Received this e-mail from Senator Mary Landrieu (D. LA) regarding Governor Bobby Jindal (R. LA) and Medicaid Expansion:
When the Louisiana Legislature meets in March for its 2014 session, it will have a critical decision to make: Expand health coverage for more than 240,000 Louisianians or sell them out to bolster Governor Bobby Jindal's credentials for his presidential run.
So far, Governor Jindal has said NO! to expanding health care coverage through Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Now, more than 240,000 Louisianians, or nearly one in three adults who lack health insurance, fall into "the Jindal gap."
Many of these individuals are working 40 to 50 hours per week and raising children, but make too little to qualify for premium assistance in the new marketplace -- but too much to qualify for Louisiana's current Medicaid that covers 1.3 million people. Children, pregnant women and families with income below $2,600 per year are covered, but not hard-working, middle-class families.
Our governor may not like the president, but this is not about the president. It's about the people of our state who have some of the worst health care outcomes in the nation because of nonexistent or poor access to quality care.
Sign my petition to Governor Jindal and the Louisiana Legislature today: Allow Louisiana's working poor to access health care by saying YES to expanding health care through Medicaid.
http://www.marylandrieu.com/...
By saying no to the expansion, Governor Jindal said no to $16 billion injected into Louisiana's economy that would result in nearly 16,000 jobs by 2016. And he said no to health care improvements for many people who desperately need and deserve better care.
The expansion would have saved money for the state budget. At a time when our state is trying every which way to fill deep budget holes, it makes no sense to turn away these savings. But Governor Jindal and the legislature last year did.
Rejecting the expansion of health care saves nobody money. Louisianians' federal tax dollars will still be used to pay for better health care for people in other states -- even those with Republican governors! -- that have accepted the expansion.
Louisiana must accept the Medicaid expansion, as other states with Republican governors have. Sign my petition asking Governor Bobby Jindal and the Louisiana Legislature to say YES to the expansion today.
http://www.marylandrieu.com/...
Many people oppose expansion simply because the president approved it, but this isn't about who gets the best coverage on cable news -- this is about who gets the coverage they need to stay healthy.
Thank you for standing up today,
Mary Landrieu
U.S. Senator
You can click here to add your name:
http://www.marylandrieu.com/...