A TIME FOR UNITY

by Paul Gibbs

When I first decided to make Entitled to Life, I started to meet with people who were working to support Medicaid expansion or what was just then becoming known as Healthy Utah. The 2014 Utah general legislative session had just ended, and a straight up Medicaid expansion hadn't even made it to a vote. One of the first people with whom I met asked me a question that took me completely by surprise: "What's the purpose of your documentary? Is it to express angry at the legislature for not passing Medicaid expansion? Or is it to raise awareness and try to support getting the best possible plan through?" I had to do some serious thinking about that. But I decided that the second option was by far the more productive. That's what I've tried to stick to since.

The reason I tell this story now is because we're at a very important turning point. A week ago statements from House Speaker Greg Hughes and House Majority Leader gave most of us the impression that a plan which would cover up to 138% of the poverty level and bring back the maximum possible amount of Utah tax money from the federal government was no longer a serious possibility.  Now, the so-called Gang of Six (including Hughes and Dunnigan) has announced an agreement for the "framework" of a plan which does just that. We don't know much about the details at this point, and a lot of questions have to be answered. But there's no denying this is a huge step in the right direction. Now, pending those details,  we have to ask ourselves some important questions as well.

The plan isn't going to be a straight up expansion of traditional Medicaid. It's not going to be exactly the same as Healthy Utah. But from what they're telling us, it's closer to both than I frankly thought had any chance of happening at this point. Real coverage for up to 138% fpl and getting back the maximum federal funding has always been the goal. That's what the "Utah Cares" plan we so disliked failed to do. And they can't exactly bring back the controversial work requirement that's already by rejected by the Obama administration. And with the support of Hughes and Dunnigan,  this plan has a real chance of passing. I've made my frustrations with Hughes and Dunnigan very clear in the past. I couldn't have much more strongly disagreed with their approaches during the 2015 legislative session, and nothing I was seeing or hearing from them between now and then changed my mind. But if the details of the new plan are workable (and I join most of my fellow activists in being optimistic that they are), I'll happily consider the two of them allies. Anger over past issues will serve no purpose and distrust and antagonism will be counterproductive.  If we're working toward the same goal, I'm happy to work with them.

At this point there will be no purpose served by dividing into camps and opposing each other to fight over the plan which best suits our respective pure ideologies, or in worrying about what we call the plan or who gets credit. It is necessary to unite in the common effort to get this past both houses of our state legislature,  where the Allen Christensen's and Jake Anderegg's are likely to be no more friendly than before . Any confusion or disunity will be potentially disastrous. But by working together, we can help influence compromise and positive change. It's important that we remember that neither Dunnigan or Hughes have stated an absolute ideological refusal to accept federal funding, and therefore this doesn't constitute an out of character change of position from them which would give reason to be suspicious. If they really have found a solution that silences their fears about sustainability while bringing back the federal funds and providing quality coverage, that will be hard for House Republicans to fight against, especially with the backing of Dunnigan and Hughes. The people many of us thought of us as the biggest obstacles a week ago may very well turn out to be crucial to getting this through. The irony may be equally poetic and frustrating, but what really matters is getting this passed.

For anyone who wonders why, given what I'm saying here, I didn't join with those who supported Utah Cares as "better than nothing" or "the best we can get", the reason is that plan plain and simple didn't get the job done. But in 2014,  I moved from holding out for straight expansion to supporting Healthy Utah because it did, and it appears now that this plan may very well do the same.  And if burying the hatchet with Jim Dunnigan and Greg Hughes helps that happen, then I won't give it a second thought. If the details bear out that this plan offers quality, comprehensive coverage to up to 138% fpl, we need to support it and get the job done. What we needed to do now is push the Gang of Six to give us those details, to be sure that this is real and comprehensive coverage that doesn't fall back on PCN or some other weak and inadequate form of coverage. And, as they've given us no timeline for announcing these details or calling a special session, we need to keep up the pressure that this be done quickly. As we just saw with the untimely death of Carol Frisby, a cancer patient who didn't get the care she needed soon enough, people waiting for this don't have the luxury of time, and therefore these legislators have no right to ask for it either. That's how we can stay involved, and where continued pressure serves a purpose. We don't have all the answers yet, and just as legislators kept insisting they needed to know the details of Healthy Utah, we need to know the details of this. But it's crucial that we
hear them with clear and open minds, not a cynicism that tells us this plan is bad just because of our past feelings toward or experiences with some of the legislators who support it. Some people are going to feel I'm being naive for even considering the idea that Dunnigan and Hughes may now be allies. But all that kind of thinking has the potential to do is kill a solution before it even comes to a vote. I'll take bipartisan hope over partisan cynicism any day.

As I've said in the past concerning Governor Herbert, there will be a time and place to hold people accountable for not acting sooner. But just as we've been asking our opponents to choose between their politics and the needs of tens of thousands of people, we need to be prepared to the same thing. It doesn't matter whether this is victory for Democrats or Republicans.  What matters is a victory for poor and sick people.