This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Your story about Sherilyn Horrocks in Thursday's Tribune ("Dying for coverage: Utahn lobbies to expand Medicaid") really puts a face on the serious issue of people who fall through the cracks of our health care system.
She is but one of the people the Affordable Care Act is designed to help, and without the expansion of Medicaid, she may pass away before she reaches the age where Medicare will take care if her. Her life and that of many others literally depend upon Utah's governor acting to expand the Medicaid system, but, due to the tea party politics that control the state, he has delayed and delayed.
Their collective failure to expand the Medicaid program, even though it will mean millions of dollars coming to the state from the federal government, will mean a "thumbs down" when it comes to life or death for many people.
It's ironic that people in the tea party first introduced the idea of death panels as a way of defeating the Affordable Care Act and now it turns out that they are the ones pulling the plug.
Richard Stone
Salt Lake City