Seema Verma, Trump's head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Donald Trump’s refusal to admit that coronavirus is a real and growing problem that needs to be tackled now, with every tool at the disposal of the government, is combining with the general Republican hatred of low-income people in a dangerous way. The Trump administration is refusing to allow states the flexibility to use Medicaid in responding to the crisis, the Los Angeles Times reports.

During disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, presidents have granted waivers to states so they could quickly enroll people in Medicaid or so medical providers could quickly treat people. The Trump administration is not doing that.