Parents, let your children know about key issues

Knowledge is about learning, becoming informed. The retired people of Kootenai County have time for the luxury of continuous learning, and I suspect they are knowledgeable about political issues. But, those currently employed adults may not have time to commit to reading.

Those working people do what’s necessary in their daily lives to care for and support their families, attend church functions and perform their domestic duties. If there’s any remaining time, it probably won’t be spent reading, therefore, it’s likely they are politically uninformed.

Once our children move out and begin their independent lives, we are still their parents. I know we all have exercised our innate compulsion, usually unsolicited, to advise our grown young people of important issues, but, do we share one of the most important topics which will affect them, their children and those sweet little babies on their journey toward adulthood?

I think a logical reason for those uninformed masses of workers is that they don’t know the issues and if so, they don’t know how to go about making changes. That’s where our parenting skills can come into play, yet again.

The article in the March 26 Coeur d’Alene Press, front page, “House kills Medicaid expansion,” is about the Medicaid expansion options and how our legislators voted the idea down. The proposal as indicated in this article states, “… a proposal to allow the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to apply for a Medicaid waiver to provide health insurance for people who have incomes below 100 percent of the federal poverty line.”

There are approximately 78,000 Idahoans without health insurance because they do not qualify for Medicaid health coverage. This sad situation will continue until changes are made through our elected legislators. This program is designed to cover low-income people who do not qualify for a subsidy.

Our current Kootenai County elected legislators just killed this important proposal during the most recent legislative meeting. Do your employed teenagers and other family members fit into this financial category of the uninsured? If so, become proactive, even “nag” at your family members about the importance of electing representatives who will actually represent the needs of the people. This proposal to explore Medicaid expansion in Idaho, if passed, will provide health benefits for both our young and old.

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Janie Hansen is a Coeur d’Alene resident.