General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGOP Doesn't Care if You Die
GOP Doesn't Care if You Die
by Steven D
Thu Feb 6th, 2014 at 01:36:32 PM EST
The Affordable Care Act offers money to expand Medicaid services in all 50 states. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court ruled that states were not required to accept the federal funds necessary to expand Medicaid services and up to 25 states, all with Republican governors and/or Republican majority legislatures have refused these supplemental funds to increase coverage.
Now a new study by "Harvard and CUNY researchers" estimates that the failure to expand Medicaid benefits in those states will result in thousands of unnecessary deaths because millions of people will forego necessary medical treatments because they will not have access to healthcare coverage. Coverage that would have been available to them had those GOP politicians chosen to accept the federal supplemental funding for Medicaid expansion:
The ACAs tax subsidy for insurance purchase on the Exchanges is only available to persons with incomes above 100 percent of FPL. People below this threshold in opt-out states (the so-called low-income coverage gap) will see no benefit as the law goes into effect. They may even see harm because the ACA cuts disproportionate share (DSH) funding to safety net hospitals, reducing the resources available to care for the remaining uninsured. [...] We estimate the number of deaths attributable to the lack of Medicaid expansion in opt-out states at between 7,115 and 17,104. Medicaid expansion in opt-out states would have resulted in 712,037 fewer persons screening positive for depression and 240,700 fewer individuals suffering catastrophic medical expenditures. Medicaid expansion in these states would have resulted in 422,553 more diabetics receiving medication for their illness, 195,492 more mammograms among women age 50-64 years and 443,677 more pap smears among women age 21-64. Expansion would have resulted in an additional 658,888 women in need of mammograms gaining insurance, as well as 3.1 million women who should receive regular pap smears.
Why did these states chose to opt out? One reason only, the desire of GOP politicians to eviscerate the benefits to their constituents (and also to their local economies - small businesses as well as hospital and healthcare systems) in order to claim that the ACA failed to deliver on its promises. It certainly isn't for economic reasons:
Unfortunately, millions of Americans must suffer so these Republicans can falsely claim "Obamacare" is a failure. As more and more studies show, the actions of these Republican officials, both on the national and state level, to deny their fellow citizens health care coverage, thus shifting the financial costs to their constituents is the real failure.
more...
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2014/2/6/133632/2388