COMMENTARY: Religious Call: Medicaid Expansion Good For All

Jesus of Nazareth was known as a healer.

He spent most of his time healing and teaching. In addition to serving his own people, he healed foreigners, outsiders, the unclean, and even the slave of a Roman occupier.

In his spirit, Christians have founded hospitals and sponsored medical missions for centuries. My congregation is among many churches with a commitment to healthcare.

In 1994, we partnered with St. Thomas, Springdale and the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas to start a medical ministry for the uninsured and underserved. The Community Clinic at St.

Francis House has now become the region’s largest such clinic, off ering comprehensive health care to almost 30,000 patients annually.

Our inherited traditional Christian calling to care for the sick is a reason so many churches and Christian leaders are enthusiastic about theproposed expansion of Medicaid to the working poor.

Baptist pastor and former Gov. Mike Huckabee claims his greatest achievement as governor was extending Medicaid to Arkansas’ children up to 200 percent of the poverty line through ARKids First coverage.

The federal government picked up 75 percent of the costs. Today, only 6 percent of our state’s children are uninsured; before Huckabee’s extension, 22 percent were uninsured. That’s good ministry.

Medicaid for low income adults is virtually unavailable in Arkansas unless you are pregnant or disabled. Families earning more than $3,000 a year or having assets of more than $1,000 don’t qualify.

Private insurance is terribly expensive, beyond the means of so many.

Here are some of the good things that will happen if Arkansas’ Legislature extends Medicaid to people below 138 percent of the poverty line (income of $31,800 for a family of four).

More than 240,000 uninsured adults will have coverage.

The federal government will pick up the full cost of the new coverage for three years and 90 percent of the costs in years after that.

An estimated 1,100 fewer deaths annually

Cost savings estimated at $630 million for the fi rst eight years from reduced emergency room costs, uncompensated care costs for hospitals, and state spending on the uninsured and needy.

The Affordable Care Act is expected to increase the gross domestic product of Benton and Washington counties by $57 million.

The act is expected to create 6,200 jobs in Arkansas.

A health insurance exchange will make private insurance aff ordable on a sliding scale for uninsured working families in middle-income ranges

Healthier people means happier families and more productive workplaces

If the legislature doesn’t pass Medicaid expansion, Arkansas hospitals may be in big trouble. They accepted a reduction in federal payments for uncompensated care in expectation of nearuniversal health coverage.

If the Legislature doesn’t strengthen Medicaid, hospitals will get the short end of the deal.

Last year Washington Regional Medical Center provided $4.2 million in uncompensated care for Medicaid patients and $4 million of charity care.

Arkansas hospitals are united in their supportof Medicaid expansion to get some of these losses backs, otherwise they have to swallow these costs or pass them along to paying patients. Some rural hospitals report they might go under and have to close without this extension.

It pays in human terms and economic terms for everyone to have access to basic medical care. Without insurance, people get sicker. They postpone care. A small problem becomes a big problem. Too many use the emergency room as a clinic. All of this costs more money and produces more suffering.

All of the analysis says Arkansas will save money by adopting this enhancement to Medicaid.

Some legislators are anxious about the current Medicaid shortfall, though the projected amount has decreased. A more just tax system could solve that problem.

Arkansas administers an unfair tax burden.

Arkansans living inpoverty pay 12 percent of every dollar they earn in taxes, while the richest Arkansans pay only 6 percent of their income in combined tax.

That’s unjust, unfair and wrong. Reverse those percentages and shift the burden more fairly. Raise income taxes on those who can most aff ord to pay. Roll back sales taxes that overburden low- and middle-income Arkansans. Let the wealthy pay their fair share, and we can better invest in things that serve the common good - education, health, and infrastructure.

In Jesus’ parable about how the nations will be judged (Matthew 25), one of the criteria is whether we see the sick and take care of them. Jesus told us, whenever we care for “one of the least of these,” we are caring for him. When we refuse to care, we are refusing Jesus.

LOWELL GRISHAM IS AN EPISCOPAL PRIEST WHO LIVES IN FAYETTEVILLE.

Opinion, Pages 11 on 01/27/2013

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