Mississippi Lawmaker Tells Diabetic Girl’s Mom To Pay For Her Own Meds
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(NEWSER) – A mother of a diabetic girl in Mississippi asked a state lawmaker for help getting through Medicaid red tape and was stunned by his insulting response. “I am sorry for your problem. Have you thought about buying the supplies with money that you earn?” wrote Rep. Jeffrey Guice.
Nichols’ 8-year-old daughter, Bella, has Type 1 diabetes. Medicaid has covered supplies for her insulin pump for most of the last three years, but she has been having problems getting coverage since the supply firm outsourced products six months ago, the Clarion-Herald reports. Nichols—who runs a Facebook support group for parents of kids with Type 1 diabetes—says she was “flabbergasted” by the response from Guice.
She says she contacted every state representative and Guice, a Republican from Ocean Springs, was the only one who gave her a negative response.
Nichols says her husband works two jobs and she is not happy with Guice’s implication that she is a deadbeat. “I wasn’t asking for a handout. I wasn’t asking for something to be given to us.
These children are already eligible for these benefits based on our family’s financial situation,” she tells the Sun Herald. “I needed assistance navigating the red tape that surrounds Medicaid.” Guice issued a statement Tuesday night apologizing for his “completely insensitive” remarks. “I am sorry and deeply regret my reply,” he wrote. “I know nothing about her and her family and replied in knee-jerk fashion.”
But his rudeness may end up helping: Nichols says she heard from Mississippi Medicaid soon after her story started to spread and they promised to investigate her case. (Speaking of insensitive Republicans: Florida Gov. Rick Scott cut two important affordable care features.)
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“I know nothing about her and her family and replied in knee-jerk fashion.” Or just JERK fashion…
Somehow, the difference between him and me is emphasized by this quote; for me “knee-jerk” would be humane and helpful, until I learned that I was dealing with someone who didn’t deserve that (not the case here). For him, “knee-jerk” is inhumane and only helpful to someone who may be able to help him, in the end! I just don’t understand the mentality’s of those who nominally “represent” the people…
They don’t “represent the people” Marsha. They represent their own prejudices…
I know. But we all like to pretend that we are paying them to represent US. Sometimes, it appears that this “lawmaker gig” is a good job if you can get it! You get paid huge amounts of money (it doesn’t matter what “huge amounts” means in any particular case) and pretend to care about people while making laws that you favor regardless of the constituents’ beliefs, desires, or needs! I suppose that a particular amount of “nodding and smiling” is preferred, but if you forget to do it somedays, you can just make a lame excuse about “knee-jerk responses”.
I wish there was a better way to select our representatives. There needs to be some sort of “test” to make sure we’re not electing an asshole.
A republican of course.