Even my cat, Slim, has health insurance and therefore access to medical care. That's something 300,000 poor working Mississippians do not have. What a disgrace! The Mississippi legislature had the funds and opportunity this year to help these people by expanding Medicaid. Instead, the governor and fellow Republicans in the legislature chose to turn their backs on them by intentionally refusing to expand Medicaid. It is shameful, it is cruel, and it is immoral! And it is hypocritical, considering how these same people claim to be Christians.
Polling has shown that a majority of Mississippians support expanding Medicaid. That means the legislature and governor are refusing to do the will of those who elected them. Mississippians are compassionate people. They also understand the link between expanding Medicaid and their local hospitals teetering on closure. They've also seen multiple reports that show how much our state would gain economically, by expanding Medicaid.
Our state and its people are the poorest and most unhealthy in the nation. Thankfully, many in our state have gained access to medical care because of the Affordable Care Act, which was passed 13 years ago. A rational, moral, and compassionate person would know that both the expansion of Medicaid and making affordable health insurance available on the exchange set up by the ACA are the right thing to do for these poor and uninsured Mississippians. But state Republicans have fought them both!! For every year that they have blocked medicaid expansion, the state of Mississippi has lost one billion dollars. So, in the past 12 years, we have lost approximately 12 BILLION DOLLARS. Their actions are disgraceful and negligent. If they were working for a company and had lost that much money they would have been fired long ago. But Mississippi has chosen to keep these same actors in office. So, one has to ask, whose fault is it really..?
We Mississippians can do better. It is time to kick these Republican imposters out of office and elect people who will actually do the will of the people and expand Medicaid. November is coming.
Camille Wright is a Northsider.
