What's on the line in November? Health coverage for at least 400,000 uninsured Americans
Voters in four red states could finally force their Republican state officials to put them on equal footing with the blue neighbors. Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, and Utah are all voting on Medicaid expansion ballot initiatives this November. Montana has had it for two years, but needs to approve a permanent funding mechanism for the state's portion of the bill, and the voters in the remaining states are voting to override their legislatures and governors to get it for the first time. There are about 400,000 uninsured people in those four states who could finally get coverage.
That number could explode if Democrats win the governerships in three more states, Florida, Georgia, and Wisconsin. In Florida alone, well over 1.3 million people who could gain coverage; in Georgia, it's 726,000, and in Wisconsin it's 176,000. Andrew Gillum, Stacey Abrams, and Tony Evers, the Democratic candidates for governor in each of those states, have all vowed to fight for Medicaid expansion if they win their races.
One really encouraging note in ballot initiative states is that voter registration in each of the states has surged this year. Nebraska has a record high, surpassing 2016's presidential year registrations. It's the same story in Utah, where new registrations are nearly 6 percent higher than at this time in 2016, and Democratic registrations are outpacing Republican 3-1, and "a snapshot of voter registration volumes over the past month or so, compared to the same time period in the 2014 midterms, show a jump approaching 1,000 percent." In Idaho, the primary had the highest participation rate in 16 years and voter registrations are through the roof, three times higher than the last midterm election. In 2014, 13,750 people registered to vote between the pre-primary period, on midterm election day and from June 1 to October 1. In 2018, that number—so far—is 38,146.
The arduous process of getting these initiatives on the ballot could be a big factor in those registration surges, because in every state it took a massive grassroots effort to qualify for the ballot. Every state has hurdles for getting initiatives qualified. In Idaho, that included getting 6 percent of voters in each of 18 of the state's 35 legislative districts, as well as reaching an overall signature total of nearly 60,000 voters. That took volunteers to every corner of this very large, very rural state. That meant a lot of conversations with a lot of people who don't have health care; there are 62,000 people in this state who would be eligible. Like Josh Blessinger, 39, and Pam Blessinger, 36 who both have serious medical conditions. Josh is a combat veteran with PTSD and a recent diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Pam has uterine bleeding from a fibroid and joint problems in her hands. Neither has coverage from their jobs. Josh says he's a conservative and a libertarian but says Medicaid coverage isn't inconsistent with that philosophy, giving the example of his wife. "She can't pursue happiness when she's trying just not to be in pain," he says.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/10/26/1807392/-What-s-on-the-line-in-November-Health-coverage-for-at-least-400-000-uninsured-Americans
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