something I can do that won’t make (most) muscle pains worse, and is an okay way to kill the time between rounds of vomiting (provided it’s not of the style that will give me motion sickness).
There’s plenty wrong with Johnson’s statement as is; no need for us to make shit up to be offended by.
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As the other poster also said, if Mike Johnson wanted to suggest that work-ready people are just lazing around at home while on Medicaid, he could have said that.
But he didn’t. He specifically mentioned video games. The implication isn’t exactly vague.
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It’s an extra detail, in the same way you’re specifically mentioning Johnson’s sex without saying how it’s relevant to anything. The same way “welfare queen” was used by Reagan. In the more recent past, this stereotype may have been home smoking weed.
Specificity may be the enemy of unity, but when it comes to fictional tales, the politicians and other storytellers know that it makes them sound more real. Outrage gets attention—and votes—and there’s not gonna be half the outrage if it’s accurately portrayed as hypothetical.
Re: Re: Re: Wow
Your confidence in whatever tool your using to try to split a hair this fine is misplaced, my friend….
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I don’t follow. “Blame” is the main verb in the headline, and there’s no evidence provided to support it. That doesn’t seem like a minor detail, particularly in the context of a story about unsupportable claims being made with the intent to influence public opinion.
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What don’t you follow? The clear implication that the majority of Medicaid recipients claim it simply so they can sit around and play videogames?
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He’s not proving anything. He’s just spewing bullshit.
This isn’t 19D chess. This is just shitty people, being shitty.
They want to clamp down on the elderly, the disabled, and those who are having a hard life for gaming the system, and not billionaires who are the ones getting all the money
And it’s frustrating that conservatives continue to cheer this on, while they, their friend, family, and neighbors continue to be the ones that suffer.
Re: Denial and hate are some crazy drugs
If I had to guess I’d frame it as a mix of refusal to accept that they’re being lied to when they’re told that the republican party cares about those that aren’t obscenely rich, gullibility in believing that any minute now all those amazing promises that were made to them will come true and this really will turn into a golden age for america(but only for the correct people of course), and a willingness to bear the suffering until that happens so long as they can comfort themselves with the thought that at least the people they hate have it worse.
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What I concidence.
I finally agree with them on something.
I’m willing to deal with a lot of pain, as long as, the Republican shitclowns that voted for this feel even more.
I’d prefer people just be able to live their lives, but that seems to not be an option for the bigots, nazis, assholes and venal pieces of shit that make up the Republican Party.
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FYI, it’s not elderly people, disabled people, or anybody else struggling who are gaming the system.
No substance
It’s as valid as any other garbage the Trump administration blurts out.
Well, goven their bullshit and thebullshi of a large chunk of some cultures that love them, you’d think young cis-het, white, non-work-disabled men (no women!) should be on some kind of support, given how downtrodden and put-upon they are.
Wait. The Speaker of the least productive Congress in history is complaining about how much other people work?
When I was approved for disability (2 years and 9 months after I initially applied) I was surprised to find 6 months later, my Medicaid was abruptly terminated.
I had been automatically enrolled in Medicare but not told about it. I only learned after going to an appointment with a specialist, that I had set up 9 months prior, and being told my insurance had been cancelled. It varies from state to state but the standard in most states is that after 2 years, disabled people are switched to Medicare.
So Medicaid is not made for the disabled. It is made for the poor, if I’m not mistaken. Medicare is made for the elderly and the disabled. I think. It is a very convoluted system and one can be on both Medicare and Medicaid in certain circumstances.
I just wanted to point out what seemed to me like a bit of a discrepency.
I'm gaming the system
I’m maximizing my gains by using the program as intended.
The US is following the UK’s lead, and on the exact same disingenuous basis with a very similar outcome likely: formerly employed disabled people no longer in receipt of benefits due to their preventable deaths.
I work full time as a non medical caregiver to adults with intellectual disabilities. The system people with intellectual and developmental disabilities must use if they want Medicaid puts a huge emphasis on “employment first.” Meaning that before anything else, we have to support our clients in getting jobs. Now, people with ID/DD can and should work if they want to and are able to, but there are many who will never be able to hold a job in the traditional sense and will always need full time physical and or psychological/emotional support. It is a waste of time for example, to teach a non verbal person who has a severe brain injury how to become a farmer. She’s in her sixties and completely dependent on others for care, but learning about farming meets her “vocational requirements” in order to keep her funding. So even the most vulnerable people on Medicaid are subjected to work that will never support them full time. In many cases, it’s a bigger waste of time and money than just letting them exist on Medicaid.
This would be great news if it leads to actual legal attacks on the industry because so many of Spray-tan Caligula’s fans are self-professed capital G “Gamers.”
He can threaten their toys, and they can mangle themselves trying to do the gymnastics needed to convince themselves it’s actually a good thing.
I am reminded of the (IIRC & my brain tends to be right most of the time) they ran a front page story about all of the welfare queens & people ripping off the system in West Virginia…
It looked like a snow drift.
If we wanted to tackle waste, perhaps we shouldn’t be handing out insurance to Congress. They make WAY more than a majority of the citizens & their net worth magically jumps once they are in office (well beyond anything explained by investing their salary well).
Pensions are no longer a thing for most citizens, why does Congress get one?
Perhaps it is time we admit the reason they are so out of touch with “common everyday folk” is because nothing about them is common. They are millionaires, huge nest eggs, and we have to support them for life.
That thing I have said many times, if we make them live like most people in America are forced to… shit would get a whole lot better magically. They would find a way to make sure citizens lives improved because what they get is tied to how we are doing not how well a corporate sponsor is doing after they gutted the oversight & law to keep them from extracting everything but our fillings to line their pockets.