Nurses and Medicaid

I recently came upon a commentary published online by The Austin American Statesman. It was written by Toni Inglis a neonatal nurse over Governor Rick Perry’s opposition to the expansion of Medicaid. Toni begins the commentary with the pungent words, “Gov. Rick Perry threw Texans under the bus”--so right from the start it becomes apparent that the commentary is more so of a one-sided rant, and a poorly convincing one at that. This leads me to believe that Toni’s ideal audience is without doubt a reader with a leftward leaning ideologue, or if not at the very least someone who opposes our current Governor. The latter of which, becomes very apparent when the jabs at Rick Perry culminate into claiming he is “stuck somewhere between the American Revolution and the Wild West” in regards to him “[drawing] a line in the sand” and not giving in to taking federal grants. Now Toni, is it really that hard to believe the Governor of an overwhelmingly conservative state is denying federal funding just as he had numerous times in the past?

Now Toni may not have realized it, but he indirectly compared Rick Perry to William Barrett Travis— who drew a line in the sand at the Alamo and was actually from the times of the “Wild West”. Such a correlation that any reader can gather is contrary to Toni’s argument, for why would someone who has a blatant hatred for Rick Perry choose to make a connection between him and a Texas Hero? I tell you why, because the author was more focused on his patchwork rant than making a stable and grounded argument.

Roughly half way through the commentary makes a sudden shift to a more ethos oriented appeal, which is drastically more convincing than the first half was. The first  hook Toni throws to grab at the reader’s hearts is about those who “might not be able to get insured… lost their insurance with their job…can't find a primary care provider… might go bankrupt with medical bills”, that she has spoken to. However all of Toni’s accounts are flawed-- you can’t get insured? I don’t see how this could be true; it’s not like insurance companies are turning away people who can pay. Now for the--lost the job, insurance, and now bankrupt people, all of which are fixable, it’s called getting a job and paying for the services you need. And for those who for whatever reason can’t find a primary care provider, try finding one in a busy intersection because if you’re that incompetent natural selection failed its purpose long ago.

Overall the author has many facts in regards to the why Texas should embrace the expansion of Medicaid, but instead of giving support to those facts he more or less goes on a rant. But it is by no means hard to see why someone who works as a neonatal nurse in intensive care would be biased in regards to healthcare. In the end, it becomes apparent that the author more or less has the mentality that we should help everyone—a mindset that is not hard to envision a nurse having.