Pay taxes, keep health jobs

Instead of trying to turn Medicaid into a jobs program and take affordable health care away from low-income working adults, Gov. Matt Bevin would do better to review our tax code. If I understand state budget documents correctly, 2016 revenue estimates are almost the same as the current exemptions of $10 billion.

Health care is an important investment in citizens and our communities. I have heard little about the health-care jobs which have been added in order to serve the 400,000 additional patients. According to Ron Crouch, former director of Kentucky Data Center, 34,000 jobs have been added in the health system over the past 10 years.

What will happen to these jobs if patient populations decrease significantly? The paychecks of health-care workers turn over many times in our communities. They support growth in housing markets, services and retail sales.

Kentuckians are healthier than ever before. Access to community-based health care has improved. If Kentuckians work together and pay our fair share, we can support excellent public education and a healthy and productive work force, and our communities will thrive.

This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Pay taxes, keep health jobs."