Occasionally uncircumcised babies and toddlers DO get infections. Again, most middle-class moms would run their kids right to the pediatrician, and treating the infection would be no problem. Welfare mothers, on the other hand, would most likely let the infection get quite extreme before showing up at the emergency room, which ultimately costs the state more.
The final issue is the link between no circumcision and cervical cancer in women. Right now there's an indication that lack of circumcision leads to cervical cancer in the female partner. This is a significant public health problem in and of itself, and if the woman who gets cervical cancer is also on Medicaid, then there's just more public health cost down the line. While no one should be *forced* to have their boy circumcised, on the other hand it seems that paying for it for the poor would be justfied as a public health measure.
Medicaid doesn't pay for anything. You and I do.
So we should have doctors hack-off every body part prone to a possible infection?
There might not be much left.
That indication is based on outdated research that did not take into account the proven risk factors of cervical cancer. The American Cancer Society (ACS) does not even list the circumcision status of a woman's sexual partner as a risk factor for cervical cancer.
The ACS lists the following risk factors for cervical cancer: (1) age, (2) race and ethnicity, (3) human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, (4) smoking, (5) HIV infection, (6) diet, (7) oral contraceptives, and (8) low socioeconomic status.
"The most important risk factor for cervical cancer is infection by human papillomavirus."
"Certain types of sexual behavior increase a woman's risk of getting HPV infection. These high-risk sexual behaviors include intercourse at an early age, having many sexual partners, and having unprotected sex at any age."
American Cancer Society. What Are the Risk Factors for Cervical Cancer?.