White House has a new study out claiming that our state’s failure to expand Medicaid is depriving 234,000 Tennesseans of health insurance, if you want to call the coverage they would receive insurance that is. As Beacon has pointed out in the past, studies show that those on Medicaid have no better health outcomes than those without insurance at all, and being enrolled in the program virtually assures that one will have a tough time finding a doctor. Already, 40% of primary care physicians refuse to see new Medicaid patients. Oh, and the cost of expansion to taxpayers? More than $1 billion between now and 2022. No matter what spin the White House wants to put on it, adding more people to an already-strained program is not only unaffordable for taxpayers, it’s also immoral for those without insurance. We can do better.
-Justin Owen