There is no doubt — Medicaid is an emotional issue.

When you are talking about a loved one not being able to affordneeded medical treatment or drugs due to political posturing, thereis little that will satisfy one’s frustration.

Gov. Haley Barbour is ‘taking it on the chin’ with his toughstance on balancing the state’s Medicaid budget. Rep. SteveHolland, D-Plantersville, is taking advantage of the situation andmaking political hay as he ratchets up the debate.

It was Holland’s Public Health and Human Services committee thatwrote the legislation. Holland was the chief negotiator in thelegislative conference committee that approved the changes thatwill move 65,000 Medicaid recipients from the state program to thefederal Medicare program. Approximately 5,000 of those could fallthrough the cracks.

Bowing to pressure, Holland has reversed his earlier position.He is now calling for a return to the previous methodology andusing a bit of grandstanding to make his point.

True to form, Gov. Barbour is holding fast on his earlierposition that reform was needed to the state’s Medicaid programand, unless changed, threatened to undermine its future. All said,the changes made during the regular session would save taxpayers$106 million.

The governor contends that all but a small group will receivethe same — or better — coverage through the federal Medicareprogram, and that he is working on relief for the rest. He alsomaintains the state has the most generous program of any state inthe union.

The result of all this is pure hardball, eyeball to eyeballpolitics, with the elderly, poor and infirm caught in the middlewondering how they will survive.

We understand changes being demanded by Holland will up thestate’s budget by $40 million. That money that will have to befound somewhere, either through a tax increase, cuts in other areasor deeper dipping into the Tobacco Trust Fund.

It is hard to argue against a crying woman holding a bag full ofpills in her hand and begging for help. It is also hard to argueagainst the fact that unless something is done to cut costs, theentire Medicaid program is in danger.

Somewhere some bending must begin. We have a moralresponsibility to take care of those who cannot take care ofthemselves. At the same time, however, those who have the means donot need to take advantage of the system.