Healthcare Coverage Stimulates Economy
- by: Care2
- recipient: President Barack Obama
The number of unemployed directly affects the number of people eligible to receive healthcare from Medicaid. In the dreary economy unemployment is skyrocketing, but state and federal budgets are plummeting. Fewer people are getting the healthcare help they need.
Healthcare in the U.S. has towering costs that few people can afford, but programs like Medicaid help millions of families obtain basic services. Federal and state budgets for 2009 are being slashed and now 18 states have cut or plan to cut their Medicaid funding.
It has been proven that increasing federal funding for healthcare programs like Medicaid could actually create new jobs and raise wages, spurring the economy to push forward.
Please join governors across America in asking Obama to include $40 billion for Medicaid in his upcoming economic stimulus package.
Dear President Obama,
Please consider the greatest needs of the American people - like healthcare - while divvying out funding of your economic stimulus package in the new year. Millions of people rely on federal match funding programs such as Medicaid to obtain basic healthcare coverage for themselves and their families. But state budget cuts are threatening several states' Medicaid programs, and every dollar of state funding lost becomes a $2 loss for program funding.
[Your comment here]
History shows that when federal funding increases for Medicaid, more jobs are created, wages increase and businesses flourish. Funding Medicaid is another way to stimulate the economy.
I join numerous governors in asking you to include $40 billion of your economic stimulus package to state Medicaid programs.
