Posted on 05/28/2005 2:20:33 PM PDT by 95Tarheel
WASHINGTON -- Nearly 800 convicted sex offenders in 14 states got Medicaid-funded prescriptions for Viagra and other impotence drugs, according to a survey by The Associated Press.
The majority of the cases were in New York, Florida and Texas.
Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor, is administered differently in every state. Thus, while some states allowed Medicaid payments for prescriptions for the drugs Viagra, Cialis and Levitra, other states did not.
New York, acting on a tip, was the first to uncover that Medicaid had paid for Viagra prescriptions for sex offenders. Its report prompted the federal government, which provides states with funds for Medicaid, to order states to take steps to stop the coverage for these felons.
The states that provided registered sex offenders with subsidized impotence drugs are Florida, 218 cases; New York, 198; Texas, 191; New Jersey, 55; Virginia, 52; Missouri, 26; Kansas, 14; Ohio, 13; Michigan, seven; Maine, five; Georgia, three; Montana, three; Alabama, two; and North Dakota, one. That comes to 788 cases.
In Virginia, the cost came to at least $3,085. Gov. Mark R. Warner issued an emergency order barring Medicaid from continuing to pay for the drugs for these men.
Kyle Smith, a spokesman for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, put it this way: "Do we have programs giving clubs to wife beaters or drinks for those committing DUI? Weird things happen in this world, and this is one of the weirder."
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
I forgot, I was going to add that I wonder if the press releases these kinds of studies on holiday weekends on purpose, so no one is paying attention? This is pure, raw, red meat for conservative talk shows. The epitome of the insanity of trusting government to control too much of our lives and our society.
There were more articles about this earlier in the week too. I believe NJ was an offender also with the viagra for sex offenders.
Shouldn't this be grounds for sending them back to prison for parole violations? In fact, it should be possible to cancel out any good time they accumulated in prison and wipe out any of the time spent on parole towards the term of a prison sentence.
Good question, there's no good reason for us to be paying for these drugs for anyone. If someone wants them that badly and the doctor agrees that they need them, they can pay for their own.
Technically, I think it varies by state b/c the federal government gives our money to the state beurocracy in charge of the medicaid. Pretty efficient, huh?
I couldn't find anything using the search function (I tried a few different combinations), but if that is the case, that would show that it wasn't purposefully suppressed until the holiday weekend.
I know the one from 1010wins.com was posted here. But I believe it was just on the NJ incident. I will see if I can find it.
N.Y. Audit Shows Sex Offenders Get Viagra
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1408590/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1408956/posts
Sex offenders get Viagra paid for by Medicaid
I didn't know about Texas ::surprised::! Missed reading that one.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1409227/posts
Medicaid lets sex offenders get Viagra
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1410082/posts
Nearly 200 sex offenders in Texas get Viagra (79th LEGISLATURE)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1408440/posts
New York Comptroller: Sex Offenders Have Been Getting Viagra Paid by Medicaid
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1408553/posts
PERVS' FREE VIAGRA (tales from the fully fornicating society--predators get tax-paid Viagra)
I contemplated putting this on "front page news" or "extended news" b/c I think it's so outrageous and I know that way it would get a lot more attention, but I wasn't sure if it was new or not. If it is new, it's definitely being downplayed by the mainstream media so far. Maybe one of the admin's can add it to one of those groups, if it is deserving.
It is new. I only started hearing about it this week.
I didn't even realize there were so many articles on it.
I just went to every link and added viagra as keyword. So now a keyword search will pull them all.
Clinton administration regulation forced coverage of Viagra.
Well, I must be a search function idiot- I see several of those articles now when I search. I must have had a typo in my original searches... I don't know.
At any rate, I still think that this should be getting more coverage than it has! It boggles the mind that we pay for anyone's Viagra/Cialis/ED drugs.
Well, IMO, they shouldn't. The reasoning that some states used to justify it goes something like this: Mr. X's multiple medical problems (diabetes, hypertension, depression) have caused him to have trouble with ED, and b/c we want to treat people to try and make them completely whole and healthy, we will include Viagra/Cialis at no direct expense to the patient, and let the Medicaid program pick up the tab. Treating this disease is an important part of making a person a whole person, and we don't want these (poor) people to be getting a lower quality of care (discriminated against) than those people who pay for their own health care.
I think the real problem is that Medicare probably pays for these drugs, too, and that's a much larger chunk of money. (I think that's what Clinton agreed to). Of course, at least most of the Medicare wealfare recipients aren't sex offenders. Medicaid, I am sure, has a much higher rate of sex offenders.
It's odd, I'm hearing this on the radio news right now. I think it's a "new" story, b/c now the AP has gone back through and surveyed all these states and re-packaged it into one story. I'll ask a moderator to tack it into "front page news" and let them decide.
Why is Medicaid paying for it for anyone in the first place?
Florida being in 1st place. Isn't that the State with all of these problems with minor sex offenders? Mr. Jeb Bush, are you reading this? Wake up. Try some 'stricnine' in these little blue pills.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.