Latest Boasso attack on Bobby Jindal shameless, hideous, and false

Statement by LA GOP spokesman Michael DiResto on new Walter Boasso TV ad attacking Bobby Jindal’s character and healthcare record

It’s awful that the state Medicaid agency made an erroneous determination in a Medicaid eligibility case, but Walter Boasso’s attack on Bobby Jindal is simply over the top, off the mark, loose with the truth, and hideous.  What’s really shameless is that Walter Boasso, for his own political gain, would exploit one family’s painful Medicaid eligibility dispute to demonize Bobby Jindal and distort his outstanding service to the people of this state.

Two days ago, when discussing the attack ads he planned to use against Jindal, Walter Boasso was quoted by the media saying “We’ll do whatever it takes.” It’s now clear what Boasso meant – that he’s apparently willing to throw basic human decency by the wayside in his grab for power.

The real story of this campaign is the depths that the Jindal attackers are willing to go to assassinate his character, to distract voters from the issues and the attackers’ own lack of vision, and to find ever lower ways to make this one of the dirtiest campaigns in the nation’s history.  First they distorted Jindal’s Christian beliefs to try to exploit religious bigotry, and now they exploit one family’s personal tragedy to distort Jindal’s record of compassionate service.  The first attack backfired, and so will this one.

The pathetic part about Boasso’s attack is that he thinks he will get away with using the same trick on the healthcare issue, to deceitfully demonize Jindal as uncaring, that went uncorrected four years ago.  Not this time.  As the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.  The difference this time is that the people of Louisiana know Bobby Jindal better than that, have seen his commitment to improving their quality of life in action, have witnessed his record of accomplishment firsthand, and they won’t be fooled again.

The bottom line is that, contrary to the insinuation made about this unfortunate case in Boasso’s ad, it cannot be said to have resulted from cost-cutting policies pushed for by Bobby Jindal during his tenure as state health secretary.  And while this case certainly deserves sympathy from us all and understandably provokes anger and sadness from those involved, the allegations in the ad against Bobby Jindal’s record are simply misplaced and the accusations about his character are just inappropriate.

As for the specific claims in the ad itself:

First , the ad makes an emotional charge that Bobby Jindal threw someone “out on the streets.” Not true.  While the Department of Health and Hospitals is responsible for determining patient eligibility for Medicaid coverage at nursing homes, it is the responsibility and ethical obligation of every healthcare provider in the state, including the nursing home involved in this case, to act as the first line in making sure that every patient is safe and accounted for.  If no contact is made to inform the family of the patient’s status, it is the nursing home itself that is derelict in its duty and deserves condemnation.

Second , the ad claims that Bobby Jindal “broke the law.” Not true.  While a lawsuit was filed against Jindal “in his capacity as Secretary,” the court held that the state Medicaid agency “ improperly denied Medicaid funding after the PASARR evaluation determined that the applicant required the level of care provided by a nursing home.” While Medicaid eligibility disputes are disappointingly all too common, and it’s terribly unfortunate that the state Medicaid agency made a wrong determination in this case, the insinuation that Jindal personally or purposefully “broke the law” to harm the applicant is false.

Third , the ad claims that Jindal “put people out of nursing homes and cut mental health care.” While it’s true Jindal trimmed waste and fraud from the department’s budget, and was hailed as a savior for turning the agency’s deep deficits into surplus, the reality is that when he first became secretary the budget crisis placed many nursing homes across the state on the brink of closing down.  If it hadn’t been for Bobby Jindal, potentially thousands of our neediest fellow citizens would have faced the grim reality of being “put out of nursing homes.” Thanks to Bobby Jindal, they did not.

Furthermore, at the time, reductions in Medicaid spending for mental health care were happening in states across the country precisely because they were mandated by law, not because of a policy pushed for by Jindal.  The rule put in place for “Mental Rehabilitation” and “Services for Nursing Facility Residents” while Jindal served as secretary was directed by state and federal law, and I quote:

“The Secretary shall implement reductions in the Medicaid program and as necessary to control expenditures to the level approved in this schedule.  The Secretary is hereby directed to utilize various cost containment measures to accomplish these reductions, including but not limited to pre-certification, pre-admission screening, utilization review, and other measures as allowed by federal law.” [emphasis added]

Even so, while Medicaid mental healthcare cost reductions were being mandated from on high, it’s not at all clear that this mandate had anything to do with the Medicaid eligibility case from Boasso’s ad, and it is irresponsible to suggest otherwise.

Finally , the ad is just out of bounds and wrong in its accusation that “Bobby Jindal has no heart.” Every effort by Bobby Jindal in successfully saving the state’s healthcare system, and every policy he has enacted since then and the reforms he champions today, show a heart as big as Louisiana and one that cares deeply for every citizen of this state and for a better future for their children and grandchildren.