No Gold Bullion in This Basement, Jim

The afterglow from the buzz of getting health insurance hadn't even worn off yet. The next thing I knew: I had to fill out a survey of our family's means after six months of our son receiving health insurance through Medical Assistance.

Republicans believe that anyone on public assistance is abusing it: spending food support dollars at liquor stores, unemployment dollars for drugs, or riches squirreled away in order to get healthcare. In 2010 Minnesota State Representative Jim Abeler made this observation about people who would qualify for the Medical Assistance (MA) provision:

“I want to remind you who is going to get into this program. And this follows a national plan that was adopted this year with great duress at the federal level. And there is no asset limit. And there is no residency requirement. And so that means the person moves in with a whole basement full of gold bullion or a nice boat or a car and they’re going to get medical assistance and you’re going to pay half of it."

The video from The UpTake is below, which includes a response from DFL Representative Paul Thissen:



"We don't have gold bullion. We don't even have chicken bouillon," said my husband Mike.

This 2010 video is relevant today because Representative Abeler chairs the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee. I am grateful for the health coverage our family is receiving. But I'd also like to point out to Representative Abeler: People who for whatever reason depend on medical support aren't doing it because it's fun. They're not living it up. They're not hiding investments in an offshore root cellar. And they want to be off medical support as soon as possible.

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