Residents' health suffers in states that refused to expand Medicaid.

[SunSeeker]

HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. — Darlene Velasco can’t afford to treat her Type 2 diabetes. She doesn’t make enough money at her job selling college sports memorabilia to pay for medication or private health insurance and, at $13.50 an hour, earns too much to qualify for Medicaid.

That’s been the case for years and without treatment, Velasco, 45, was declared legally blindin May. The disease built up cataracts in her eyes and when her vision began to blur and disappear, she found herself driving to her job that carries no health benefits steered only by the memory of the backcountry roads that surround her home.

In the state that has the highest percentage of its residents with past-due medical debt in the country, it appears that many people choose to go without, according to a study done by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Investor Education Foundation.

More than half in Mississippi said the cost of health care led them to not fill a prescription, avoid the doctor or skip a medical test, according to the study.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/residents-suffer-mississippi-13-other-states-debate-medicaid-expansion-n1075661

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. Perfect description of the GOP health care plan.

Die quickly.

[Wounded Bear]

2. It's actually a two step process...

1. Spend all your money trying to stay alive.

2. Die broke.

[gratuitous]

3. When the Supremes first ruled the Medicaid expansion unconstitutional

I thought, "No biggie; what state is going to turn down free money from the feds to make their citizens healthier?" Boy, was I wrong! Mississippi and other states would rather have their residents go blind or go broke or die young of treatable causes than take that Obamacare!

Some excerpts from the story:

The states that choose to go along with the program, first rolled out under the ACA, will eventually have to provide a 10 percent match of the funds by 2020. That would cost Mississippi about $100 million a year, and Republican lawmakers insisted it would be detrimental to the state economy.

* * *

A review by NBC News of the Medicaid budgets for all 14 states that refused expansion showed their expenses increased drastically after 2012 — despite state lawmakers’ objections that accepting expansion would cost too much. Mississippi’s budget grew by about $173 million — a 20 percent increase — since 2012, while enrollment grew by only 10,000 over the same period.

* * *

Louisiana, which passed expansion in 2016, reported savings of $199 million in 2017 and $350 million in 2018. Virginia, where expansion went into effect in January, predicted $152 million in savings in 2019 and $270 million in 2020. Numerous other states have also experienced savings through the program, as well.

A 2017 Health Affairs study found “expansion states did not experience any significant increase in state-funded expenditures, and there is no evidence that expansion crowded out funding for other state priorities.”

So the Republican bullshit line is that it will cost more money to provide insurance to these states' citizens. But other states are showing significant savings after coming late to the Medicaid expansion party. But if you point out any of these indisputable facts to the people of Mississippi or any of the other states that have refused Medicaid expansion, you're condescending and think you're so smart just because reality backs you up.

[SunSeeker]

4. Republicans are in office because they con people into voting against their interests.

Their playbook has become patently obvious: outright lies and cynical appeals to the voters' bigotry.