Medicaid Expansion?  You bet! 

The numbers of uninsured in our country are decreasing, thanks to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).  They are decreasing at a faster rate in states where there has been Medicaid expansion.  On average, the rate of the uninsured has dropped by 2.5 percent in states where there is Medicaid expansion but only by .08 percent in states where that expansion has been refused.

Take a look at the 8 million now signing up for Obamacare, particularly those insured for the first time.  According to Ezra Klein, these latest figures show the percentage-point change in the insured rate from late 2013 to early 2014 (these are the rates at which people are becoming insured):

By ethnicity: 

• White, non-Hispanic -- 1.9
• Non-white, non-Hispanic -- 3.8
• Hispanic -- 4 

By age:

• 18-30:  4.3
• 31-49:  1.9
• 50-64;  2.3

By income:

• Below 138% of poverty line -- 4.7
• 138-399 of poverty line -- 3.6
• 400% mor more of poverty line -- 0.3

The above numbers indicate that the insured rate has increased mostly among Hispanics and people of color (although white, non-Hispanic increased by almost 2%), that they are evenly split between young people below 30 and those above 30, and that the income of most is below 138 percent to 399 percent of the poverty line (138 percent translates to a single person's income of $16,100 and for a family of four to $32,900).

So why then, with 8 million signing up for Obamacare, do we still have 70,000 Montanans without affordable health care?  Yes, most of them could appear in those statistical categories of ethnicity, age, and income presented above.  The problem in Montana arises, though, because Republican legislators voted against expanding Medicaid.  That means federal subsidies that would have been available through Medicaid (that would allow those earning 100 percent below the poverty level to qualify for subsidies and therefore be able to purchase health care) is not available to Montanans.

Why not?

"A majority of Republicans in the 2013 Montana Legislature...argue it would become too costly for the state and wouldn't improve health in the state," according to the Independent Record of 4/19/2014.

Too costly?

1. Again, according to Independent Record, "Under the federal Affordable Care Act, the federal government will cover almost the entire cost of expanding Medicaid through 2016.  After that, the feds' share of expansion costs will gradually decline to 90 percent by 2020." 
2. Maybe this is a good time to talk about other federal subsidies in Montana, who receives them and for how much.  There is a "large amount of farm subsidies received by more than a dozen lawmakers...33 Montana legislators, 30 of whom are Republicans, benefited from farm program subsidies," reports the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, March 21, 2011.  "...lawmakers, their spouses and businesses in which they had interests received a total of $7 million in farm subsidies between 1995 and 2009."  One Senator's reasoning?  "They [USDA] are for an affordable, safe food supply."  This same Senator received $643,000 in farm subsidies since 1995..."
3. Is it O.K. for Montana legislators to receive thousands of dollars in farm subsidies in order to create "affordable, safe food supply," but 70,000 Montanans cannot receive federal subsidies that allow them to purchase affordable health care?

[Medicare expansion] wouldn't improve health in the state?

1. Would the Republican Montana legislators care to rescind their personal health care coverage in order to prove their point?  That lack of health care coverage will make no difference in the improvement of their health?
2.  Poor health as a result of no access to affordable health care can result in poverty.  "Poverty is both a cause and a consequence of poor health.  Poverty increases the chances of poor health.  Poor health in turn traps communities in poverty.  Infectious and neglected tropical diseases kill and weaken millions of the poorest and most vulnerable people each year," reports Healthpovertyaction.org.

We need Medicare expansion in Montana.  It's the right thing to do -- for our people and for our  state.  Republican legislators?  Get real!