99

Another new record at the clinic: 99.

99 uninsured residents of our county seeking healthcare services in the basement of a church; one night a week.

Is this the best we can do – in Hillsdale County, in the state of Michigan, in the United States? Really?

Our local legislators think they have a better idea than the Medicaid expansion. I’m not sure I understand why if there is a better way to do it, they haven’t done it before now. And I certainly don’t understand why anyone would oppose Medicaid expansion now.

Medicaid expansion will help those who are seeking services here. It will be a safety net for the under-employed. Do those in power in our state have so little confidence in their economic plans that they fear the Medicaid population will grow? If that is the motivation for denying people access to healthcare, maybe they should pay more attention to their economic plans, and implement Medicaid expansion as quickly as possible because a healthy population will be able to work, to contribute to our society, and be able to go off Medicaid.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the Medicaid expansion will add very little to what states would have spent on Medicaid without health reform, while providing health coverage to 17 million more low-income adults and children. In addition, the Medicaid expansion will reduce state and local government costs for uncompensated care and other services they provide to the uninsured, which will offset at least some — and in a number of states, possibly all or more than all — of the modest increase in state Medicaid costs. Expanding Medicaid is thus a very favorable financial deal for states.

Michigan is now considering whether to expand Medicaid under the ACA—Governor Snyder has recommended Michigan participate in the Medicaid expansion, but some have expressed concern that expanding Medicaid to more adults may pose fiscal challenges. However, purely monetary calculations ignore the potential human, financial, and productivity benefits associated with improved access to affordable health care for the millions of low-income adults without health insurance coverage and their families.

I cannot stress enough how important it is for us to let our legislators know how we feel about Medicaid expansion. It is good for our community, it is good for our state, and it might even be good for each of us individually. There are no guarantees in life, and we can all be one paycheck away from being uninsured.

Write or call, and tell your stories to Senator Bruce Caswell, 720 Farmun Building, P.O. Box 30036, Lansing, MI 48909-7536. You can call his office at 866-305-0316 or email him at senbcaswell@senate.michigan.gov

He needs to hear the stories – he needs to know how lack of access to healthcare has affected your life or the lives of those you love. He needs to know that you vote, and that you care about this issue.