Move over, China. You ain't seen nothing yet.
Last week the United States blew past Italy's and China's coronavirus outbreak numbers like they were a mere blink.
So here's a question for our state and national leaders:
What happens to American's uninsured people?
Consider just the tri-state region. One in 10 Tennesseans and Alabamians, as well as 13.7% of Georgians, were uninsured in 2018, meaning those folks are likely not to have primary care doctors - the go-to suggested path of testing and treatment from public health and hospital officials for people seeking COVID-19 testing or help. Imagine how high these uninsured numbers are now - especially with the growing unemployment numbers.
And here's a question for Tennessee lawmakers and Gov. Bill Lee:
Are you still sure of yourselves after in October volunteering Tennessee to be the nation's first guinea pig for "flexibility" by asking the Trump administration for permission to slash Medicaid spending with use of a block grant, instead of the state's Affordable Care Act waiver?
Even before coronavirus, Tennessee's population is one of the nation's sickest, and we lead the country in kicking kids off Medicaid - in our case, TennCare, the state's insurance for the poor. We also already are 10th in the U.S. for residents who are in debt because of medical costs.
Yet our Republican governor, following the conservative direction of Tennessee's GOP supermajority in the General Assembly, made that request - a request that, if granted, would automatically mean we would accept fewer federal dollars long term than we are getting now under the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. The block grant caps the amount of federal money for our state's health costs going forward, while the Affordable Care Act waiver increased the federal share as the state's costs increased - for whatever reason, like maybe an increase in low-income or unemployed enrollees or a pandemic. Need we say more?
Lee and state leaders argued that a block grant will give us "flexibility."
Here's the catch: Saving money with block grant "flexibility" almost inevitably means cutting new big holes in our health care safety net. Holes like redefining pre-existing conditions - not necessarily by saying TennCare won't cover asthma or diabetes, but rather by saying the insurance for 1.4 million of us won't cover the same equipment or the best medications as required by the current contract. In other words, flexibility is code for what-can-we-not-cover.
But that's not the worst part. The worst part is what coronavirus could do to the Tennessee budget if the feds get their act together and approve the request.
Last April, the feds spent $7.5 billion (our tax dollars) in Tennessee to pay for two thirds of our state-provided health care. Under Lee's "block grant" arrangement, Washington will send back to us $7.9 billion of our tax dollars annually. Annually. If our costs increase - as they always had even before a pandemic and a cratering economy - it's on us at the state level to make up the difference.
Hey state guys, is it too late to yank back that request?
Trump brands CDC's COVID-19 guidelines
Our postcard from the CDC - looking very much like a campaign ad - arrived in the mail Thursday with a jarring, large-type heading: "President Trump's coronavirus guidelines for America."
Down in the corner in much smaller type was an icon of the White House, the logo of the Centers for Disease Control, and the words, "For more information, please visit coronavirus.gov."
On the back is the standard coronavirus suggestions, warnings and advice.
We know President Donald Trump is all about branding things with his name and ego. And our first reaction was that this Trump-branded guidelines postcard was just the latest, gross example.
The CDC historically and intentionally has been apolitical, after all.
But after stewing about this for awhile, we've chosen to look on the bright side.
In a Trump-red state like Tennessee, where Trump has largely brainwashed many to distrust the media and the government, maybe a postcard calling attention to the need for coronavirus concern and hand-washing - even common-sense advice like, "If you feel sick, stay home. Do not go to work," is just what the doctor ordered.
It's the president's advice - there in black and white - for MAGA-hat wearers.
Whatever it takes.