By Jack B. Winn
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services' popularity has increased recently as debates over the solvency of long-term care insurance takes a star turn in the ongoing debate over health care and entitlements spending.
According to OhMyGov Analytics, over 16,000 posts about the agency tasked with administering both Medicare and Medicaid programs for states and local governments were generated on Twitter between June 27 and July 3--the largest growth CMS has seen in over a month. Not surprisingly, users struggled to come to terms with the role of CMS in disbursing funds, even as news about states' refusals to expand Medicaid are getting fresh attention in the wake of the Supreme Court's upholding of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
On social media, people voiced their opinions about the similarities between existing entitlement taxes and the ACA.
"If Obama doesn't win...RIP to food stamps and Medicaid," @twentyNsome tweeted July 3.
"If Obamacare is a socialistic tax, then how come Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare isn't? They're all forced taxation, so stop pretending, " @chrsworkman asked.
According to The Hill, Florida's Rick Scott (R-FL), Louisiana's Bobby Jindal (R-LA), and a handful of other governors have either indicated they're leaning against expanding Medicare and Medicaid programs in their respective states, or have spoken out against the idea entirely.
Jindal became just the latest to join the gaggle of Republicans lining up against expanding Medicaid, telling Meet the Press's David Gregory (19:01) that he's 'absolutely' fighting implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
"Every governor's got two critical decisions to make," Jindal said July 1. "One is do we set up these exchanges, and two is expanding Medicaid, and in Louisiana we're doing neither one of those."
If repeal is a fantasy, then Republicans are determined to drag implementation out as long as they possibly can. The foot-dragging isn't earning goodwill from liberals and progressives, as people wake up to the idea that their families could be pawns of political football.
"BE CLEAR: Governors who turn down Medicaid funds are letting constituents die to make political points,"@loladavid2 tweeted July 3.
The remark became a rallying cry on Twitter, as supporters of the health care law lined up to criticize Jindal and others while opponents hoped more governors would swell the ranks of what is increasingly becoming an opposition movement to starve the ACA out of existence, if not kill it entirely.
According to the non-profit group ACA International, nearly 16 percent of Americans do not currently have health insurance. In 2009--the year the Affordable Care Act was first proposed--the number of uninsured Americans swelled to 50 million, up from 46 million in 2008.
Ironically, if the health care law is implemented, the states that stand to gain the most aren't so-called 'blue states' like Vermont, New York and California, but West Virginia, Alabama, and Mississippi--all of whom have governors that oppose Obamacare, and all of whom leaned towards John McCain in the 2008 Presidential race.
If Jindal and Scott do reverse their stances, it'll fall on the CMS to administer their states' expansion of Medicare and Medicaid services.
www.ohmygov.com
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services' popularity has increased recently as debates over the solvency of long-term care insurance takes a star turn in the ongoing debate over health care and entitlements spending.
According to OhMyGov Analytics, over 16,000 posts about the agency tasked with administering both Medicare and Medicaid programs for states and local governments were generated on Twitter between June 27 and July 3--the largest growth CMS has seen in over a month. Not surprisingly, users struggled to come to terms with the role of CMS in disbursing funds, even as news about states' refusals to expand Medicaid are getting fresh attention in the wake of the Supreme Court's upholding of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
On social media, people voiced their opinions about the similarities between existing entitlement taxes and the ACA.
"If Obama doesn't win...RIP to food stamps and Medicaid," @twentyNsome tweeted July 3.
"If Obamacare is a socialistic tax, then how come Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare isn't? They're all forced taxation, so stop pretending, " @chrsworkman asked.
According to The Hill, Florida's Rick Scott (R-FL), Louisiana's Bobby Jindal (R-LA), and a handful of other governors have either indicated they're leaning against expanding Medicare and Medicaid programs in their respective states, or have spoken out against the idea entirely.
Jindal became just the latest to join the gaggle of Republicans lining up against expanding Medicaid, telling Meet the Press's David Gregory (19:01) that he's 'absolutely' fighting implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
"Every governor's got two critical decisions to make," Jindal said July 1. "One is do we set up these exchanges, and two is expanding Medicaid, and in Louisiana we're doing neither one of those."
If repeal is a fantasy, then Republicans are determined to drag implementation out as long as they possibly can. The foot-dragging isn't earning goodwill from liberals and progressives, as people wake up to the idea that their families could be pawns of political football.
"BE CLEAR: Governors who turn down Medicaid funds are letting constituents die to make political points,"@loladavid2 tweeted July 3.
The remark became a rallying cry on Twitter, as supporters of the health care law lined up to criticize Jindal and others while opponents hoped more governors would swell the ranks of what is increasingly becoming an opposition movement to starve the ACA out of existence, if not kill it entirely.
According to the non-profit group ACA International, nearly 16 percent of Americans do not currently have health insurance. In 2009--the year the Affordable Care Act was first proposed--the number of uninsured Americans swelled to 50 million, up from 46 million in 2008.
Ironically, if the health care law is implemented, the states that stand to gain the most aren't so-called 'blue states' like Vermont, New York and California, but West Virginia, Alabama, and Mississippi--all of whom have governors that oppose Obamacare, and all of whom leaned towards John McCain in the 2008 Presidential race.
If Jindal and Scott do reverse their stances, it'll fall on the CMS to administer their states' expansion of Medicare and Medicaid services.
www.ohmygov.com
