Louisiana Medicaid Cuts Could Kill You

The Louisiana Department of Health is preparing to send notifications to 37,000 people who are elderly and disabled this week that they will lose Medicaid benefits after July 1. Medicaid recipients needed to be warned that the clock is ticking because this state's family values Republicans are guided by a different set of Ten Commandments than the rest of us. The commandments you're familiar with say, "Honour thy father and thy mother:but the commandment our state's Republicans care most about is "Thou shalt not raise taxes."Former Louisiana House Speaker Jim Tucker, the president and CEO of a corporation that owns and operates 12 nursing homes, worries that the notices may make some of the people who are already weak and vulnerable worry themselves to death. Jarvis DeBerry is deputy opinions editor for NOLA.COM | The Times-Picayune.