Medicaid expansion would add jobs for Georgia; AJC; 6-2-14

Medicaid expansion would

add jobs for Georgia

I am a Republican and a former elected official, but I hate to see ads coming out that are just plain wrong. In the GOP Senate race, ads came out that said Rep. Gingrey was not a conservative. Regardless of how you feel about Gingrey, these ads clearly lied to voters. Similarly, a series of ads are now beginning to run about Jason Carter. Among the things stated is that Carter supports Obamacare which will cost jobs. This is highly misleading. First, more uninsured people have already been added to the Medicaid roles just because Medicaid is more visible now than before. This addition of insured people has created jobs in the health care field in our state. If Governor Deal and the legislature would actually implement the most important part of Obamacare, expansion of Medicaid, over 70,000 jobs would be created per a GSU study. And, the Feds would pay 100 percent of the cost for the first 3 years, gradually scaling back to 90 percent. What a deal, to use a pun, for Georgia.

JACK BERNARD, MONTICELLO