House resolution could provide funds for Medicaid expansion
The July 21 AJC article “Commission to study health care options as uninsured try to cope” described a woman with cancer in incredible pain who can’t get treatment through Georgia Medicaid.
Income too high or too low, not enough work hours because health restraints prevent her from qualifying. Gov. Brian P. Kemp refuses Medicaid expansion to cover Georgians like this woman because “federal support for expansion would dry up.” Hmmm. Georgia U.S. Reps. Austin Scott and Richard McCormick serve on the House Armed Services Committee and recently reviewed removing a mandate requiring the Department of Defense staff to resubmit items DOD no longer wants (requesting items DOD wants remains). This will free up federal dollars for federal support for Georgia Medicaid expansion.
As a hospice social worker, I ask my U.S. representative, Nikema Williams, to vote for House Resolution 4740, which codifies this. Help this woman.
ELLEN SLACK, DECATUR
Immigrants help keep economy growing
Speakers at the Republican National Convention denigrated immigrants in the most derogatory terms possible. They were parroting their leader, who has shamelessly used this racist strategy to forward his political ambitions from the moment he came down the golden escalator in 2015.
Republicans don’t seem to get that while the economies of Italy, Japan and South Korea (to name a few) are in big trouble because their birthrates are so low, immigrants are keeping our own U.S. economy growing robustly, even though our birthrate is just below “replacement” level. Simply put, we need immigrants. They are a key part of many sectors of our economy (e.g., in agriculture, medical care and high-tech jobs) while paying taxes, including Social Security. They will become even more important as our population ages.
Remember, it was on Trump’s orders that the GOP-led House jettisoned strong bipartisan legislation that would have gone a long way toward fixing the problems of illegal immigrants at the border.
CAROLYN FARLEY, ATLANTA
