Here is the article on budget cuts to Medicaid etc that I think the questioner
was talking about (just found this).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/white-house-budget-proposes-increase-to-defense-spending-and-cuts-to-safety-net-but-federal-deficit-would-remain/2018/02/12/f2eb00e6-100e-11e8-8ea1-c1d91fcec3fe_story.html?utm_term=.ba46ac025966
Melanie
From: Andy & Melanie Edwards [mailto:edwardsam@xxxxx] ;
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2018 3:48 PM
To: 'reclaim-if@xxxxxxxxxxxxx' <reclaim-if@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: [MEFI] Re: EICAP Board meeting feedback
I’ve attached my talk. Hope it was OK. I mainly wrote it yesterday, then went
to see “The Post”, & heard the KISU broadcast of Dr Adler’s Constitutional
lecture about the Pentagon Papers and “The Post” on NPR on the way home! Very
good movie & excellent lecture from Dr Adler – it’s on KISU website under
Alturas presentations.
At the end of my talk, the Board President just said “I invited Melanie to talk
to us on this because it’s Democracy 101”, & they thanked me for coming.
Give me any comments & pointers so I can make it better for next time. I didn’t
actually time it as there was a longer bit at the end for the question, but I
read quite fast so I think the actual talk was under 10.
Melanie
From: reclaim-if-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:reclaim-if-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:reclaim-if-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Leslie Smith
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2018 3:00 PM
To: reclaim-if@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:reclaim-if@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [MEFI] Re: EICAP Board meeting feedback
Melanie, that sounds great. Thank you for doing this! I would love to see
your speech.
Leslie
On Tue, Feb 13, 2018 at 2:37 PM, Andy & Melanie Edwards <edwardsam@xxxxx
<mailto:edwardsam@xxxxx> > wrote:
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
