Only until the weak are born. If parents in Louisiana need help for the
child after birth, well good luck with that. Gov. Jindal will not implement
Medicaid Expansion, though it would not cost
the state one cent for 9 years, and thereafter only 10% of the expenses
of the programs.
The group that awarded Louisiana the "prize", Americans United for Life, apparently does not follow up on the care given to the "weakest and most vulnerable among us" after they're born, or they would remind Gov. Jindal that babies, indeed all vulnerable human beings among us, need care throughout their lives after they're brought into the world.
At least one Louisiana state senator is trying to provide health insurance for low income people in Louisiana.
State Sen. Ben Nevers said Tuesday that he would propose two
constitutional amendments aimed at guaranteeing that low income
Louisiana adults get basic health care coverage.
Nevers, D-Bogalusa, said he wants Louisiana voters to either
authorize expansion of the state Medicaid program called for in the
federal health care revamp or to provide health care coverage for
residents whose income falls below the federal poverty level.
....
The Kaiser Commission estimates 242,000 Louisiana residents, who make
too much for Medicaid but too little to purchase adequate insurance,
would qualify for Medicaid coverage through the expansion. For an
individual, 100 percent of the federal poverty level is $11,490. For a
family of four, it’s $23,550. At 138 percent for an individual it’s
$15,856 and family of four $32,499.
Nevers said people are ending up in hospital emergency rooms with
serious illnesses because of lack of health care and that “cost all of
us millions.”
There's no such thing as free emergency room care; someone pays. I hope other legislators take note and support Sen. Nevers in his efforts to provide health insurance for those who cannot afford the premiums, since the governor refuses to address the problem.
And further, if you click the link, you will
read about two success stories from people who were able to buy
affordable health insurance through - Gasp! - the Affordable Health Care Act, aka Obamacare.
'Tierney Brinkman, a New Orleans server and bartender, said she went
without insurance for 10 years. “It’s not that I didn’t want it. I had a
pre-existing condition,” said Brinkman, explaining she had lumps in her
breast and breast cancer in her family. She said either no company
would insure her or the monthly premiums were “well beyond my means.”
That 10 years without coverage was “terrifying,” she said.
Because of the Affordable Care Act, Brinkman said she now has a quality plan with a low deductible: $108 a month.
Despite the horror stories, the ACA is working as it should to provide health insurance for those who previously could not obtain coverage or who paid very high premiums because of preexisting conditions. Insurance, any insurance, is about
spreading the risk throughout a large number of people. For the young and healthy who say they don't need health insurance, I remind them that even among their age group, even if only a small number, some will be diagnosed with a medical condition that requires expensive treatment. Further, no one is able to predict an accidental injury that would require long-term medical treatment.
