A story to help explain what happened to Floridas Medicaid stimulus funding

1
A story to help explain what happened to
Floridas Medicaid stimulus funding

• Family Misuses Funds Received for Members in
  Their Care,
• Now May Kick Them Out

Florida CHAIN October 2009
2
Meet the Lawmaker Family

• The Lawmakers have a number of vulnerable family
  members living with them, including children as
  well as elderly parents.
• The Lawmakers normally spend 225 each month in
  utilities to keep their home safe and livable.
• Last spring, however, it became clear that the
  upcoming summer would be the hottest on record.

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Heat Wave Impacts Lawmaker Family

• Because of the record heat wave, the Lawmakers
  would need to spend 300 each month on utilities
  during the summer (vs. the usual 225).
• At first, the Lawmakers panicked. They discussed
  drastic action like shutting off power to parts
  of the house or kicking some family members out
  altogether.

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Heat Wave Assistance Rescues Lawmaker Family

• But because the Lawmakers have vulnerable family
  members living with them, a short-term program
  (Heat Wave Assistance) became available to pay
  150 of their utility bill each month during the
  summer.
• So the Lawmakers were actually paying 75 less
  out-of-pocket for utilities than they were
  before the summer
• 225 normal utility bill
• 75 extra utility costs due to record
  heat
• - 150 Heat Wave Assistance
• 150 summer utility bill

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The Lawmaker FamilysIrresponsible Action

• The Lawmakers realized that they had 75 extra
  each month though only while the Heat Wave
  Assistance was available.
• The Lawmakers treated the 75 like an ongoing
  bonus, though they knew it wouldnt last.
• They committed to make payments on something
  completely unrelated (and that didn't benefit the
  children and seniors).

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The Lawmaker Family Today

• Temperatures will eventually get cooler, but its
  still very hot.
• But as the Lawmakers knew would happen, the 150
  in short-term Heat Wave Assistance stopped
  flowing.
• So until the weather breaks, the Lawmakers will
  still need to come up with 75 more per month
  than they were used to paying last spring.

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Irresponsibility Leads to Crisis

• BUT the Lawmakers actually need 150 more to pay
  their utility bill this month than last month.
• Yes, there's the 75 extra cost due to the hot
  weather.
• But there's also the 75 they had always spent on
  utilities but committed to something else when
  the Heat Wave Assistance kicked in.
• They again began to panic and threaten the
  children and seniors who were the reason they got
  the extra money in the first place.

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How Will the Lawmakers Even Try to Justify This
to Their Family?

• To the children seniors who will suffer, they
  say
• The problem is, during the summer, we were
  paying 150 a month for utilities.
• But now our utility bill is jumping to 300 a
  month.
• So our bill is doubling! These utility costs
  will bankrupt us! We have to live within our
  means.
• But of course the truth is Once fall arrives,
  they will pay no more for utilities than they did
  in the spring.

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How Will the Lawmakers Even Try to Justify This?

• But to themselves, they say
• Yes, we know it will get cooler soon, and our
  utility bills will come down again.
• And yes, we know we committed money that we had
  always used for utilities on other stuff, and
  thats why we dont have it.
• But we can blame it on the heat wave and even on
  the Heat Wave Assistance. If we hadnt taken the
  money, we wouldnt have this problem.