जोर्डन रासमुसेन, पूर्व कर्मचारी सदस्य द्वारा
नोभेम्बरको मतपत्रमा मेडिकेड विस्तार देखा पर्ने राष्ट्रको चौथो राज्य हुने नेब्रास्का सेट गरिएको छ। यो महिनौंदेखि हस्ताक्षर सङ्कलन र प्रमाणीकरण, र पहल विरुद्धको मुद्दा खारेज भएपछि आएको हो। यो राज्य इडाहो, युटा र मोन्टाना (जहाँ विस्तार समाप्त हुनेछ) सँग मिलेर मतदाताहरूलाई आफ्ना हजारौं छिमेकीहरूको लागि स्वास्थ्य सेवा कभरेज पहुँचको भविष्यको बारेमा निर्णय गर्न अनुमति दिन्छ। यदि चारै राज्यहरूमा पारित भयो भने, अनुमानित आधा मिलियन कम आय भएका बासिन्दाहरूले कभरेज प्राप्त गर्नेछन्।
Initiative 427, as it will appear on the ballot in Nebraska, would extend health care coverage to nearly 90,000 hard-working residents, who earn less than $17,000 annually. This means that they earn too little to qualify for coverage from the insurance marketplace and too much to be eligible for Medicaid. In these same rural counties, access to health care coverage through an employer is at its least and expansion could have a profound impact in helping keep rural hospitals and clinics open.
Center for Rural Affairs staff, board members, and volunteers played a significant role in the collection of signatures necessary for the ballot initiative, assisting with the qualification of four counties. All told, nearly 105,000 valid signatures were collected and at least 5 percent of registered voters in 47 of Nebraska’s 93 counties signed the petition. A simple majority vote in November will enact Medicaid expansion into law in Nebraska, joining the 33 other states that have done so already.
Feature photo: Nebraska resident Nicole Crabtree signs a petition to get Medicaid expansion onto the ballot. Corbin Delgado, a Center for Rural Affairs policy assistant, helped collect the 105,000 signatures necessary for the ballot initiative. | Photo by Cody Smith
