Medicaid Expansion is Wrong Way for Ohio

The below is from Marianne Gasiecki, Founder of the Mansfield Tea Party and Tea Party Patriots Co-State Coordinator for Ohio....

From the Columbus Dispatch --

Ohio Right to Life President Michael Gonidakis recently accused tea party leaders of being more interested in their own ideology than in the health of Ohio residents .

Jeff Malek, coordinator for the Wadsworth 9-12 Group, was quoted as saying, “Instead of trying to understand why so many conservatives reject the expansion of Medicaid in Ohio, Mr. Gonidakis falsely accuses the tea party of a sentiment that has never been expressed by anyone within the movement.”

Unlike Gonidakis, the tea party and other conservative organizations believe that life has value and should be treated with dignity and respect, something Medicaid cannot provide.

A recent report from the Government Accountability Office revealed that children on Medicaid receive worse care than children with no insurance. Mothers seeking specialty care for their children covered by Medicaid were denied appointments 66 percent of the time and dental appointments 64 percent of the time.

Medicaid patients with head and neck cancer are 50 percent more likely to die. Regarding other major surgical procedures, Medicaid patients have a longer length of stay, the highest hospital costs and the highest risk of death. How is that caring for our residents?

Gov. John Kasich stated he was using his lessons learned from the Good Book as justification for the expansion of this huge government program, urging lawmakers to examine their consciences and not let concerns about government spending trump this “moral imperative.” Debt is frowned upon in the Bible; in fact, it is considered to be a sin to incur debt without paying it back. Even our Founders frowned upon burdening future generations with our debt.

I'm also confident in saying that, when taking care of our fellow man, it doesn't mean providing inferior care, and yet that’s exactly what Gonidakis and Kasich are promoting.

Chris Long, president of the Ohio Christian Alliance, expressed a similar sentiment: “In my years of pastoring in the inner city, no one was denied medical care. In fact, the people that I pastored who were at or below the poverty line received excellent medical care with existing programs.”

Many conservative organizations, and governors, have offered free-market-based solutions to providing cost-effective, quality care to those in need. If caring for our fellow man is truly the objective, that is the direction our legislators should take us.

Marianne Gasiecki
Ohio State Co-Coordinator
Tea Party Patriots