Title
To acknowledge the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Medicaid program and its profound impact on health care throughout the City of Columbus and the United States of America.
Body
WHEREAS, the Medicaid program was signed into the law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 as a pillar of the Great Society program with the goal of eliminating poverty and racial injustice; and
WHEREAS, Medicaid has been sustained and expanded through eight subsequent Presidents of the United States, and most recently expanded in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, signed into law by President Barack Obama; and
WHEREAS, the expansion of Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act has been affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius and King v. Burwell; and
WHEREAS, Medicaid is available to the any resident of Columbus living at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, children, pregnant women, and people who are aged, blind or who have a disability; and
WHEREAS, the County of Franklin in Ohio has over 43,000 residents benefiting from expanded access to high-quality healthcare; and
WHEREAS, Enroll America recognizes that much work is still to be done to ensure that all Columbus residents are accessing high-quality healthcare through their employer, the marketplace or Medicaid; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
That this Council does hereby applaud the fiftieth anniversary of Medicaid in the United States for its impact on improving health outcomes for all communities and acknowledges the need for all Columbus residents to enroll in high-quality health plans.