Missouri and the ACA

Recently, the Southeast Missourian updated its Facebook feed with negative stories and an editorial about the Affordable Care Act.

I'm not sure if our local newspaper is obligated to be "fair and balanced," but as someone who writes for its special publications and teaches health communication, I thought I should provide the rest of the story.

Readers need to remember our state legislature weakened the ACA. By choosing not to have a state-run exchange, not to expand Medicaid and not to allow health care navigators to help our citizens understand their choices, our lawmakers deprived Missourians of the options and education they needed to benefit most from the ACA. And the Missourian editorial states that "uncertainty abounds?" No wonder people are uncertain. They've been provided with one Doomsday scenario after another. For an example of how this uncertainty could have been avoided, look to our neighbor, Kentucky. Kentucky expanded Medicaid and had an exchange website built locally. Interestingly, Kentuckians who oppose "Obamacare" love Kynect, their health insurance exchange website. Perhaps if Missouri had developed its own exchange, Missourians might feel similarly.

The fact is more than 7 million of our fellow Americans enrolled in private health care insurance programs. We can embrace this number and celebrate that the percentage of uninsured Americans has fallen dramatically. Or, we can stick our fingers in our ears and scream loudly so the facts won't penetrate. Just remember, saying something louder doesn't make it true.

BROOKE HILDEBRAND CLUBBS, Jackson