Low-income families, children deserve better

I thought a governor was supposed to represent all of a state's citizens, including the poor and low-income families. So why would Gov. Terry Branstad oppose Medicaid expansion for Iowa's low-income citizens? Did they not contribute to his re-election campaign? Are low-income families and children not important?

Expansion of the Medicaid program would not cost Iowans anything until 2017 and only 10 percent after 2020. This is a good alternative for Iowa. Recent Gazette articles have stated expansion of Medicaid could include 150,000 poorer Iowans, of which 60,000 are children now in the Iowa Cares Program, which expires in 2014. The governor's excuse is that the feds will not come through with the funding, but conveniently hasn't cited when and how this has happened before.

Branstad, along with the other Republican governors, actively opposed the Affordable Care Act. Now they are intent upon doing whatever they can to discredit the program regardless of the impact upon poor children and their families. Iowa's low-income families and their children deserve better.

Bob Sprengeler

Cedar Rapids