Valley rallies for Medicaid

WASILLA — Valley legislators looking for voices on the issue of Medicaid expansion could find them in Newcomb Park Friday afternoon, along with honking car horns and cheering.

About 80 people rallied in support of Medicaid expansion Friday afternoon at an event organized by the Mat-Su Health Foundation. Representatives from local community groups and Mat-Su Regional Hospital turned out to praise Gov. Bill Walker’s attempt to use federal money to expand and reform Medicaid under the provisions established by the Affordable Care Act. The expansion is one of the act’s two chief provisions intended to expand insurance coverage and decrease health care costs.

“The Mat-Su delegation knows where the Mat-Su Health Foundation stands on this issue,” said Executive Director Elizabeth Ripley. “They know we support it. What they keep telling us is they need to hear from their constituents. The Mat-Su delegation needs to hear from individuals that live in Mat-Su that they support Medicaid expansion.”

“We have the people,” Ripley added. “This isn’t a political liability for them.”

Mat-Su Regional Medical Center CEO John Lee brandished a tree branch with blossoms on it. Unlike seasonal change, expansion was unlikely to happen without help, Lee said.

“In Alaska, we have a choice, and we have to make that choice, and the choice is not between expanding the current troubled Medicaid program or not,” he said. “The choice that we have really should be to create an Alaskan solution that reforms Medicaid, extends coverage to hardworking neighbors, and brings our taxpayer dollars home to work for our residents.”

The hospital provided $39 million in written-off care in the last year, the majority to uninsured emergency room patients, whose procedures are more expensive because of a lack of preventative care, Lee said. Insurance would drive down those costs by providing access to cheaper, earlier care, he said.

“The cost of that care is passed back to everyone else, whether or not you need hospital care or not,” he said. “At the hospital, we have to charge that at a higher rate to everybody else with insurance, but even if you don’t use the hospital, you’re paying for that. You’re paying for that with your higher insurance premiums and higher deductibles.

“Make no mistake — you’re already paying for that care.”

Expansion would also bring in about $1 billion and add 4,000 new jobs, according to Lee. The majority of those covered under expansion would be “working poor” and not people refusing to work, he said.

“Alaska, we have to make a choice,” Lee said.

Sarah Heath, who represents the Mat-Su governor’s office, read a statement from the governor.

“One of my highest priorities for the remaining days of the legislative session is to make good on my pledge to expand Medicaid,” Walker’s statement read. “When I ran for office, everywhere I went I told Alaskans I would accept federal Medicaid dollars. Whether I was speaking to a chamber of commerce, town hall meeting, in a church or a school, I was immediately interrupted by applause.”

Supporters for expansion outnumbered opponents six-to-one during forums over the weekend, Heath said.

Attendees said they supported expansion both as a charitable measure, and in some cases as a matter of life and death.

Houston resident Fred Nelius sported a sign reading, “Senator Charlie Huggins says ‘Let ‘em die.’”

“People need a safety net,” he said. “People in that donut hole got cut out of the safety net. He (Huggins) is not being reasonable by not letting it come to the floor.”

The “donut hole” refers to people who are “too poor” to buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act, and “too rich” to qualify for health care through Medicaid.

The issue also has made the rounds among local governments. The Mat-Su Borough Assembly also passed a resolution last week in support of expansion.

A similar resolution went before the Wasilla City Council Monday, but council members voted 5-1 to postpone the question indefinitely, with Councilman David Wilson in dissent.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.