Anti-HIV Medicine PREP Challenged in Texas Lawsuit

[Kahaih]

Worth mentioning (albeit, off topic)... the Federal Poverty Level in the US for an individual is $13K per year.

Now... how many of us could live off $13K per year?

It's not at all off topic.

The topic is about what people can or can't afford. Individual budgets must be examined/considered.

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

Worth mentioning (albeit, off topic)... the Federal Poverty Level in the US for an individual is $13K per year.

Now... how many of us could live off $13K per year?

That's not livable even if you're the picture of perfect health. If you have any medical conditions, you're fucked. An ex of mine is diabetic and HIV+ and takes meds that are 100s of dollars a month. His saving grace is he's been employed with Walmart since like 1905, he's a mid-level employee making more than most of his managers. If he lost his job and had to start over at 13k he'd be dead in under a year.

 

[KaraBulut]

It's not at all off topic.

The topic is about what people can or can't afford. Individual budgets must be examined/considered.

I agree with your second statement.

What would make the FPL issue off-topic is that the ACA has two parts: private insurance and expanded Medicaid eligibility.

The lawsuit that opened the thread is about the private insurance portion. The orthodontist is butt-hurt that he's paying premiums to a private insurance company which is, under ACA rules, required to pay for preventative medicines and procedures that he disagrees with. This part of the ACA isn't means-tested, meaning that everyone is eligible but some people get government assistance to help pay the premiums based upon an income sliding scale.

Medicaid is means tested, so you do have to be at a certain income relative to the Federal Poverty Level to qualify. For expanded Medicaid, that qualification is less than 138% of FPL (about $18K per year) for general coverage. For family planning services, 200% of FPL will qualify you for birth control, PrEP and other "family planning" services in some States (often through a contract with Planned Parenthood). However, the orthodontist is not suing over the Medicaid coverage.

 

[Peloso]

Worth mentioning (albeit, off topic)... the Federal Poverty Level in the US for an individual is $13K per year.

Now... how many of us could live off $13K per year?

Not to mention there are politicians in Congress who think people are still able to live off their Covid stimulus money.

 

[NotHardUp1]

^ completely off-topic.

Hardly.

It is at the very core of opposition to some federal entitlement programs.

As long as either side continues to pretend the other side's arguments are all baseless or merely punitive or vindictive, then we will continue headed down the road to disintegration as a country. Mark it.

Damn sneaky cheaty poor people. Remember when their brazen carelessness crashed the U.S. economy in 2006?

No one suggests that corruption is not across society's spectrum, but that doesn't make being low income a virtue or sacrosanct. Further, abusing benefits is endemic in the middle and upper classes as well, just different benefits.

Cheating is viewed as a sport, or a right, by many.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Not to mention there are politicians in Congress who think people are still able to live off their Covid stimulus money.

And they would be right in the cases where people participated in fraud and collected benefits illegally. They went out so fast, it was everywhere and they are just now getting around to prosecuting a few.

I know of a contractor in the aerospace industry, by his own statement, was able to manipulate his apparent income to collect benefits, even though he was fully employed, and owns four condominiums and a detached home, all of which are in good neighborhoods. He can't be that much of an exception.

 

[cityboy-stl]

And they would be right in the cases where people participated in fraud and collected benefits illegally. They went out so fast, it was everywhere and they are just now getting around to prosecuting a few.

That's not what they are talking about....and you know it.

 

[NotHardUp1]

That's not what they are talking about....and you know it.

I know that only citing the extreme cases of abuse or bigotry leaves the argument in pointless dead ends. The real abuse is a problem and pretending it isn't happening is part of the problem.

It's called misdirection. Chat with Fab about it. He can help you with its use.

 

[cityboy-stl]

Not to mention there are politicians in Congress who think people are still able to live off their Covid stimulus money.

I know that only citing the extreme cases of abuse or bigotry leaves the argument in pointless dead ends. The real abuse is a problem and pretending it isn't happening is part of the problem.

It's called misdirection. Chat with Fab about it. He can help you with its use.

You know damn well people like Mitch McConnell are claiming the reason it is so hard for employers to find workers is because people are still "flush with cash" from the Covid stimulus, and they don't need to work. That is not an extreme case of abuse or bigotry. Yes, McConnell and a lot of others in congress are claiming people are still living off their Covid money.

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

I know that only citing the extreme cases of abuse or bigotry leaves the argument in pointless dead ends. The real abuse is a problem and pretending it isn't happening is part of the problem.

It's called misdirection. Chat with Fab about it. He can help you with its use.

Arent we tired of debunking and re-debunking this myth that social programs are a breeding ground for rampant fraud? There's no data to back that up, which is why you repeat that same anecdote about your cousin instead of posting hard data or numbers. Cuz its not really a thing. This is classist propaganda and misinformation. Period.

https://www.newamerica.org/weekly/myths-waste-fraud-and-abuse/

Policymakers love to talk about “waste, fraud, and abuse” when it comes to welfare programs. Supposedly, “liars, thieves, and criminals” are content with comfortably lounging in the safety net—that social safeguard against poverty—while “[taking] every dime they can.”

In truth, however, both the rationale behind this rhetoric and the projected benefits are divorced from the evidence.

This is leftover Reagan welfare queen lies used to demonize the poor and, in a wink wink nudge nudge way, minorities. And of course, in actuality, the true waste is on resources spent chasing these ghost social program abusers and creating a network of flaming hoops and obstacles courses for people who are on their last leg, to save a few pennies since according to everything Ive read fraud doesnt even account for a double digit % of benefits doled out.

As Im all for financially conservative, I welcome you to prove me wrong with some numbers. A study? A term paper by an undergrad? Anything in addition to "my cousin...."?