Monday, July 06, 2015

Dabakis Factor: After Tap Dancing for 2 Years, Just Take Medicaid Expansion!

Ahem! We've embedded the within contact links for the obvious reason

Top notch morning op-ed piece via Utah State Senator James Dabakis, publisher of the "The Dabakis Factor":
The Supreme Court has decided - it's the law of the land.
Utah, quit stalling. Take full Medicaid Expansion. 'The Gang of Six' Republicans (Gov Herbert, Lt. Gov Cox, Senate President Niederhauser, House Speaker Hughes, Senator Shiozawa and Rep Dunnigan) are deciding who will live and who will die. They are negotiating on whether the state should accept Medicaid Expansion--or not. They are taking their sweet time. The Medicaid Expansion decision is the biggest single issue to face the state in a generation and our state seems paralyzed, unable to make a decision.
The reason this is taking so long is not because this is a tough call. 73% of Utahns agree--Utah should take the Expansion. But the politics are tricky. The right wing of the Utah GOP is adamant--NO to Obama healthcare for low income folks. So the conundrum --do what's right and alienate the most active part of the Utah GOP or stall and delay. So far delay is winning.
Red states like Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada have taken the health coverage. Utah is irresponsible to not take this paid-for health care for our low-income neighbors. These are families that simply cannot get insurance at the marketplace. Please 'Gang of Six', get some urgency in your snap--pretend that 123,000 low-income Utahns' lives may be depending your decision---because it's true. Pretend it is your family that does not have health care.
'Gang of Six', can't we speed this up? [Contact links added].
Read up:
"This is $747,000,000 a year flowing to Utah low-income families by 2021. Talk about economic development! Dithering has already cost Utah $350 million in 2014 and $374 million in 2015. Plus, even if the 'Gang' finally hammers out a 'Utah Plan' and the legislature and the Utah TeaPeople allow the plan to go forward, that Utah Plan would still has to go to DC for approval. That could take years (thanks Obama!). Yet, Full Medicaid is already approved and funded," Senator Dabakis adds.

Ahem! We've embedded the above contact links for the obvious reason.

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