In Idaho and Utah, just like Maine, Republicans are defying the will of the people in their states who passed referendums to extend Medicaid. In Idaho, the Republican-controlled House decided to require those to whom Medicaid would be extended to buy insurance on the ACA exchanges instead. The Republican-controlled legislature in Utah voted to expand Medicaid only to people earning up to 100 percent of the poverty threshold, instead of 138 percent, and, at the same time, demanded that the federal government reimburse Utah at the 90 percent rate as if the state had properly expanded Medicaid.
In addition, in Idaho, the GOP-controlled House voted to require Medicaid recipients to prove they are working to qualify. Arkansas was the first state where Republicans imposed this demand, and quickly 18,000 residents lost their insurance, either because they didn't report work or failed to follow complicated rules, which include providing an email address in a state where less than half of residents of some counties have internet access.
Fourteen other states have imposed work requirements or want to, but a federal judge this week told Arkansas and Kentucky to stop it.
They probably will appeal -- at the same time Republican Attorney General Barr is trying to blow up the entire health care law. The message is clear: to Republicans, health care is a right only for the rich; the rest can suffer and die. The GOP Hippocratic oath is: Do vast harm.
This article was produced by the Independent Media Institute.
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