Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Some red states shooting themselves in foot

---

    USA Today did a story on the Commonwealth Fund’s analysis of the detrimental effects on red states that reject Medicaid expansion. The study pretty much proved that such states are shooting themselves in the foot just to spite the president, and showed that the impact will be greater than previously thought. Not only are Republican governors leaving millions of citizens without health coverage, they are actually hurting their own economies.
    It is staggering the amount of money these states are losing out on just by being bullheaded: Texas loses more than $9 billion by opting out, Florida will surrender $5 billion, and other states like Georgia and Virginia forfeit billions they could inject into their state economies. Incredibly, Idaho is throwing away half a billion dollars. Medicaid money goes directly to healthcare providers, which improves a hospital’s bottom line and lifts a burden from county taxpayers, while creating more jobs and improving the overall state economy. The new federal money flowing in is on a par with large defense contracts that states go out of their way to land because the business coming their way creates jobs. If Boise politicians would take the new Medicaid dollars set aside for Idaho families, the state could save $500 million over the next 10 years, and thousands of working families would have healthcare coverage and peace of mind.
    Expansion could take pressure off our state budget, freeing up funds for important priorities like education, and reduce local property taxes. Instead, nearly 100,000 of our low-income citizens will continue to use our emergency rooms for their primary care, as we keep paying for other states while not getting the benefits ourselves. Delaying even six months beyond Jan. 1 will cost taxpayers an estimated $41 million, according to Gov. Butch Otter’s own Medicaid Expansion Workgroup.
Sherrie Goff
Pocatello

buy viagra
comprar viagra
acheter viagra