Expansion of Medicaid Coverage and Its Importance

Introduction 

The role of politics and morality in the provision of social welfare cannot be underestimated. States and governments have the responsibility of ensuring that their populations are provided with welfare services in a just and fair manner. Medicaid coverage is one of the healthcare insurance systems that have invited extensive criticism. In this accord, the following paper seeks to analyze the article, “What Red States Are Passing Up as Blue States Get Billions” based on theories, ideologies, and aspects that have been discussed. However, the paper supports the arguments made by the author that the Medicaid expansion should be encouraged. 

Analyzing the Article 

In reference to the article, it is clear that the author has raised several ideologies that touch on both moral and political angles concerning social welfare. One of these ideologies is Marxism where society is seen in terms of the conflicts existing between economic classes. Under Marxism, the control and ownership of production are dominated by the capitalists or bourgeoisie class while at the same time exploiting the most industrial part of the society, which is referred to as the proletariat or working class. The welfare analysis by Marxist focuses mostly on the relationship between power and the welfare itself. Although the article has not shown capitalism in the provision of healthcare services, it is notable that the wealthy States, referred to as the Blue states, are reluctant in expanding the Medicaid program. One of the reasons for this could be due to the common assumption that the poor are the ones to benefit at the expense of the rich, who are the majority. The wealthy population could be seen as the ones creating jobs for the poor, thus bringing an indirect angle of exploitation. Although the federal government may not be blamed in this situation, it is clear that the State governments from the Blue states are supporting and legitimizing the capitalist system, which is one of the two functions of governments under Neo-Marxism. 

Another ideology that has widely been propagated is socialism. The article concentrates on showing the benefits of taking actions together as a society in solving social welfare issues. Notably, there are different forms of socialism, but most of the models under various permutations represent socialism as collective actions in improving people’s lives. Socialism also entails the establishment of approaches and methods that are connected to the collection actions such as planning and social welfare services. Socialists also advocate for the ideal model of social order where equality and cooperation are prioritized. Further, socialism opposes selfish individualism, unlike capitalism. Some of the central values of socialism include equality, liberty, and fraternity. As noted in the article, the author emphasizes the need to provide equal services to the public (Sanger-Katz & Quealy, 2017). In the article, it is clear that the author proposes that Blue states should expand their Medicaid coverage to help the poor or those who earn slightly above the poverty line to access quality medical services. It is on this note that social welfare services such as healthcare need to be equally distributed, which is one of the tenets of socialism. 

However, it would be prudent to point out that the article contains some aspects of social democrats. As is the case with socialism, social democracy also depends on the values of equality, fraternity, and liberty. One of the main differences between socialism and social democracy is that many social democrats are individualists instead of being collectivists. As noted in the article, some states argue that even though it would be advisable to expand Medicaid to cover more people, it should be ensured that those who are provided with such medical cover are not encouraged to be lazy in the society (Sanger-Katz & Quealy, 2017). In this case, the general concern in the social democrats’ view is that some “poor’ individuals may take advantage of the services and decide to rely on other people’s social economic efforts. 

Based on the article, the ideologies of conservatism have as well been noted. Under conservatism, there is need to ensure that social order is not only established but also maintained. One of the main beliefs of conservatism is that society consists of inequalities of caste and class, which should be the basis on which structured social relationships are built. On this premise, welfare is seen to destabilize social order when it starts raising issues that are controversial. As it is well known in the United States, the society is divided into Democrats, who referred to themselves as social democrats, and Republicans, who are, in most cases opposed to the ideals of socialism. As noted in the article, the authors have observed that Obamacare seeks to enhance medical coverage to many more millions in the country (Sanger-Katz & Quealy, 2017) . However, the Republicans oppose this idea and call for a review of this healthcare system, which brings forth the issue of conservatism. 

Importance of Medicaid expansion 

Based on the above brief analysis, it is important to underscore the importance of providing social welfare equally in the society. Therefore, it is the view of this paper that as the article outlines, Medicaid expansion is beneficial to all American people as opposed to the contrary argument. Critical to note is that Medicaid offers public healthcare insurance coverage to those with disabilities, the poor and senior people in the society as well as children who come from low-income families. Since 2014, under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), states get generous funding from the federal government with the aim of expanding Medicaid coverage to most of the uninsured individuals who are earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level of $27,724 per every family with three members. As noted in the article, currently, close to thirty states in the country have decided to expand Medicaid while others are still lagging behind (Sanger-Katz & Quealy, 2017). However, what is surprising is that most of those yet to expand Medicaid coverage comes from the “Blue States” category. It is clear that programs play an instrumental role in providing greater access to health coverage in the United States. 

Further, unlike the conventional argument, Medicaid expansion helps in saving states money. In the program, the federal government provides for one hundred percent of the cost for those who are newly eligible adults under the low-income category for the first three years. The government then expects to phase down to ninety percent in two years’ time. In this way, the author is right when he argues that for most of the Blue states, they are forgoing billions of money which could be used in providing their resident's insurance coverage as well as offering them financial protection. 

On the other hand, the expansion of Medicaid helps in not only economic growth but also the creation of jobs. For example, through Medicaid, it is possible for states to create new health care sector jobs that should treat many of the newly enrolled Medicaid beneficiaries (Sanger-Katz & Quealy, 2017). Since the hired personnel will get paid after providing services to more beneficiaries, they will have additional financial resources to spend in the communities. Other benefits include reduction of uncompensated care and allowing for state flexibility. 

Conclusion 

Based on the above observation, it is advisable that Medicaid expansion should be encouraged. The paper has not only highlighted the concepts relating to the article but also the benefits of expanding Medicaid coverage. 

References 

Sanger-Katz, M ., & Quealy, K. (2017). “What Red States Are Passing Up as Blue States Get 

Billions”. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/upshot/what-red-states-are-passing-up-as-blue-states-get-billions.html