Some good news. No, really

These days I've been trying whenever possible to highlight any good news when it shows up. On bit of that comes from the Census Bureau, which recently released it's data on poverty and health coverage. Turns out that thanks largely to Medicaid expansion, WV is a national leader in health care coverage.

The percentage of uninsured decreased from 14 to 6 percent and the numbers dropped from 255,000 to 108,000. Not universal yet but moving in the right direction. As I've said before Medicaid expansion in WV has been the biggest victory for social justice on my watch and it's one worth going all out to protect.

Then there's this: according to the WV Division of Corrections, Medicaid expansion is saving money while also providing needed care. By providing help with substance abuse and addiction, it could even reduce recidivism. Here's a snippet from the article:

“One of the drivers behind a criminal history, directly or indirectly, is a substance abuse problem,” Jim Rubenstein, commissioner of the state Division of Corrections told the Gazette-Mail in 2014. “[Medicaid coverage] could make a critical difference, by having some kind of coverage that would gain these individuals access to needed treatment or counseling. And while we know that substance abuse is a big issue, to have coverage for basic medical care could also make a difference in their lives as well.” 

Taken all together this is a pretty big deal.