Now it is time to get back to work. The clinic has been closed for two weeks, and so the uninsured residents of our county have not had access to healthcare.
Our legislators are in the second full week of their vacation. They are enjoying full access to healthcare, but have continued to neglect the poor living and working in the communities they are supposed to represent. So, it is time for us to get back to work and let them know that this is not acceptable. We want Medicaid Expansion for Michigan. If you live and vote in Michigan - please call your state senator, and let them know the time is NOW! We want Medicaid Expansion.
Here is a great article on Medicaid Expansion that I want to share:
Expand Medicaid in Michigan
The prestigious Institute of Medicine has estimated
that having access to medical coverage would reduce adult mortality by 25
percent.
A subsequent study published in the New England
Journal of Medicine showed that expansion of Medicaid eligibility in New York,
Maine and Arizona reduced the mortality rate (the number of deaths in a
population) among those newly eligible for Medicaid and improved access to care
and overall health.
How often in a lifetime will any of us have the
opportunity to have so much positive impact on another person’s life?
The people of the state of Michigan have that
opportunity right now.
The Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) allows the
state of Michigan to extend Medicaid access to an estimated 450,000 Michigan
residents with incomes up to 133 percent of poverty, ($15,282 for an individual
and $31,322 for a family of four), who do not qualify for Medicaid under the
rules set by the state of Michigan.
Amazingly, we can do this and save the state money for
at least a decade.
The only thing that stands in our way is the
Republican caucus in the Michigan State Senate, which refuses to support the
expansion. Our Republican governor, Senate Democrats and our House of
Representatives all support expansion.
Why does the Senate Republican caucus oppose
expansion?
It is not about taxes or state budget fiscal
responsibility.
A recent study by the Center for Healthcare Research
& Transformation (CHRT) estimated that expanding Medicaid eligibility would
save the Michigan state government $983 million over the next decade
(2014-23).
This happens because the federal government pays 100
percent of the cost of the expansion in 2014-16, 95 percent in 2017-19 and 90
percent starting in 2020. There would be a net cost in the second decade, but it
would be less than the savings in the first decade.
It is not about the impact on employers or local
communities.
Hospitals are the largest employers in most towns in
Michigan and employ more than 219,000 people; other health care organizations
directly employ an additional 210,000.
The nearly 140 hospitals in Michigan will receive
several hundred million dollars from the federal government each year if
Medicaid is expanded in Michigan.
My congressional district around Ann Arbor is
projected to receive $182 million a year.
This is critically important because Michigan
hospitals provide an estimated $1.9 billion a year in uncompensated care.
Historically, some of this uncompensated care has been
covered by federal payments but those payments are scheduled to decrease because
the federal government assumed all of the states would be expanding Medicaid to
low-income residents and would receive offsetting Medicaid payments.
Expanding hospital revenue means more jobs; reducing
it means layoffs.
Some of the uncompensated care is passed on to
Michigan employers and residents in the form of higher medical charges.
The CHRT study estimates that expanding Medicaid in
Michigan will reduce costs for employers and residents who purchase insurance by
$640 to $985 billion over the next decade.
It is not about equity.
Michigan state senators and their families are covered
by the state of Michigan health insurance program, which is funded through our
taxes.
Their monthly premiums range from 0 to 20 percent,
depending on the plan they choose.
If these senators, who have good-paying jobs, receive
government health insurance, does it seem fair that poor people are denied?
It is not about religious values.
Every major religion in the world stresses the
importance of caring for the poor.
So what is it actually about?
It’s partly about politics; about making a stand
against Obamacare.
But it is mainly about the citizens of the state of
Michigan putting up with this behavior. If the citizens of the state of Michigan
call their senators to ask them to support Medicaid expansion, it will get
done.
I am going to call my senator, Randy Richardville,
every week until he agrees to support Medicaid expansion. Will you? I will vote
for his opponent in the next election if he refuses.
Will you?
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130711/OPINION01/307110004#ixzz2ZECj9OTl
