HB 590 would have helped her

Letter to the Editor,

As someone who was in Helena on Monday for the rally for Medicaid expansion and spoke for the bill, I am highly disgusted that House Bill 590 was shot down on party lines. HB 590 would have affected my life in four good ways.

I would have had insurance, my husband and son still would have had Medicaid, my husband’s spend-down would have disappeared, and I could have gone back to work. 

Idiots killed the bill based on the thought that somebody making $15,000 per year should be able to make $700 a month insurance payments. That would leave us with $552 to live on a year. I was very upset last night. I had hopes of returning to work. 

It is just not possible. I can’t afford the 20 percent Medicare doesn’t cover. I wouldn’t be able to afford $52,580, which is 20 percent of the kidney transplant, and they would want that in advance. If I went back to work without Medicaid expansion, everything I made and more would go to my husband’s medical. 

There would be nothing left to go to basic living needs for a family of three. 

And, of course, I wouldn’t qualify for any extra help with any of this due to my working income. So, somebody else tell me to get a job, yeah that’ll help.

— Jenn Caves

Butte