Graeme Frost is the kid who, along with his sister, was in a car accident and badly injured. Fortunately, he was medically insured under the Maryland CHIP program. But he dared to appear in support of Democrats trying to generate enough pressure to override pResident Bush’s veto of increased funding. And so his family has been subjected to a barrage of abuse by right-wingers claiming that the Frosts were so wealthy that they didn’t deserve to have medical insurance. Some of their hate spam landed in comments on this site.
Fortunately, ThinkProgress is on the case:
1) Graeme has a scholarship to a private school. The school costs $15K a year, but the family only pays $500 a year.
2) His sister Gemma attends another private school to help her with the brain injuries that occurred due to her accident. The school costs $23,000 a year, but the state pays the entire cost.
3) They bought their “lavish house” sixteen years ago for $55,000 at a time when the neighborhood was less than safe.
4) Last year, the Frost’s made $45,000 combined. Over the past few years they have made no more than $50,000 combined.
5) The state of Maryland has found them eligible to participate in the CHIP program.
Thanks to Atrios, John Aravosis, and Thers for getting the word out.
And you Republicans– you can leave your membership in the human race in the bin by the door, since you’re not using it.
[edited to correct spelling, 10/8/07]