Medicaid editorial just plain wrong
THE ALBUQUERQUE Journal’s editorial calling for Medicaid work requirements may seem like a reasonable idea at first glance, but we should take a look at the facts before we make massive changes to a program that has served New Mexico well for more than 50 years.
If you read the Journal’s editorial, you would think almost everyone covered by Medicaid is unemployed and has no reason to work. In fact, research shows eight in 10 working-age people with Medicaid are members of working families. They’re in industries that are vital to our economy like retail, food-service, construction, education and health care. What about those who don’t work? Ninety percent are students, caregivers, people with serious illnesses or disabilities, or retirees. Instead of assuming the worst of people, we should seek understanding about their lives.
The Journal wants to target the small portion of people covered by Medicaid who can’t find work and push them into jobs that may not actually exist. Meanwhile, the state would create an administrative nightmare, causing people on Medicaid to waste time in line at state offices every month to make sure they don’t lose their doctor. The Journal has penned more editorials on cutting red tape than I can count. Apparently, bureaucracy is unacceptable for corporations and the well-connected, but if a family in poverty needs health care, they’ll need to jump through every hoop the state can think of.
The desire to increase the number of people who have well-paying jobs is understandable, and I count myself as someone who wants to see more economic opportunity for the people of New Mexico. But work requirements won’t create jobs. The path to a better economy will not be paved with false and harmful stereotypes. Every person should be able to get the health care they need. It’s hard to imagine that we’ll create a better economy by putting the health of New Mexico’s families on the line.
Medicaid is not about reaching full employment. Medicaid is certainly not about empowering the state to create hardship for families who are struggling to get by. Medicaid is about health. COLIN BAILLIO Health Action New Mexico, Albuquerque