More good news

I'll take all the good news I can get these days. Here are two items that fit the bill. The first is an AP article about Medicaid expansion in West Virginia and what a huge success it has been. Let me say again that this has been the biggest advance for social justice on my watch.

At the time I was a small part of the push to get Gov. Tomblin to make this decision, the most optimistic of us thought we might eventually cover 120,000 or so uninsured West Virginians after a few years. The latest numbers are right at 164,400, which comes pretty close to being 1 out of 10 state residents. Again, these are people who work for a living.

Yesterday's post talked about how Utah may be moving toward its own version of expansion. I found out today that Alaska Gov. plans to expand Medicaid coverage, this time without one of those lame waivers that reduces the quality of coverage and transfers wealth to the private sector. This will mean health insurance for around 42,000 low income working

I think this means that something like 30 states and the District of Columbia have embraced basic humanity by enacting this life saving and life changing reform.

It's not all bad news.