Opinion
Letters to the editor, July 26
TBO.com
Published: July 26, 2012
Totally wrongPublished: July 26, 2012
When Margaret Wareham claimed in her July 12 letter to the editor, "Doubly Wrong," that the federal government will reimburse 100 percent if the state expands Medicaid per the Affordable Care Act, she was 100 percent wrong.
Per the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government will assume 100 percent of the Medicaid costs for newly eligible individuals for only the first three years, fiscal 2014-2016. That federal assistance will decrease to just 92.8 percent by fiscal 2019, with no guarantee of that assistance rate being maintained in following years.
But that is only for newly eligible persons and overlooks the fact that ACA mandates coverage for people by 2014 who were already eligible but never signed up. The costs to cover these people now pushed into Medicaid by the ACA will come from the states' general revenue funds. An estimate by the CATO Institute shows that Florida would see an additional cost because of passage of the ACA of $23 billion by 2023, with higher costs continuing indefinitely.
As a taxpayer, I am glad that we have a governor who knows the law better than Ms. Wareham and will spare us the tax burden in future years to cover these added state Medicaid costs.
Dan Stanhope
Palm Harbor
Eyes are important
Another school year is about to begin soon for many kids across the country. Prevent Blindness America wants to make sure that all children have the best chance to be a star pupil by having their vision checked before they start school.
Because so much of a child's learning is done visually, it is imperative that they can see the front of the classroom as well as the words on a page clearly. PBA has declared August as Children's Eye Health and Safety Month in an effort to educate parents on the importance of healthy vision for their children, including offering signs parents can look for to see if their child has a vision problem.
We also invite you to visit the children's section of our website at www.preventblindness.org/eye-problems-adults-children.
Sarah Hecker
Chicago
Editor's note: The writer is director of media relations for Prevent Blindness America.