By CAP Action War Room

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A 32-Year-Old Woman Is Dead Because Of Political Games

Charlene Dill, with her son

CREDIT: GoFundMe

In too many states, Republican lawmakers are refusing to provide health coverage to millions of Americans through the Medicaid program simply because of politics. These political games have real consequences.

The debate over whether to accept or not accept federal funding to provide health insurance often deals with a lot of charts and numbers. But today, sadly, this debate has a name: Charlene Dill. Dill, a 32-year-old working mom with three small children, died recently because she didn’t have access to the care she needed. She worked three part-time jobs to stay afloat, earning an estimated $9,000 per year. Because this was more than the $6,809 limit to qualify for Medicaid in Florida, she fell into the coverage gap.

Reporter Billy Manes at the Orlando Weekly tells the story:

Dill’s death was not unpredictable, nor was it unpreventable. She had a documented heart condition for which she took medication. But she also happened to be one of the people who fall within the gap created by the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed states to opt out of Medicaid expansion, which was a key part of the Affordable Care Act’s intention to make health care available to everyone. In the ensuing two years, 23 states have refused to expand Medicaid, including Florida, which rejected $51 billion from the federal government over the period of a decade to overhaul its Medicaid program to include people like Dill and [her best friend Kathleen Voss] Woolrich – people who work, but do not make enough money to qualify for the Affordable Care Act’s subsidies. They, like many, are victims of a political war – one that puts the lives and health of up to 17,000 U.S. residents and 2,000 Floridians annually in jeopardy, all in the name of rebelling against President Barack Obama’s health care plan.

Indeed, Charlene Dill will not be the only one who dies because she lacked access to care due to the coverage gap. A recent study found that up to 2,200 Floridians — and 17,000 Americans overall — will die directly as a result of their states refusing to accept the federal funding to expand health care for their residents. The study also estimates that nationwide, individuals with “catastrophic medical expenditures” as a result of being in the coverage gap will number around 240,000 people.

If Florida did accept the nearly $5.2 billion in federal funding to expand health care, it has been projected to increase economic activity by $8.9 billion through 2016 and create approximately 71,300 new jobs in the state.

Kathleen Voss Woolrich, Dill’s best friend who had turned to crowdfunding websites to raise money to pay for Dill’s heart medication and then, tragically, to pay for her friend’s funeral, wrote:

You see the main argument Republicans use is that it’s some lazy person who needs Medicaid expansion. That those of us living without healthcare or dental care are lazy. But my friend, a single beautiful mother, worked three jobs. I am burying my best friend because of the policies of the Republican Party. I am burying my best friend because had Medicaid expanded, her needs would have been met.

BOTTOM LINE: Conservative legislators who have continued to refuse federal funding to expand health care for their citizens must realize that political decisions have real consequences. A 32-year-old woman who could not afford her heart medication because she fell into the medicaid coverage gap is now dead. It’s time we put an end to avoidable — but now permanent — consequences like this one.

By CAP Action War Room

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It’s Long Past Time To Close The Gender Wage Gap

Tuesday was Equal Pay Day, the day that marks how much longer the average woman has to work into 2014 to make the same amount as a man made in 2013. Because women make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes, that amounts to almost 60 extra workdays and 100 extra days in total.

Women are the sole or co-breadwinners in the great majority of families, yet women working at all income levels tend to be paid less. It should not be more difficult for women and their families to get ahead. It’s illegal to pay women less, but gender discrimination in pay exists. It’s time to make equal pay for equal work a reality.

President Obama marking the day by signing two new executive orders that remove barriers to ensure equal pay for equal work. This issue has been a priority for Obama ever since the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first bill he signed into law. But pay secrecy stands in the way to enforcing equal pay laws since a woman who doesn’t know she is underpaid can’t take action to close the gap. That’s where the new executive orders come in:

1. Prohibit Federal Contractors From Retaliating Against Employees Who Discuss Compensation. Employees who chose to discuss their pay should not be put at risk of losing their job, being demoted, or denied a job opportunity. Too often, rules prohibiting discussions about pay are used to protect discriminatory practices from coming to light and create a culture of secrecy that has no place in the 21st century American workplace.

2. Require Federal Contractors To Report Data on Pay by Sex and Race. For years, federal enforcement agencies have been limited in their ability to combat pay discrimination because they do not have regular information about how much all federal contractors pay their employees. Having accurate information about an employer’s pay practices is essential in enforcing the law effectively and vigorously.

These executive actions send a clear signal that the administration wants to end pay discrimination. More than two-thirds of voters agree. But it is up to Congress to pass a law to ensure that these rules apply to all businesses, not just those who receive taxpayer dollars. The Paycheck Fairness Act, which the Senate is voting on this week, would do just that. Unfortunately, only 54 Senators are signed onto the bill and numerous members of the GOP seem to think that equal pay just isn’t that important or even that pay discrimination doesn’t exist at all. Mitch McConnell (the Senate’s top Republican!) called it a “bizarre obsession.”

That is just not true. Women earn less when they get the same education, they earn less when they balance children and careers, and they earn less because of discrimination. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women earn less in virtually every job category. So enough about that.

But equal pay is not only an important equity issue, it is also vital economic concern. If women earned equal pay for equal work, our economy would boost GDP by 2.9 percent or almost $450 billion and cut the poverty rate in half for working women.

BOTTOM LINE: Times have changed since the Mad Men era, but our workplaces have failed to keep up. President Obama has taken an important step today in ending pay secrecy for federal contractors, but it is time for Congress to act to bring workplace policies for all into the 21st century. That means passing the Paycheck Fairness Act, and doing everything it can to make sure that women and their families have a fair shot to succeed.

Leading up to the June 23 White House Summit on Working Families, the Department of Labor will host forums across the United States to identify initiatives that benefit America’s working families, businesses and economy. These discussions will help inform the national Summit, which will build momentum around key policy goals and best practices to help both workers and businesses succeed.

Click on a city below to get more information and to be signed up for email updates on the Regional Forums and The White House Summit on Working Families.

The forums will convene businesses, academics, labor leaders, state and local elected officials, tribal leaders, advocates, media, and workers to discuss issues facing the entire spectrum of working families – from young people just starting their work lives, to low-wage workers, to corporate executives; from parents caring for their children to grown up children caring for their own aging parents. Addressing these issues isn’t just the right thing to do for workers – it’s critical to our future competitiveness in the global economy. Removing the barriers that keep our best talent from participating fully in our workforce is key to ensuring that all American businesses can compete in the 21st century.

The White House Summit on Working Families will explore how all sectors can work together on key issues including workplace flexibility and paid leave, equal pay, workplace diversity inclusiveness, career advancement, access to non-traditional and STEM jobs, worker retention and promotion, opportunities for low-wage workers, elder care, childcare and early childhood education. And it will lift up promising and best practices of leading companies and develop solutions for bringing such practices to scale, across industries and for all types of workers.

Follow Jonathan Richards on Twitter: www.twitter.com/criticalcartoon