MEDICAID
GOP places politics above people’s lives
Thank you for finally addressing the plight of those who should have been eligible for Medicaid under the ACA but were shut out by our governor and legislators (“Georgia’s Medicaid call affects thousands,” News, April 6). It is hard to understand how we have elected officials who are so uncaring that they deliberately deny health care to those who need it most, the working poor.
When the majority on the Supreme Court ruled the states could not be required to accept expanded Medicaid, they were doing it to destroy the law. Republican governors and legislators seized on it without regard for the needs of their citizens. This law was originally a Republican idea; it is so ironic that Mitt Romney, whose Massachusetts law was the model, ran against it. I even heard one of them suggest that we should have gone with single payer. Obama knew he could not get that passed and did everything he could to make this law attractive to Republicans.
I hope the citizens of Georgia remember what is being done to their fellow citizens who are struggling to survive in this economy, and elect officials who will put people before politics.
MARY BAGWELL, ATLANTA
Entitlement mentality distorts health debate
The article on the failure to expand Medicaid in Georgia shows the power of the entitlement mentality. Until 75 years ago, it was understood that all persons had to take care of themselves. Now, anyone suggesting that people do so is considered an ogre. Tremendous government support is potentially available to the persons described in the article in the form of food stamps, a free cell phone, highly subsidized or free rent, free school lunches for children, reduced cost of utilities and the refundable earned income credit and child care credits. Without Medicaid expansion, approximately 31 percent of Georgia’s approximately 10 million residents are covered by either Medicare or Medicaid.
ALLEN BUCKLEY, ATLANTA
CATHOLIC ARCHDIOCESE
Gregory right to put mansion up for sale
Archbishop Wilton Gregory has made the right decision to sell the mansion built with funds from the Mitchell Endowment. His decision to build the mansion without consulting metro Atlanta parishioners was poor judgement. His priorities were wrong. He has rectified the problem. This issue was causing a needless schism in the Atlanta Archdiocese. The archbishop is to be commended for his decision to move out and put the house on the market and agreeing to commit the proceeds to helping the poor.
GARY S. COX, ATLANTA
