One good thing about living in a pro-gun state is that I don't really have to worry about my doctor asking me questions about whether I have guns as a general thing. Maybe if I'm reporting that I want to take my life or something, they might start quizzing me, but not as a general thing. Others aren't so lucky. They've had the questions, and they didn't like it.
However, the Biden-Harris administration wants that to change. In particular, they want it to get worse.
That's right. They want your doctor to start asking even more questions about your gun ownership:
The Biden administration wants more health care providers to talk to parents about keeping their kids safe around firearms, as data shows kids are increasingly dying by suicide, accidents and homicides involving guns.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has given states the green light to allow Medicaid providers to counsel parents and caregivers of children about firearm safety and injury prevention.
Public health advocates hope the conversations become as routine as physicians talking to parents about car seats, water safety, substance use and other safety issues impacting kids.
“For the first time, it’s allowing CMS to consider using Medicaid funds to fund these types of screening questions,” said Chethan Sathya, a pediatric trauma surgeon and firearm injury prevention researcher at Northwell Health, the largest health care provider in New York.
...
The CMS move comes after the White House announced last month that the agency would soon allow states to “choose to use Medicaid to pay a health care provider for counseling parents and caregivers on firearm safety and injury prevention.”
A CMS spokesperson said Friday that while Medicaid first began allowing coverage of violence prevention-related services in 2021, the latest announcement is clarifying that coverage also includes “anticipatory guidance,” or health education and counseling to help parents and caregivers understand and improve the health and development of their children.
“As a result, states may reimburse for a health care provider counseling parents on firearm safety and injury prevention,” the spokesperson said.
Now, this sounds pretty minor, all things considered, but it's not.
First, this is a 30-second question and answer. It's not exactly difficult, so why is there any need for Medicaid funding?
Obviously, part of this is incentivizing doctors to ask the question, but I also wonder how much of it is laying the groundwork to start demanding documentation of not just the question being asked of the patient, but what the answer is.
It shouldn't be, of course, but the truth is that I just don't trust the government enough to assume this is just good-natured concern over proper gun storage for homes with young people. No one should trust the Biden-Harris administration, and depending on tonight's results, there's a chance there will be even more reason to be concerned.
Of course, there's also a chance that all of this will ultimately be stillborn if Trump comes in and puts an end to this nonsense once and for all.
I don't like having to take the wait-and-see approach there, but what choice do we have right now?
