Letters: KC readers discuss Missouri Medicaid, Josh Hawley and the J&J vaccine pause
Voters’ voice
The latest actions of the Missouri legislature in blocking funds for Medicaid expansion are an affront to the will of the voters, who approved expansion by 53% last August. The Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee last week — by a 7-7 vote — failed to restore Medicaid expansion funding in the state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Although Gov. Mike Parson had included expansion funding in his budget proposal, Medicaid expansion was stripped by the House.
With the federal government paying 90% of the cost of expansion — and the most recent federal stimulus adding 5% to what the feds will pay for all Medicaid services — the argument that the state can’t afford it does not hold up. A March 2 report from the Missouri Budget Project shows that Medicaid expansion actually would save money for the state in the upcoming fiscal year, by transferring many state-funded health services to the 90% federal share.
Most important, as physicians, we continue to see every day the human toll of not expanding Medicaid. Too many of our patients go without needed health care because they can’t afford it.
We strongly encourage the full Senate and the House to restore Medicaid expansion funding.
- Scott W. Kujath, President, Kansas City Medical Society
- James Wetzel, Chair, Kansas City Medical Society Foundation, Kansas City
Constituents’ concern
A Sunday letter writer from Overland Park asked when Missouri voters will realize what an embarrassment Sen. Josh Hawley is. (18A) He can’t possibly be more concerned about this man’s behavior than this lifelong resident of Missouri.
I have written or called Hawley’s office more times than I can count. From his responses, I have concluded that he doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him. He’s oblivious.
Since he aspires to be the Republican nominee for president in 2024, it’s unlikely he will run for a second term in the Senate. Although that’s good for Missouri, it’s terrible for the country.
I want to make sure you know not all Missourians are keen on Josh Hawley. There are, in fact, many people like me.
- Kathleen Leach, Kansas City
Don’t quit now
We all want to be done with this pandemic. We are tired, we are lonely, we are isolated and we are over it. Speaking as a health care worker on the front lines since day one, I can say I would give literally anything to be done with this.
I saw a glimmer of hope when I received the Pfizer vaccine, and I witnessed countless other health care workers lining up with exhaustion but relief hidden behind their masks, knowing this would soon be over. Hope was on the way.
That is, until the halt to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was announced because of six people experiencing blood clots. Six people out of 6 million is a considerably low number compared with the number of, let’s say, women who have clots while on birth control every year. Yet, we have not pulled contraception from the market.
Physicians across the globe are urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to march forward in the fight against COVID-19. With continued monitoring and disclosure of side effects, we can responsibly dispense medication and still win the war. (April 25, 4A, “Missouri will resume use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine”) But the war will be lost if we completely paralyze vaccination efforts. We must fight on.
- Karen Florio, Lee’s Summit
This story was originally published April 27, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: KC readers discuss Missouri Medicaid, Josh Hawley and the J&J vaccine pause."