New York Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed a task force to “overhaul the Medicaid system” because it’s going broke. So what recommendations did the cost-cutting brain trust come up with? In a report they’ve recommended forcing taxpayers to pay for transgender surgery and therapy for those who wish to have their groins mutilated.

What’s even more astounding than that is that the panel is trumpeting this is as a cost cutting measure. Wait for the logic because, I’ll tell you, it’s a little difficult to undersand. The panel seems to be saying that unless we all pay for the “surgery,” transgenders may become depressed, get addicted to drugs, and/or kill themselves – all of which are expensive to the state. I’m not kidding. That’s what they’re saying.

The AP reports:

Advocates say there’s limited data on the state’s transgender population, but the change could affect thousands of New Yorkers and help cut Medicaid costs for their mental health and drug abuse treatment. California and Minnesota already provide Medicaid coverage for transgender surgery and hormone replacement therapy, which the American Medical Association supports.

“The reason the AMA said this is medically necessary is if the transgender can’t get services they need to live in the gender they are it leads to depression, suicide attempts, substance abuse,” said Ross Levi, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, which advocates for gay and transgender rights. The cost would be a tiny part of the Medicaid budget, a fraction of a percent, and overall could provide a net cost savings, he said.

The proposal says: “Provide Medicaid coverage for transgender surgery/hormone replacement therapy and treatment.”

Cuomo will be considering this in coming weeks. And just in case you’re thinking this doesn’t affect you, please remember that federal funds pay half of New York’s Medicaid program.

So the lesson here for Tea Partiers is if they don’t get their way this election cycle we must threaten that unless the deficit is cut and government bureaucracies diminished they’ll get addicted to drugs, get depressed, and start killing themselves. Then government will then be forced to listen, I guess because cleaning up all those messy bodies of Tea Partiers would be too much of a burden on the taxpayer. I’m sure that’ll happen. Right?