Op-Ed: Our coalition shows breadth of support for Medicaid expansion

Members of the Coalition for a Compassionate Utah recently took to the editorial pages of the Salt Lake Tribune to describe why they and their supporters are asking the governor to accept full Medicaid expansion.

Nearly 123,000 Utahns will have access to health care if Gov. Gary Herbert accepts Medicaid expansion in Utah.

And if he doesn’t? According to the state’s own research, we’ll lose out on more than 3,000 new jobs and $2.2 billion in economic impact throughout the state. The evidence falls increasingly on the side of accepting Medicaid expansion.

The Coalition for a Compassionate Utah has received national attention for its unique approach to pressuring the Governor to accept Medicaid expansion.

More and more we’re learning that real change will only come to Utah when individuals and organizations are willing to reach out of their comfort zones and start collaborating with each other. In fact, the Coalition for a Compassionate Utah recently received positive attention from NonProfit Quarterly, a research-based management journal oriented toward practitioners. According to NPQ, unusual coalitions like ours — that are willing to rally around common issues that aren’t necessarily unique to our own missions — are key to effective activism. This is the future.

Signers of the op-ed include Maryann Martindale, Alliance for a Better UTAH; Allan Smart, Gandhi Alliance for Peace; Christopher Thomas, HEAL Utah; Jenn Gonnelly, League of Women Voters of Utah; Brandie Balken, Equality Utah; Karrie Galloway, Planned Parenthood Action Council; Mark Clemens, Utah Chapter, Sierra Club; Miriam Hyde, Utah Disability Caucus; Gina Cornia, Utahns Against Hunger.

A link to the NPQ story can be found here. The full op-ed can be found here.

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