Robin Mead had a brain tumor, but no health insurance. And when doctors discovered it, she was defiant.
“They made it sound like a simple surgery — we’re just going to pop a baseball size chunk out of your skull right here,” Mead says pointing to her head. “No you’re not. I don’t have any insurance. They said well, it’s not an option, it’s a brain tumor. And I said, you’re not understanding what I’m saying. I don’t have any insurance; I can’t afford it.”
The 47-year-old mother of three worked a full-time job, but didn’t receive benefits. Doctors warned her that leaving the benign brain tumor in place would impair her hearing, vision, and balance, and might even endanger her life.
“She was superwoman,” Mead’s 28-year old daughter Shellby says. “It was scary. We didn’t know if she was going to get better.”
But still, Mead couldn’t fathom going bankrupt to pay for the surgery.
Medical staff searched for a solution. They told her about a program in Michigan made possible by Obamacare, and enacted by the state’s Republican governor. “Healthy Michigan” expanded the pool of people eligible to receive Medicaid benefits. It was open to anyone who made $16,000 per year or less, or $33,000 per year or less for a family of four.
Mead swiftly cut back her hours at work to meet the threshold, filled out the paperwork, and eight months later she underwent surgery to get that brain tumor removed. She credits “Healthy Michigan” and her newfound insurance plan as “the reason I’m still here today.”
The fear of losing ‘Healthy Michigan’
Mead’s story is just one of the many inspiring Governor Rick Snyder in his fight to keep parts of Obamacare. Snyder is one of 16 Republican governors in states that have expanded Medicaid in their states, even though the Supreme Court ruled it wasn’t mandatory under Obamacare.
Governor Snyder describes it as a win-win for all sides; more people are receiving health care benefits, and there is a 44% drop in uncompensated care days at hospitals around the state. Michigan now has 646,745 people signed up for “Healthy Michigan,” despite only expecting 470,000 to enroll.
The federal government began funding 100% of the cost of the expanded enrollment nationwide, but it will be stepping down to 90% by 2020. But, with the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress on course to repeal, and potentially replace, Obamacare, all of that funding for Medicaid expansion could go out the window.
Snyder and eight other Republican governors met with the Senate Finance Committee the day before Donald Trump’s inauguration to stress the importance of keeping “Healthy Michigan,” and other programs like it across the country, funded.
“This is the best case I’ve ever seen in terms of Congress wanting to listen and actually have a positive dialogue with the states,” Snyder says, expressing optimism about the meeting.
States may have to take fight up with Trump
If Medicaid expansion remains, the real fight could be over funding. President Trump’s senior adviser Kellyanne Conway has said part of the new administration’s plans for repealing and replacing Obamacare would include converting federal funds for Medicaid into block grants.
Block grants have long been favored by Republicans, but they could create a number of additional hurdles, like how much each state would receive, how to regulate the way states spend the funds, and how to cover changes in enrollment.
Governor Snyder, however, doesn’t agree with the concept of block grants, saying handing states a chunk of money without any preconditions won’t work.
“There needs to be some degree of accountability. It should be accountability based on outcomes. Hold us accountable for having healthier people.”
Progressive critics have expressed concern that budget hawks could target block grants to cut federal health care. Snyder says he has not spoken to President Trump about his state’s needs, but has spoken with Congressman Tom Price, nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary.
Jia Ireland is hopeful Governor Snyder’s pleas to the federal government are successful. As a 24-year-old graduate student working part-time, but focused on receiving her Master’s degree in April, she too is enrolled in “Healthy Michigan.”
Ireland lives in Flint, where she’s been affected by the water crisis, and for years she was unable to afford health insurance. When Michigan’s expanded Medicaid was enacted, she enrolled and now receives annual physicals and preventative care. She is counting on Snyder to save Medicaid expansion in Michigan, and worries about the Trump administration’s planned repeal of Obamacare.
“To have that just snatched away from you because a different President and a different administration comes in, it’s really sad,” Ireland lamented. “I deserve to have access to affordable health insurance. I deserve to be able to go to the doctor if I have an issue or go to the hospital and not have to go into massive debt.”
