Echo opinion from Reno NV ~ Medicaid serves as lifeline

Medicaid provides health care coverage for America's most vulnerable people~ babies, the young and the elderly!

Published in the Reno Gazette Journal

History of Medicaid link here

On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicaid and Medicare into law. Now, 53 years later, Medicaid provides quality health insurance to 70 million low-income Americans, including almost 400,000 Nevadans. And the coverage is still improving, because in 2014, Nevada recognized the benefits of the program and expanded Medicaid.

Without question, Medicaid serves as a lifeline to millions of children, seniors, mothers, people with disabilities and other low-income people across the country. It ensures that access to doctors is a right, not a privilege, by providing health care for the most vulnerable Americans and prevents families from having to choose between paying for a place to live and visiting a doctor for the care they need. We hear testimonials from all over Nevada, like the mother in Las Vegas who relies on Medicaid to manage her child’s chronic asthma and the young woman who is still able to afford her medicine in Reno between jobs because of Medicaid.

No one should have to worry that they won’t have health coverage, especially when they need it most. Unfortunately, that does not mean much to our Republican legislators and our president, who are dead set on dismantling Medicaid as we know it. As Medicaid turns 53 years old this year, Congress is threatening to impose cuts (!) and structural changes through administrative waivers like work requirements, which would prevent families and children from receiving life-saving medical care that working families rely and negatively impact the futures of our children.

This is shameful and irresponsible, and as we prepare to celebrate how great Medicaid is, we need to also remind our legislators that any changes or cuts to Medicaid would be devastating to our communities and our state.

Christine Saunders, MSW is the organizing director for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada in Reno.