Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Medicaid Expansion
Medicaid provides public health insurance to seniors, people with disabilities and children with low incomes. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), since 2014, states can receive generous federal funding to expand Medicaid coverage to uninsured adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level ($27,724 for a family of three). Currently, 30 states and the District of Columbia have opted for Medicaid expansion, while several other states are exploring ways to expand their programs. States should be encouraged to expand their Medicaid programs, which would benefit low-income adults, hospitals, and local economies. An expanded Medicaid program provides greater access to health coverage. Medicaid expansion would provide more low-income adults with access to health care services, resulting in improved health outcomes. In addition, Medicaid expansion would benefit people from communities of color because many work in low wage jobs that do not offer health benefits. Medicaid expansion would reduce the health coverage gap for many individuals below the poverty level. private insurance in the health marketplaces. However, when the Supreme Court ruled in June 2012 that Medicaid expansion was optional for states, it created a coverage gap for this population. As a result, low-income adults living in a state without Medicaid expansion may also be ineligible for subsidies, and will likely remain uninsured. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that over five million individuals may fall into this coverage gap.
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Women's Reproductive Rights
Our reproductive health care is a private issue between patient and medical professional, not unlike any other matter, and we should have autonomy over our choices and bodies without government intrusion. We should not be subjected to discrimination because/when we elect to evoke our unalienable and Constitutional Rights. Further, government should not work to make the pursuit of our rights increasingly difficult.

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