I attended the La Plata County Commissioners meeting with Rep. Jeff Hurd. I would like to thank Hurd for his willingness to show up and hear from the commissioners as well as his constituents. I would also commend our commissioners, especially Marsha Porter-Norton, for their informative and impassioned feedback to Hurd.
Regarding Medicaid, Hurd stated that the cost to the average taxpayer of letting the Trump tax cuts expire would be $1,700 per household. Leaving aside whether that is accurate, it appears that he and his caucus are saying that in order to keep those tax cuts in place, they have to eliminate access to Medicaid for the working poor in our county or across the nation. Commissioner Porter-Norton pointed out that 43% of our county is enrolled in Medicaid.
Mr. Hurd, I am willing to pay $1,700 more in taxes to support these folks’ access to Medicaid, and I find it unconscionable that you are willing to put them back into the private health insurance market to finance tax cuts for millionaires. You are trying to balance your reconciliation bill on the backs of the poorest Americans. I urge you to reconsider.
Alan Millar
Durango
