“Aprés Moi, Le Déluge”

Yesterday, I was at the grocery store.  And  yes, this has to do with politics.  I’ll get to that in a moment, but first some background.  While I know most people know all this, the specifics of it are important to the tale.
 
Trump and MAGOP officials keep trying to insist that, no, they are not touching Medicaid, they’re just changing requirements for people qualifying for it.  (Fun Fact: Yes, this is changing Medicaid.  No, it’s not changing what’s covered, but it’s changing the program as written.  That’s not a hard concept to get.  Though clearly an easy concept to flim-flam.)  As a result of these changing requirements, experts estimate that between 12-16 million people will lose at least some of their Medicaid coverage.
 
The changes are basically bureaucratic red tape.  Which, as we all know, always goes really well, especially with the government.  In theory, it’s to make sure that non-citizens can’t get coverage and also so that people work in order to be covered, unless they meet certain conditions that make work not possible.
 
For starters, non-citizens are not eligible for Medicaid, so that’s a non-issue.  Further, about two-thirds of people on Medicaid are already working.  And the rest either have to stay home to take care of someone, underage, or unable to work.  So, that’s a non-issue, too.  But clearly an easy concept to flim-flam.
 
So, again, this is basically about creating bureaucratic red tape.  And what kind of red tape paperwork will be required?  It’s largely filling out a lot of forms online, and also regularly uploading documentation of current work, and uploading computer files of work history.  That sort of thing.  Whatever else the government decides is necessary to qualify for whatever you already qualify for.  Pretty much a government convoluted mess.
 
Which brings us to me going to the grocery store yesterday.
 
I got in a checkout line with one person ahead of me, someone in the midst of paying their tab at the credit card device.  She had clearly been having a bit of trouble, since the cashier had to jump in and explain what to do.  The suggestions weren’t having any impact, though, so eventually the cashier left her station to provide some personal assistance – pointing out what the woman should do, what to punch in and where the card should go. 
 
The cashier returned to her spot…but the card was still giving back error messages.  At this point, those of us in line had been waiting about five minutes, perhaps longer for the person ahead of me.  To her credit, the lady trying to pay looked over embarrassed and apologized, which is all your can really ask for, so it was appreciated, and we said “No problem.”  It was fine, we weren’t in a rush, though it was getting a bit tiresome.
 
The cashier kept giving advice, it didn’t work, they got someone else from the store to help, it was no good, the woman kept trying, and…finally, she got the card to be accepted, and all was well!  O huzzah.
 
Which brings me to the point.
 
If this is the problem some people can have trying to use their credit card to pay their grocery bill (and I am absolutely certain that this wasn’t the only person who has problems doing this – not all may have this much difficulty, but they still surely have hiccups – what end of the card do you slide it, where do you tap the card, is your card expired, making a mistake taping in the PIN, forgetting the PIN, having an expired card -- and some, many may well have this much of a problem –
 
-- can you imagine the problem some people, many people, not improbably most people might have trying to provide the required red tape information the government requires for Medicaid??!!!  Filling out forms online, uploading documentation of current work, uploading computer files of work history.  And whatever else the government needs.
 
And then getting some government work to help you.  After budgets and staffs have been cut.
 
This, by the way, is one of the reasons experts say that they expect millions of people will lose their Medicaid coverage.  Not because they don’t qualify, but because they can’t figure out and get around the red tape.  And just give up.
 
(John Oliver touched on this a bit last night, which I posted here.)

As I watched the woman yesterday understandably having trouble for at least five minutes merely trying to paying for her groceries just using her credit card, something so basic that she'd no doubt done hundreds of times, but hit a hiccup, which so many people -- if not all -- have  had happen, all I could think was...oh, my god, MAGOPs in Congress have absolutely no idea they hell they will unleash upon themselves forcing people to go through government computer bureaucracy in order to qualify for healthcare.

I know a lot of people who won't be able to come close to handling it.  I'm sure we all know people who won't.  I'm sure people who are adept with computers, technology and the online world who will still have problems tracking down information, following government instructions which may not be perfectly clear, and just typing something wrong by mistake.  And even if it all goes perfectly, hoping the system won't crash or have a problem.  Which, of course, never happens with computers or online services, or the government.

It was a simple, basic credit card device.​

But no, this is what Trump and MAGOPs want.  This is the bureaucratic paperwork red tape they are voting on to become law.

Be careful what you wish for, your might get it.

The flood.