Thousands of Americans have fought to expand Medicaid to millions and victory is sweet
I usually talk too much but I'll let this HuffPo lede say it all:
WASHINGTON -- Pennsylvania agreed to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act on Thursday, joining 26 states and the District of Columbia.
Federal regulators accepted a modified proposal from Gov. Tom Corbett (R) that will offer an estimated 500,000 low-income individuals subsidies to purchase private insurance. The plan allows some low-income individuals to be charged premiums for coverage, and permits the number of available benefit plans to be reduced from 14 to two -- a "high-risk" option and "low-risk" options -- according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Sure they had to dick it as much as possible (go to this
informative piece in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette to see just how much of a putz Corbett is)but HHS has said "okay" and starting January of 2015 low income Pennsylvanians, including friends, family and neighbors of Me, some whom I have commiserated with, will have access to quality FREE, healthcare.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn B. Tavenner lauded the agreement in a statement, and urged other states to expand Medicaid as well. Corbett is only the 9th Republican governor to sign on.
I can site from professional experience that CMS can be real jag-offs so their blessing on this deal is meaningful and this is a BFD! Good on Obamacare, good on CMS and most of all... good on TOM WOLF, the next Governor of Pennsylvania, for forcing douchebag Tom Corbett (can't believe he's from Alleghenty County) to get down on his knees and kiss the ring that is OBAMACARE.
It isn't yet loud enough to penetrate the mediaratii in District 1 but the noise on the street is changing fast. Americans in every state are finding themselves benefiting from the ACA. While my family has company subsidized healthcare my wife said to me just the other day "I think next year I'm going to look into getting a policy through Obamacare". I resisted the urge to tell her we didn't have that luxury but the fact is for what we pay we could get a nice silver plan. We are jealous. As more real facts become obvious more and more Americans are going to become more and more jealous of those who enjoy Obamacare.
Red states that are currently blocking Medicaid expansion are going to be swamped with angry town halls crowded with the working poor asking why people just across the border... in Arkansas for instance, get free healthcare while they pray for good luck. We keep bemoaning the curse of poor turnout for Dems in off year elections. Well we are looking at the mother of turnout turn-ons with the ACA. By July the media is going to be obsessing on the possibility of a Blue Tide in the House of Representatives. Mark my words.
To that end it is so important that we turn our head around and take to the offensive by fielding great candidates in purple districts that have a close enough partisan tilt. If you live in a safe Dem district or a safe GOP district, look around for a winnable district to contribute to.
Erin will gladly kick Keith Rothfus' arse to the curb this November in your name
In PA, where a popular congressional vote win of 75,000 votes netted Dems 5 of 18 seats in 2012 thanks to treasonous gerrymandering I am giving my all for a perfect candidate in the Pittsburgh suburb PA-12 named Erin McClelland and I would encourage you to go to her Act Blue page and give her a twenty. She is a progressive with the resume, charisma and 25/8 campaign hustle to take back this traditional home of John Murtha and union Dems.
Go to her ACT Blue page to help.
If you have a good candidate you want people in safe D or R districts to help please mention them in the comments. I do think this is something we need to start dwelling on because 2014 is going to be a year that shocks the Stu Rothenbergs and Larry Sabato's of the world into admitting that the Republican Party is already in histories trash heap.