Ron DeSantis is counting on journalists not connecting him to Floridians losing their health coverag

[applegrove]

Ron DeSantis is counting on journalists not connecting him to Floridians losing their health coverage

WRITTEN BY MATT GERTZ

PUBLISHED 01/25/23 1:12 PM EST

https://www.mediamatters.org/health-care/ron-desantis-counting-journalists-not-connecting-him-floridians-losing-their-health

"SNIP.......


If you’ve been following the news, you likely know that last Thursday, his administration blocked the College Board’s new Advanced Placement class on African American history from being taught in the state, arguing that it “significantly lacks educational value.” DeSantis himself has said the decision was necessary because “we want education, not indoctrination,” and criticized its references to “Queer theory.” The move drew criticism from Democratic officials in Florida and in the White House, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre calling the decision “incomprehensible.”

The AP blockade is perhaps the quintessential DeSantis stunt, a crude culture war salvo with rich symbolic power and roots in the right-wing press that targets a major liberal institution but whose concrete material impacts are relatively minimal. The governor’s fans in the right-wing commentariat are elated, his critics on the left are firing off responses, and the controversy is swallowing up newspaper column inches and TV news segments. After a period of middling presidential poll numbers, DeSantis is once again the lib-owning center of attention.

DeSantis’ political strategy is calculated and deliberate. “By leaning into high-profile battles as a culture warrior par excellence for the most reactionary segment of the American public,” New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie wrote Tuesday, “DeSantis has made himself the hero of conservative elites and the bête noire of liberals and Democrats without so much as mentioning his radical and unpopular views on social insurance and the welfare state.”

Which brings me to a second major story out of Florida that hasn’t received anywhere near the same amount of national attention. The Miami Herald reported on Saturday that a huge number of Floridians are about to lose federal health insurance coverage thanks to DeSantis and his political allies. According to the Herald:

* Almost a million Floridians are slated to lose their Medicaid coverage starting in April once the federal COVID-19 emergency comes to an end.

* Florida is one of 11 states that did not expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act, which means tens of thousands of Florida families are expected to fall into the Medicaid access gap.

........SNIP"

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

[Lovie777]

2. He could be right ......

Journalist, if that is what they, follow their corporate masters' orders.

It's no such thing as journalism anymore.

[Deuxcents]

6. That's a wide brush, my Friend.

Granted, there are reporters out there for sensational headlines but there are also, investigative journalists who don’t have the funding or other support n their work is not one page one. We have to look hard n not fall for the fluff but it’s out there. Thankfully, we have DUers who pass it on

[Eliot Rosewater]

7. True, Greg Palast needs to get on this one but he is busy dealing with another fascist in GA

Problem with the media goes back to the 60s when all legitimate media was accused of being "liberal" because most journalists were mature, educated and intelligent, and worst of all "worldly."

And as a result of this they would report the truth about things that made right wingers uncomfortable. Worst of all abortion was presented as a reality and in some areas of the world a necessity, but this made half the country lose their minds not unlike when a Black man was elected president and from that point on the media did not DARE treat the left and right equally.

[markodochartaigh]

12. Greg Palast is great! He has made several films

that I got for a small donation on his website that I have shown to relatives. He has a way of exposing the truth in an entertaining manner.

[appalachiablue]

21. ++

[applegrove]

9. Real journalists have to compete with the cult like noise machine

on the right. Plus local journalism is being shuttered. There is still good journalism.

[DBoon]

22. Finding a real journalist is like finding an honest man

.webp

They exist, it just takes some searching

[CatWoman]

3. K; R

[PortTack]

4. Why...do..they..keep..voting...for..this??!!

[Fullduplexxx]

5. cause he shows the libs what fer

[NullTuples]

16. Because he says what every White Christian Nationalist wants to hear.

And I'm guessing Florida has a lot of those that vote & get their votes counted.

Targeted voter suppression, gerrymandering (for Legislature races) and other electoral tactics take care of the rest.

[progree]

20. "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man..."

Last edited Fri Jan 27, 2023, 12:48 AM - Edit history (1)

President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."

snopes: Correct attribution

More generally, they see "those people" getting benefits that they're not getting. Or that they're also getting but are willing to give up just to deprive "those people" from getting them. Their hatred is that intense.

It's not all racial -- they hate all poor people who don't, in their minds, "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" (rednecks all think they are at least middle class, no matter how crummy their own circumstances are).

[republianmushroom]

8. he will probably get away with it. Look who own the journalists.

[bluboid]

10. OMG, I hope they get the word out about the impact of the failure to expand Medicaid...

& the Desantis administration has to answer for it.

[SunSeeker]

11. K & R for exposure.

[BlueLucy]

13. Everything the GQP flings at Democrats is projection. nt

[Hassler]

14. Our Press Corpse isn't interested in journalism, they're

Interested in access. They won't cross Benito DeSatan.

[progree]

15. And nationwide, many expected to lose Medicaid coverage --

6.8 million expected to lose Medicaid soon due to paperwork hurdles.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/01/24/1150798086/6-8-million-expected-to-lose-medicaid-when-paperwork-hurdles-return

See https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217593092

but basically since the beginning of the pandemic, people on Medicaid have been auto-reenrolled. But:

But the special Medicaid measure known as "continuous enrollment" will end on March 31, 2023 no matter what. It was part of the budget bill Congress passed in Dec. 2022. Even if the public health emergency is renewed in April, states will begin to make people on Medicaid sign up again to renew their coverage. And that means between 5 and 14 million Americans could lose their Medicaid coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the nonpartisan health policy organization..

The federal Department of Health and Human Services expects 6.8 million people to lose their coverage even though they are still eligible, based on historical trends looking at paperwork and other administrative hurdles. Pre-pandemic, some states made signing up for and re-enrolling in Medicaid very difficult to keep people off the rolls.

emphasis added by progree

[NullTuples]

18. For decades Republicans have pushed for full privatization; this is part of that effort.

[Lunabell]

17. Yep. Hey look over here...

while we do this over there.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

19. Every single Republican's middle mame is...

..Devious. They can't afford to be honest. None of them.