Tough Talk About Medicaid Expansion

This week at the Legislature will be the hard discussions on Medicaid expansion.

Here are some interesting facts to ponder. Montana has a little over 1 million folks. There are 128,000 people on Medicaid, 145,000 on food stamps, on either side of 200,000 on medicare and I cannot find out how many are on child or housing support. If we (Legislature) add 70,000 more on Medicaid (some say that could be as high as 110,000) that would amount to 20 percent of Montana citizens on the Medicaid program!

And, if the federal share would go away, Montana would not have the financial resources to sustain the program, especially with our country facing an almost 19 TRILLION dollar debt! Cutbacks are already being seen by the Feds.

There are 11 states that now have more people on welfare than they do employed. They are California, Illinois, New Mexico, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Ohio, New York, Maine and Hawaii.

In the fiscal year 2012, the U.S. Senate Budget Committee reported that with food stamps, housing support, child care, Medicaid and other benefits, the average U.S. household below the poverty line received $168 per day in government support! Here is the problem. The median household income in America is just over $50,000, which averages to $137.13 a day! The average job pays $20 per hour AND welfare pays $30 per hour!

An article in a recent "Investors Business Daily" provided interesting statistics from a survey by the United Nations International Health Organization and this is NO conservative committee! The percentage of men and women who survived cancer five years after diagnosis was U.S. 65 percent, England 46 percent and Canada 42 percent. The percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes who received treatment within six months was U.S. 93 percent, England 15 percent and Canada 43 percent.

The percentage of seniors needing hip replacement within six months was U.S. 90 percent, England 15 percent and Canada 43 percent.

The percentage of folks referred to a medical specialist within one month was U.S. 77 percent, England 40 percent and Canada 43 percent.

The last stat, of many, that I will provide is the number of MRI scanners per million people was U.S. 71 percent, England 14 percent and Canada 18 percent.

What this shows is that both England and Canada have national health insurance, and until Obamacare, which is just now kicking in, that the U.S. had NO national health insurance! If Canada's national health insurance is so good, then why are so many Canadians coming to Montana and the U.S. for treatment?

On a lighter note, it was great to have the high school students from Hinsdale visiting last week. Their chaperons were former Montana House Rep. Jeff Pattison and Dick and Jan Marshall. These great students are our future leaders in Montana. See you next week.