Sunday, November 25, 2012

People like me need Obamacare and can't get it

I am 28 years old and I need Obamacare. I was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 11. My seizures are controlled with expensive medication. My Rx is $225 every month, with a pharmacy discount card the cost is $136. When I was 22, I fell off my parents military retirement medical insurance and have been considered an insurance pariah.

I was given hope with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obama-care. Governor Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin) has blocked the implementation of this law, despite the health care needs of the people of his state. Affordable health care is in the best interest of everyone, and Wisconsinites need to stand up and demand it of our governor.
 
The economy has not been kind to me. In the last two years I have held 6 jobs, only 1 offered me health insurance. I am on state welfare, due to being an impoverished adult female. I qualify for the the state family planning waiver, I receive free birth control. To those who oppose this program it is a medical necessity. I cannot get pregnant on my medication and due to my seizures a pregnancy would be life-threatening. Obama-care would eliminate my need for welfare by offering me birth control coverage through state-offered Badger-care. The governor could change a welfare benefit into an insurance program for many women in Wisconsin if he allowed the implementation of Obama-care. 

Badger-care has unintentionally created an incentive to get pregnant, by allowing instant access to healthcare for pregnant women. Women seeking to prevent a pregnancy, recieve the Family Planning Waiver which is also welfare. If birth-control costs were covered by insurance plans instead of the state, pregnant mothers and women seeking not to be pregnant would no longer be a burden to the taxpayers of Wisconsin. 

December 14th is the deadline for Wisconsin to extend Badgercare, through the President's health care law. If Badger-care is extended, it will cover more then 14,000 currently on the waiting list for state health care.

Walker has refused to implement the law on the state level. Instead, he has demanded the federal government enforce the law in Wisconsin. In a letter to the Secretary of and Human Services (DHHS), his reason given was not being given enough control over the program, he believes Wisconsinites will not have enough choice over their health-care decisions if Obama-care is implemented.
His reason for not taking control is that he wouldn't have all the control over the healthcare extension. His rationalization becomes, we can't have all the control, so therefore we will have none. 

The state legislature is even further away from understanding the need for health care in Wisconsin. 9 Republican state legislators believe those to who implement Obama-care should be arrested. Rep. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) believes Obama-care is unconstitutional, despite the fact that it was declared constitutional by the US Supreme Court in June 2012.

People like me, don't get a choice in health care. If we are lucky enough, we get a plan through our employer. I am not lucky enough to have health insurance, in today's society this is a privileged right. Like many in my position, I favor an approach to health insurance that ensures coverage of everyone, some may call this socialistic, I believe it is an aspect of populism.


This insurance exchange would open thousands of windows and allow MORE control over health care. Wisconsinites currently have no choices and Walker could change that for millions in his state by just standing aside. 

The people of Wisconsin need to send a clear message to Governor Walker: Obama-care is the law of the land and constitutional, blocking it's implementation is not in the best interest of Wisconsin. Put aside ideological and partisan rationalizations and do the work we need you to do.

 
 UPDATES: According to the Kaiser Foundation, which studied the cost of implementing Obamacare - . "Overall state costs of implementing the Medicaid expansion would be modest compared to increases in federal funds, and many states are likely to see small net budget gains." - They estimate state spending would increase by only 3% - Read the FULL ARTICLE

No comments:

Post a Comment