Medicaid for 2nd Congressional District by Tina Castañares

by **Brian** Fri Jan 27, 2017 10:54 pm

Please check with Tina at tdcastanares@gmail.com for any corrections before quoting

As promised, I'm posting some bullet points for discussing Medicaid Expansion --- so important to preserve as a linchpin benefit of the Affordable Care Act. They're here, but I know that it can be difficult to understand our systems of health insurance, etc. For those who would like more context for these bullet points, I'm attaching a summary document I prepared for background. I'm happy to try to answer any questions, and also to accept any corrections as needed. --tina Bullet Points for talking about Medicaid Expansion and the ACA with Congressman Walden

1. Almost 90,000 people in the 2nd Congressional District got onto Medicaid because of the ACA’s Medicaid Expansion Project. Congressman, make certain that any ‘reforms’ or replacements keep them, along with the other approx. 257,000 people on Medicaid in your district, on Medicaid – and that they don’t lose any of their current benefits, including preventive services, dental care and behavioral health care.
2. Replacing traditional Medicaid with block grants is an untested experiment which most analysts believe would reduce the number of Medicaid enrollees AND reduce the benefits (such as dental and behavioral health care) to those who still qualify. Remember, Congressman Walden, before the original Medicaid expansions that began in the 1990s in Oregon, the only people who qualified for Medicaid were under 56% of the federal poverty level. This was because the state couldn’t afford more. It took lots of reforms, federal permissions (“waivers”) and support --- most of all through the Affordable Care Act – to bring the uninsurance rate in Oregon to among the lowest in the nation, as it is today.
3. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded the prestigious 2016 Culture of Health prize to the mid-Columbia region, i.e. in your district, and most of the elements it recognized had to do with Medicaid expansion and coordination. Don’t risk these remarkable accomplishments.
4. ENSURE CONTINUED FEDERAL SUPPORT OF MEDICAID EXPANSION AS PROMISED IN THE ACA.

The attached pdf file has some background bullet points for making calls, writing letters, or preparing statements for Town Halls, etc. regarding the Medicaid* Expansion element of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (also known as Obamacare), and the stakes and dangers in Congressman Walden's District if that Medicaid expansion is rolled back.