If our state legislature decides to block Medicaid expansion, which Governor Inslee supports, your medical care bills and insurance premiums will likely be higher to cover the cost of emergency medical care for the uninsured. In addition, a portion of your federal dollars will pay for Medicaid expansion in other states, but not our own.

Agreeing to the expansion, the state saves $255 million, with the federal government paying 100 percent of the cost to insure the newly eligible for the first three years and continuing to pay 90 percent into 2020. It also directs the resources toward effective, less-expensive preventative medicine rather than emergency care.

It will allow more than 7,500 low-income people in Whatcom County, and many more statewide, to get needed vaccines, cancer screenings and mental health services, creating healthier families and communities.

Whether Medicaid is expanded in our state or not, people who have the resources to pay for medical care are going to pay a large portion of the medical care for those who cannot. By expanding Medicaid in Washington we are ensuring that Washington gets its share of our federal tax dollars and uses it to pay for cost-effective medical care. It is clear that seizing this opportunity makes financial and compassionate sense.

Dr. Colin Goggin

Bellingham