Medicaid Expansion Rally
in Columbus - April 11, 2013
"Spent a total of five hours on a bus
today and several hours standing in the rain to represent Passion for Change as
part of the Mental Health Advocacy
Coalition. We joined about 1,500 advocates from around the
state on the steps of the State House in Columbus, as we rallied for Medicaid
Expansion
in Ohio.
"There is significant misinformation
out there on Medicaid Expansion. I've been to two presentations on this--one of
which provided extensive research
on the number crunching--and the Expansion is an absolutely
positive initiative for the state in every way. If Ohio does not accept its
share of the federal funding, our tax dollars will be given to the states who
opt in.
"Our Republican governor and the
hospitals serving the poor are absolutely for the initiative."
- Marilyn Mongeon Quill,
PFC President & CEO
States that
opt not to expand their Medicaid rolls when that option
becomes available next year under the Affordable Care Act
may be courting disaster, because at the same time the
federal government will begin to reduce—ultimately by 50
percent—the Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments
that general hospitals receive for care of the uninsured.
So states that do not
expand Medicaid rolls to those earning 133 percent of the
federal poverty level will continue to bear the burden of
care for the uninsured, but with substantially less federal
DSH support. And since a great many of those uninsured are
psychiatric patients, the funding shortfall is likely to
fall heavily on the care of mentally ill individuals.
--
Psychiatric News Alert, April 9, 2013
