I’m sure Democrats will find some way to use this as part of their argument for more socialized medicine, but let’s keep in mind the reason why this Walgreens region will stop accepting new government-sponsored patients: It’s become a money-losing operation.

Bureaucrats have been mishandling the program, Congress has refused to reform it, and the government has cut payments to the point where doctors and other medical outfits are losing money by accepting Medicaid patients. It’s another government clusterfuck and yet Democrats want us to hand over more responsibility to the same government.

Effective April 16, Walgreens drugstores across the state won’t take any new Medicaid patients, saying that filling their prescriptions is a money-losing proposition — the latest development in an ongoing dispute over Medicaid reimbursement.

The company, which operates 121 stores in the state, will continue filling Medicaid prescriptions for current patients.

In a news release, Walgreens said its decision to not take new Medicaid patients stemmed from a “continued reduction in reimbursement” under the state’s Medicaid program, which reimburses it at less than the break-even point for 95 percent of brand-name medications dispensed to Medicaid patents.

So thanks to government mismanagement poverty-level individuals will suffer. And don’t think this will stop with a regional Walgreens. Doctors are already picking up their rejection rate, and other drug stores will follow suit. The poor, who have come to depend on the government teet, will suddenly be left going down shit’s creek without a paddle.

And yet the same people who brought us this disaster want to know why Americans are skeptical of handing over the entire health care system to the same government bureaucrats who mismanaged this existing program into disaster. Why, it’s a fucking wonder of the universe.

Doug Porter, the state’s director of Medicaid, said Medicaid recipients should be able to readily find another pharmacy because “we have many more pharmacy providers in our network than we need” for the state’s 1 million Medicaid clients.

Ah, yes. Except that, as I said, others will follow suit. Walgreens actually follows Bartell Drugs, which stopped accepting new Medicaid patients last month, and Ritzville, which did the same in November. Three drug store chains in less than six months.

What happens when CVS and the rest of the industry get tired of losing money, too? Does Mr. Porter believe they’ll go into bankruptcy for some Marxist ideal of a collectivist good? If so, he needs a reality check.

Yet more government mismanagement leading to painful unintended consequences. How are we feeling now about government-run health insurance programs?