Now what? To all those the naysayers that offer nothing but "No" to every problem our country's people faces.
Maybe I missed it, but I do not recall an Enrollment Promotion led by our County Government. Do you?
When I was a little girl, I loved playing Hopscotch. It is a game that you can play alone or with others. Hopscotch is an old-fashion playground game. The players toss a small object into numbered spaces of a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces to retrieve the object.
Now, let's assume at the top of the Hopscotch chart is the Affordable Healthcare Act.
The Arkansas and Mississippi Governors threw their tokens and they landed not on the Affordable HealthCare Act, but on their state's preferred private option plans. These plans have been reviewed and approved by the Obama Administration.
It may not be the Affordable Health Care Act, but it's a plan that they can live with as lawmakers in Mississippi and Arkansas. It is a plan that will protect their citizens' from becoming collateral damage because of politics. In Tennessee, our so-called moderate Governor is still at the starting point without a token to land anywhere and we should be very disappointed. Tennessee needs a plan to be reviewed by our federal government. But, we volunteered no solutions for our citizens.
Since Arkansas and
Tennessee have presented plans and received approval by the Obama
administration for implementation, they are moving up the chart to their
governments to get approval from their General Assemblies. They are
engaged in a statesmanship process as they debate the plans.
These states are getting close to picking up their Hopscotch tokens. The Arkansas Gazette reports that Private Affordable Healthcare Option failed short by only four votes. The Arkansas General Assembly will try it again with another vote on the same issue. The House voted February 21, 2014 and the outcome was 71-18 on the Senate bill, but failed short of the required 75 votes which is required for a super majority for passage in Arkansas.
I am pulling for them.
Why do I care about Arkansas or Mississippi? Have you thought
about what Arkansas' and Mississippi' not expanding health care will mean to
Memphis?
- Think about 87,000 people in
Arkansas eliminated from Medicaid. Some of their citizens are at our
doorsteps and would have to seek care from The Regional Medical Center.
- Think about the rural
hospitals closing because without some federal funding to help them remain financially stable
they could be forced to fold.
- Think about the hospitals whose
patients lost Medicaid; their only option may be the use a hospital emergency
room which will overwhelmed that care center and forced them to serve
patients at a snail's pace.
- Think about those scenarios.
It could become a reality for the hills of Tennessee, too.
Affordable Healthcare not only helps individuals, but it
provides support to hospitals to deliver services to the undeserved.
- Think about the fact that
hospitals employ our citizens and cut backs to stay solvent could leave us
with more unemployed citizens. We lost jobs through our school merger
and now this may become a threat to jobs. There are real lives impacted by
these decisions.
I hope Arkansas and
Tennessee General Assemblies will pass the legislation for their plans. I
believe they will. But, if they don't, more Arkansas and Mississippi
residents will find their way to the Regional Medical Health Care System. That
would place more of a burden of the Regional Med in a state that does not even
have a plan, has not presented a plan, and is not working to have a plan
approved by our General Assembly this year. The lack of concern for our
citizens is so disappointing.
As those states move forward on the Hopscotch chart, Governor Bill Haslam is still at the starting point without a chip to throw in and without a path to follow to get health care for Tennessee residents. And I hope he hears our voices singing Aretha Franklin's famous song, "You betta think about what you are trying to do to me. You betta think!" Your lack of concern for the health care of citizens in this state won't help you move up the chart to the White House, either. You may win Tennessee but President Barack Obama has shown you twice that the majority of us are not that conservative.
Social Justice Homework
1.
Do not allow any state politicians in your
churches, especially the Governor, without asking them when will they present a
Tennessee Healthcare Option Plan to the Federal Government for Approval?
2.
This is campaign season and state
officials will run for office. Host a
Tennessee Health Care Forum for your congregation.
3.
Let state elected officials know you are
connected to Spirit Magazine’s Social Justice Ministry and you are following
this issue.
4.
Write a letter to the Governor and ask
him to present a private option healthcare plan for our Tennessee citizens.
(Sample Letter below.)
Sample Letter
The Honorable Governor
Bill Haslam
Office
of Governor Bill Haslam
1st
Floor, State Capitol
Nashville,
TN 37243
Dear Governor Haslam,
Where there is no vision, the
people perish. ~ Proverbs 29:18
As a pastor and leader in the Memphis community, I feel compelled
to speak up for those who need affordable healthcare in our city. I am praying that our State through your
leadership will answer the call to make health care provisions for our citizens
by submitting a Private Option Healthcare Plan to the Federal Department of
Health. I see the needs and pray for the
families that are torn because their health care needs are unmet. In our church ministry, we try to fill the
gap by helping our neighbors with some of their basic health care needs. We
donate funds to non- profit health centers.
However, you must realize that the needs outpace our capacity and
government has a role in this partnership. We need our State to step in and eliminate
the threat of many losing Medicaid which is an unbearable thought.
“The ACA is not a perfect law or policy — even by
President Obama’s admission — but what it does represent is an alternative
vision for our national community. It is a vision where millions of uninsured
citizens see themselves as participating in the opportunities for life,
liberty, and pursuit of happiness because they can manage their health as
opposed to being dominated by disease.” [1] But, if it is not perfect
for Tennessee, we have an opportunity to present a plan that our leadership
thinks will benefit our citizens.
In Memphis, we are on the border of states that are
trying to develop plans for their citizens.
We pray that they will have favorable outcomes. If not, the burden on the undeserved in
health care from Mississippi and Arkansas may also find themselves in Tennessee’s
emergency rooms and the Memphis Regional Medical Center.
I respectfully ask you to share your vision of a Healthy
Tennessee through a Private Option Plan, and share it with us. Our congregation is willing to help you in
encouraging the Tennessee General Assembly to support the plan. There is power
in prophetic vision that can empower the marginalized and speak to the seats of
power.
Sheppard and
Pastor of
Your Name
