Hi all,
I wrote my presentation out & they all (a dozen, including a few City
Council people - Dave Radford) listened in silence, & I wasn't sure if they
were supportive. At the end as I left, several smiled encouragingly at me
(including Dave Radford) - That was quite a relief! There was 1 questioner,
(to which I gave an ad lib answer), about national news today of more budget
cuts in general, so what happens if funding goes away, then state is left
with this financial responsibility. I was prepared for this as I had just
read the FAQ on Medicaidforidaho website. Quoting that, I said the Expansion
coverage would go away - unless state chose to continue it. I said I believe
the legislature would otherwise replace it with something else, as they seem
to want to do something about the Gap, even if they just replaced it with a
bare-bones primary care coverage in the community, annual screenings etc.
But we would have had at least temporary coverage where conditions could be
treated and managed and people get educated on their conditions and into
prevention programs etc. It looked from faces and nods as if this was a
fairly satisfying answer. I said this (primary care solution) had already
been raised in the legislature and voted down, does not cover the gap with
comprehensive coverage, but better than nothing. I think it was a plus to
say that I believe the Legislature does have some concern about the Gap. I
also briefly referenced other waivers now, and said Medicaid Expansion is
better as it covers the whole Gap population with comprehensive coverage and
is easier to administer, as an existing program.
I circulated petitions (the Chair said he would invite people there to sign
his petition afterwards, separated by counties, and get notarized in their
office). I had also circulated (in a packet for each person) the instruction
sheet, list of county contacts (printed from website) and postcard - I added
https:// in the blank space at the bottom) and wrote the website in full on
the back. I also circulated the form at the beginning for people to write
their name/contact details, so we can follow up about the petitions. I asked
them to write their organization's name, some did, otherwise they were just
individuals, and I said I'm also just speaking as an individual, not
representing EIRMC. That was another question!
If you want, I could email you my talk - it was personalized to my reasons
for getting involved. It is not "grammar correct" for an email as it was
meant to be just spoken. I did give a copy afterwards to the Board President
(my neighbor), who had invited me.
Bit of a relief it's done!
I'll be interested to hear what Tony (the President & representative for
Hispanic Community) says afterwards, and he said he can pass any petitions
to me later on.
See you later this week!
Melanie
