Health care coverage can be a matter of life and death; Medicaid expansion is a must

I write today in strong support of Proposition 2, which would expand Medicaid to those Idahoans who lack health care coverage because they make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but too little to afford insurance through Idaho’s state exchange.

There are all kinds of practical arguments about why this measure should pass and be enacted by the Idaho Legislature. In addition to providing Idahoans with access to primary and preventive care, expanding Medicaid would save Idahoans money. It would bring nearly $400 million a year of federal money back to Idaho and eliminate duplicative, less effective programs.

There are also many reasons it should pass that fall into the category of fairness, and giving Idahoans — many of whom work at low paying jobs — health care coverage.

But for me and Kathy and our entire family, extending coverage to those who need it and cannot otherwise obtain it is very personal. We understand it is the difference between life and death. We lost our son Steve to a recurrence of an otherwise treatable cancer. After the first bout and the tough chemotherapy he endured, his insurer more than doubled his monthly premium, because as a cancer survivor he now had a “pre-existing condition.” Unbeknownst to us, he dropped his coverage.

With no employer-provided health care, private insurance out of reach and no mention of his circumstances to us, he couldn’t afford the MRIs he needed to detect the hidden recurrence earlier. Instead, he learned of it when he was rushed to the hospital essentially in the late stages of the disease. We all jumped in to provide for his medical care at that point, and he fought bravely for 18 months. It was heartbreaking when he lost the battle in 2009.

Nothing makes my blood boil more than hearing politicians say that everyone can get the health care they need in an emergency room. That is not only exceedingly bad policy; it is also not true. You cannot go to an emergency room, for example, and request an MRI without insurance or self-payment. Those who can’t afford it just lose out. Or how about those fighting this initiative who have cynically and incorrectly named their effort “Work not Obamacare,” when so many of those who will be covered do indeed work, and, as they know, this is about Medicaid and not Obamacare.

We have an opportunity in November to bring tax dollars back to Idaho, to relieve pressure on the budgets of Idaho counties, especially those in rural areas, and to help neighbors less fortunate than many of us. Let this vote on Medicaid be a barn raising in the Western tradition of families helping families, but this time we do it not just for a barn, but for a life. We are voting “Yes” on Proposition 2, and we encourage you to do the same!