Healthcare Bill Makes States Fund Expanded Medicaid and Destroys Michigan's State Budget

As the new year dawns, I find myself wondering how long I will continue to be employed as a teacher once the Democrats pass Obamacare. Last week I had a chance to hear on WJR760AM an interview with Michigan's Speaker of the House, Andy Dillon (D-17), and it kind of scared me a little. When he was asked what Michigan's state budget looked like next year, he said "very bad- there will be substantial cuts everywhere." Then he was asked what Michigan's budget will look like after the health care bill is passed, and he said "destroyed- I don't even know how we are going to pay for what the national Democrats are asking for."

Both the Senate and House bills greatly expand eligibility for Medicaid, the welfare program that provides health care services to the poor. The Senate bill would require states to expand their Medicaid programs to cover all Americans up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, ie, to provide free health care to a family of four making under $29,326. The House bill would require states to expand eligibility for Medicaid to 150 percent FPL, or $33,075 for a family of four (see The Heritage Foundation analysis).

The key to this provision is that it is not going to be the national government footing the bill for this touted expansion of coverage, but it is going to be the state governments. The national government is going to tell the state of Michigan, which already is facing a massive budget disaster, that it now will need to cover an estimated additional 500,000 people. There is no way that the state of Michigan can do that without making massive cuts.

Personally, I've put together recommendations on how to cut dozens of useless programs and save our state government millions of dollars. But once this healthcare bill goes through, it will not be a matter of cutting a program or two or trimming a departments budget- it will be about wholesale cuts to important programs.

Those cuts will include massive cuts in the school aid budget (I'm guessing two to three times the massive cuts that we had last year) and the likely elimination of all funding for higher education and community education. Yup, the total elimination (or at least massive cuts) to higher education and extensive layoffs and cuts in pay for primary education.

These massive cuts will likely be offset by a huge decrease in services in other areas and a rise in fees and taxes in a large number of places. Even still, anyone who supported this healthcare bill has made the choice to trade expanded healthcare coverage for people making 25K to 29K in exchange for teachers, professors, fishing, hunting, roads, historical markers, libraries, police, and fire services.

Everyone who works in state government, public education, fire, police, or any industry that the state government helps fund should be totally 100% against this bill, and contacting their organizations and representatives and telling them this. If this bill goes through, you and I might not have a job next year.