On December 5, 2013 Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio asked for and was granted permission to address the United States House of Representatives for one minute regarding the expansion of Medicaid in her state.
“Madam Speaker, prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, 23 percent of Ohioans with incomes below 133 percent of the Federal poverty level were uninsured. But thanks to the expansion of Medicaid in my home State of Ohio, all of the almost 600,000 residents who are uninsured with incomes below 138 percent of the Federal poverty level will now have access to Medicaid coverage.”
“In my district alone, an additional 72,000 people became eligible for Medicaid. And next Monday, December 9, all of these individuals will be able to begin signing up for health care coverage that begins January 1. No longer will I receive calls from constituents like Brandon Proctor, who was told that he was “too rich for Medicaid but too poor for subsidies.”
“This is the way the Affordable Care Act was supposed to work. Finally, all Ohioans will have access to quality and affordable health care”, said Rep. Fudge (source: Congressional Record http://thomas.loc.gov).
See video: Medicaid Expansion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pamZ91fBM6I
See video: Faith Leaders express outrage over Medicaid expansion wasn’t included in the budget http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uRxz30blxU