Respond Again?!?
1061 words by cnguyen2
Here we are again, another week, another blog. It is week 11 already. Only one more month of school left to go. This week, we are supposed to respond to the comments from the other students on our project blog. What else can be said… I think the other students in our theology class have been very supportive of one another. So far, I have not really had any negative comments from the other students and I have not really had anything negative to say about the other projects in our class. I think that overall, the projects are coming along pretty good and I think everyone is making progress. This is considered a good thing, but then again, I think that this can also be a bad thing. Without the negative feed back, how can we improve on our projects? Any kind of comments can be useful. Although some people may take others’ criticisms the wrong way. I would really appreciate any kind of help anyone can contribute to my project. The fraud issue that I am dealing with Medicaid is very broad. I can incorporate any kind of comments or suggestions into my project. So far, my project has been put on the back burner. I have been so busy with other class projects and papers. We are nearing the end of the semester. This is the time that it always seems as though all the teachers are in a rush to cram as much information into us as possible, and try to assign as many papers and homework projects as they can too to get some more grades. Now is the time we have to shift it into overdrive. I think about and contribute to my project almost every day that I go to work, indirectly. Even though my thoughts are not on my project particularly, every person that I come into contact with at work that look as though they are abusing the Medicaid system, it makes me wonder: what can I do about this? How can I improve the system? What changes can I make? I think other students that work in pharmacies that mainly deal with Medicaid patients know what I am talking about. I think they should be grateful that they are in the program and only need to pay a small co-pay amount for their medication (between $0.50 and $3.00). But I still hear many of the customers at the register complaining about the price of the prescriptions. Come on now. You can’t get everything in life for free. You have to pay for some things. But what these certain customers are not thinking about is who is paying for the rest of the medication. Sure they are paying $3.00, but what if their medication was $300.00? Who is paying the remaining $297? They are not thinking of the other people that have to pay much, much higher co-pays or even full price for their medications.
I have done some research into some of the other government funded programs and the processes people have to go through to apply and stay on these programs. One such program was the W.I.C. (Women, Infant, and Children) program. The W.I.C. program provides nutritional foods for pregnant women, formula for infants, and food for kids up to 5 years old. They provide foods such as eggs, milk, cheese, tuna, beans, etc (foods high in protein and vitamins). In order to apply, the applicant must have all vital information available: birth certificates of each applicant, check stubs for the last month or proof of income or employment. If the person is unemployed, they have to provide verification of how the bills get paid, where they live, etc. The application also requires the person to let them know if they are currently using food stamps, are on welfare, etc. For children, they need proof that they are in school, immunization records, proof of everything they are supposed to be doing for the age group. They need to know all this information before you can even qualify for the program. If the person qualifies, the nurses help them fill out all the necessary forms and submit it immediately so it does not take too long for all the benefits to begin. After the benefits begin, the applicant must come in for check-ups and appointments once every 3 months and EVERY recipient must be at every appointment. If the appointment is missed, then I believe the benefits are cut off unless there is a legitimate excuse. These appointments are to check on the recipients and make sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing. I believe this program has a very good check and balances system. I am sure some people do slip through the cracks but overall, I think that it is a good way to curb the number of people trying to get one over on the government. Another program that I looked into was the food stamp program. I think that because this is a federal program, the guidelines are that much stricter than the other state funded assistance program. The applicants must supply more documents as proof of living expenses and other such things. They must provide proof in income for the last 2 months; if not then they must submit proof of employment and estimated income that must be verified before the process can proceed. They need to submit proof of residence or provide rent receipts, letter from landlord, any kind of proof of expenses. They also need to submit bank statements, stock statements, credit card bills, proof of other government programs. I think that proving many of these things make it difficult for many people to abuse the program. The application also states on it that any kind of false information, misleading information can and will lead up to fines and imprisonment. It also includes loss of benefits for the family, etc. I think that if Medicaid had certain warnings and making it kind of difficult for people who do not need it to qualify for it, then it would drastically reduce the amount of people abusing the system. The also need to establish a system to check up on the parents and kids that are receiving benefits such as the W.I.C. program. That could weed out a lot of people.