Overloading a broken Medicaid program hurts the most vulnerable
On Friday, state Rep. Rosemary Mulligan, a Republican from Park Ridge, signed onto ObamaCare's expansion. She, too, voted for the moratorium on expanding the program earlier this year.
Jonathan Ingram
Director of Health Policy and Pension Reform
Last July, the Supreme Court ruled that ObamaCare’s massive expansion of Medicaid was completely voluntary. We’ve previously highlighted why the state shouldn’t voluntarily overload its already-broken Medicaid program with even more people.
One point often forgotten is that many of the individuals who would become eligible for Medicaid under the expansion are actually eligible for federal subsidies to purchase private health insurance. But they wont be eligible for those subsidies if lawmakers expand Medicaid.
The good news is that Illinois law currently prohibits ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion. State law currently provides:
Moratorium on eligibility expansions. Beginning on January 25, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 96-1501), there shall be a 4-year moratorium on the expansion of eligibility
Nevertheless, a group of 34 Democratic state lawmakers have proposed to change the law in order implement ObamaCare’s voluntary expansion of Medicaid. Most of them voted for the moratorium back in 2011 and nearly all of them voted to extend the moratorium last spring.
On Friday, state Rep. Rosemary Mulligan, a Republican from Park Ridge, signed onto ObamaCare’s expansion. She, too, voted for the moratorium on expanding the program earlier this year.
Of course, this isnt the first time shes been on the side of bad public policy. She received a failing grade from the Illinois Opportunity Projects annual report card. According to their analysis, she voted for pro-growth policies just 43 percent of the time in the spring session.
Shes also the only Republican to co-sponsor ObamaCares massive expansion of Medicaid. If youd like to contact Rep. Mulligan, her contact information is below. If youd like to look up and contact your own lawmaker, you can do that here.
State Rep. Rosemary Mulligan
District Office: (847) 297-6533
Capitol: (217) 782-8007