Will Weatherford is a political name to remember, no matter
where you live.
Weatherford is the Speaker of the Florida House of
Representatives, a rising political star and a CPAC convention speaker this
week, who “is widely regarded as a polished politician with excellent
instincts,” according
to the Tampa Bay Times.
I’m not so sure about those instincts.
In
his opening speech of the new legislative session, Weatherford came out
strongly in opposition to Medicaid expansion, saying it “crosses the line of
the proper role of government.” He called Medicaid a “broken system.”
But Weatherford
wasn’t content to leave it at that. He
invoked a moving, personal narrative to introduce his opposition to the
Medicaid expansion.
He told the tragic story of his young brother, who developed
and died of cancer as an infant. I can’t
imagine what it was like for 15-year old Weatherford, his seven other siblings,
or his parents to go through such a heart-wrenching experience.
And on top of it, Weatherford’s father was self-employed and
couldn’t afford to insure his family. I
can relate. I was also self-employed in
the mid-1990s, and it cost me over $600 per month even then to insure my
family.
So when the six-figure hospital bills came, they could have
wiped the Weatherfords out.
But they didn’t,
because of a safety net that was in place.
“It was the safety net that picked my father up,” Weatherford said. “It was the safety net that picked my family
up.”
What Weatherford did not say was that the safety net was Medicaid.
Afterwards, Weatherford denied that Medicaid paid the bills. But after his father confirmed that it did, Weatherford
was forced to back-track and acknowledge the role of Medicaid in his own
family’s life.
This all happened in the mid-1990s.
And, ironically, it seems that Weatherford’s family may have
benefited from a Medicaid expansion
that took place just a few years earlier.
That mandatory Medicaid
expansion occurred in 1989, and covered children up to the age of 6 up to
133% of poverty. It meant that Weatherford’s
brother became eligible for Medicaid via its “medically needy” program once the
family’s income dropped below approximately $44,000.
That Medicaid expansion had its legislative detractors,
too. I was in a state legislature then. I remember speeches in which legislators argued
against both the expansion and the “medically needy” program because they
didn’t think middle class families like the Weatherfords should be taking
advantage of the program. And
U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell and Jesse Helms both recorded votes in opposition
to the OBRA 1989 law that helped the Weatherfords.
Maybe Weatherford is unaware of that history.
But whether or not Weatherford is aware of history doesn’t change it. Medicaid was only available for his baby
brother because of federal expansions of the program that took place years
before.
And it became available to other children because of
subsequent expansions.
But it will only be available to their parents and older
siblings if he supports this expansion.
Like Will Weatherford’s family, my family has benefitted
from the Medicaid program. During her
final illness, my mother received Medicaid benefits through a special program in
Connecticut so that she could remain in her own home and not have to enter a
nursing home. I have no doubt that this
program extended her life. I know that
it improved its quality.
And my son, who has suffered from a life-threatening chronic
disease for over twenty years now – one that cost him his education, his
ability to work, and even his ability to live independently – has also used
Medicaid as his safety net.
So here’s what
bothers me most about Weatherford’s position.
It isn’t that we disagree about the safety net. In fact, we are both openly grateful for what
the federal safety net program called Medicaid did for our own families.
It is that his instincts failed him when he took for granted
the political courage that it took to expand Medicaid in 1989 to help his
family. And they failed him again when he
cavalierly dismissed the expansion today as if helping other families in need
were all just a waste.
He has a duty to see the bigger picture.
He can start by embracing the program that embraced his
brother.
To reach Paul Gionfriddo via email: gionfriddopaul@gmail.com. Twitter: @pgionfriddo. Facebook: www.facebook.com/paul.gionfriddo. LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/paulgionfriddo/
It's amazing enough when people vote against their own self interests; its absolutely frightening when "respected politicians" speak to issues like medicaid and don't understand how it's benefited their own families and hundreds of thousands of families across America. Ignorance I understand, lack of compassion and concern for the needs of families in America is unfathomably. I still don't understand what republicans mean when they speak about family values
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