I believe in self-reliance. Both morally and as a matter of practicality, I don't being overly dependent on others is a good thing. It's not fair to them, and it's not good for you. But any good concept can be distorted. The distortion of the concept of self-reliance is the basis for one of the most common arguments used by opponents of Medicaid, Healthy Utah, or any government program of that nature, that it "promotes dependence". While there is no legitimate proof of or even evidence of this concept, it continues to be treated as if it were established fact by its adherents. And I'll admit there's at least a specious logic to part of it: the idea that once you get past a certain income level, you become ineligible for that kind of assistance, which motivates you not to get ahead. But if one is going go along with that thinking, it's inescapable that Healthy Utah, by eliminating the coverage gap, eliminates that motivation.
Let me explain this as a Q and A
Q: How are people dependent now?
A: Currently, a person who does qualify for Medicaid can lose that coverage by moving just slightly over the limit. It doesn't have to be enough to allow you to afford health insurance, mind you, just enough to go over an arbitrary limit on a piece of paper.
Q: What would Healthy Utah do about tto change that?
A: It would raise the income level required to get people off of coverage.
Q: But won't they just be able to move to move up a little higher, then still be stuck either making less money or giving up their insurance?
A: No, because then they can get coverage under the ACA.
Q: The what?
A: Obamacare.
Q: But Obamacare is bad.
A: Well, that's debatable, but love it or hate it's there and it's not going away. Because of Obamacare, when somebody makes too much to qualify for Healthy Utah they become eligible for subsidies that help them pay premiums, so there's no motivation not to move head.
Q: But then won't they just want to stay where they are and not move off of Obamacare?
A: No, because to lose eligibility for that, it means they make enough to afford health insurance on their own. Healthy Utah completes a bridge that eliminates any need to avoid moving ahead just to keep what you have. It eliminates the motivation to be dependent.
Q: But if we didn't have these programs, people would just want to move ahead in the first place and we wouldn't need programs at all. Isn't that the way to discourage dependence?
A: Uh . . . No. If that were the case we wouldn't have over 45,000 people in the coverage gap, they'd all have good jobs with good insurance. Motivation doesn't help much when there's no way to get what you need.
Q: Huh. But if you're already getting a free ride why move ahead?
A: It's not a free ride. You pay small premiums, even with Healthy Utah. Besides. Healthy Utah and Obamacare don't buy your groceries, pay your rent or utilities, buy your clothes, your car, gas, or anything like that. It doesn't give you a free ride, it's just a safety net that gets people access to something they can't make it without.
Q: Then how come I hate it so much?
A: I have no idea.
If anything, Healthy Utah (and yes, the big bad Affordable Care Act) help encourage and provide ways for people to be less dependent. There is a bridge to self -reliance, and right now that bridge is unfinished, with a huge gap in the middle. Let's close the gap and finish the bridge.
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