LA MEDICAID EXPANSION ANNIVERSARY- Louisiana Public health officials and healthcare advocates joined Governor John Bel Edwards at the state capitol yesterday to commemorate the seventh year anniversary of Medicaid Expansion for lower income earners. On his first full day in office on January 2016, Edwards signed, an executive order expanding Medicaid, accepting federal funding to support healthcare insurance to more than 500,000 working Louisianans who weren’t covered by insurance. Edwards took a moment to answer questions about Medicaid and said he’s optimistic the expansion will continue after he leaves office.
“I really don’t hear a lot of folks out there saying we should have never expanded Medicaid,” Edwards said. “I never hear a working-poor person say that. I never hear anybody who’s in the business of providing healthcare say that.”
Edwards said Medicaid Expansion has helped contribute to Louisiana’s economic recovery and pointed out that when he took office, the state had a budget deficit of about $2 billion, today that number has been reversed to around a $2 billion surplus. Edwards said that the goal has always been to keep hospitals open so that all Louisianans have access to healthcare no matter where they live.
“People’s lives are better and stronger and healthier and the bottom line of our providers is healthier and stronger. And those two things have a direct relationship because there’s no way to treat people if you don’t have providers,” Edwards explained.
Before Gov. Edwards took office, Louisiana’s uninsured rate among adults was 22.7%. It has been cut by more than half, to 9.4%.
