We’re very grateful to the hundreds of people that came out and participated in the inaugural Louisiana straw poll. This was a major test of our message and campaign organization. We’ll take the momentum from today and keep pushing forward to a win in October.

Read about Ralph Abraham’s straw poll victory here:

John Bel Edwards has increased Medicaid expansion at a rate that will bankrupt our state if we do not get it under control. We’ve found tens of thousands of residents who are not eligible, including people making over $100,000 per year, on the program. Now we’ve found that there are tens of thousands of residents who have left their private insurance plan to get on state Medicaid. The Governor can’t even tell us how many people qualify because they’ve quit counting. This is unbelievably reckless and irresponsible and is without question unsustainable. Ralph Abraham will not shy away from addressing this and reigning in the fraud, waste, and abuse within our system on day one.

Read the Wall Street Journal op-ed on John Bel Edwards’ Medicaid failures here and below.

Medicaid Expansion has Louisianans Dropping Their Private Plans

Thousands, including some earning six-figures, have opted for ‘free’ government health insurance.

Chris Jacobs

June 7, 2019

If any state can serve as the poster child for the problems associated with ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion, it’s Louisiana, which joined the expansion in 2016, after Democrat John Bel Edwards became governor. An audit released last year exposed ineligible Medicaid beneficiaries, including at least 1,672 people who made more than $100,000. But Louisiana’s Medicaid expansion has revealed another waste of taxpayer funds, both in the Pelican State and nationwide: the money spent providing coverage to people who already had health insurance.

Via a public-records request, the Pelican Institute obtained data demonstrating that thousands of Louisiana residents dropped their private coverage to enroll in Medicaid under the expansion. A spreadsheet compiled by the Louisiana Department of Health put the count between 3,000 and 5,000 people a month, and that doesn’t count those who enrolled in Medicaid first, then dropped private coverage.

When asked about the spreadsheet, Medicaid officials stated in an email that the Health Department “stopped producing” the data in late 2017 when it discovered its vendor’s information “was limited to [third-party liability] during the period of Medicaid enrollment.” Because the vendor couldn’t track beneficiaries before or after their Medicaid enrollment, the spreadsheet arguably underestimated the number of people dropping private coverage to enroll in Medicaid.

The Health Department’s internal spreadsheet information comports with other coverage estimates. A survey by Louisiana State University researchers found that, from 2015-17, enrollment in private insurance fell precipitously among low-income Louisiana residents eligible for Medicaid under the expansion. The number of people covered by private health insurance declined by tens of thousands, even as Medicaid enrollment skyrocketed by more than 141,000.

That masses of Louisiana residents canceled their private coverage to enroll in “free” Medicaid should surprise no one. In 2007 Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist Jonathan Gruber, who later became an architect of ObamaCare, concluded that some coverage expansions would see rates of “crowd-out”—government programs squeezing out private insurance—approaching 60%. Eight years later, Louisiana’s Legislative Fiscal Office estimated that crowd-out would cost taxpayers between $900 million and $1.3 billion over five years. Because enrollment in Medicaid expansion vastly exceeded initial projections, the true cost may rise far higher.

Federal budget analysts have yet to quantify the effect of crowd-out on Medicaid expansion—but they should, because estimates suggest that Washington is spending billions annually funding Medicaid for people with prior health coverage. Montana officials recently released a study boasting of 8,700 workers who would have employer-sponsored coverage but for Medicaid expansion, claiming that expansion provided “cost savings to businesses” of up to $114 million. Only in a bureaucrat’s mind would more government spending, taxes and government dependency represent “cost savings.”

In response to the Louisiana audit, the state recently purged more than 30,000 ineligible people from the rolls. Health Secretary Rebekah Gee claimed the action demonstrated how she and Gov. Edwards “want to make sure that only those that need Medicaid have Medicaid.” But good stewards of taxpayer dollars, upon receiving preliminary reports of people dropping coverage to enroll in Medicaid, would have demanded better data and fashioned policy solutions to address the problem. The Louisiana Department of Health did neither and stopped compiling the data.

Generations of Louisiana politicians, since Gov. Huey Long in the 1930s, have claimed that fostering an economy rooted in government dependence will lead to prosperity. But the more than 67,000 residents who have left the state in the past three years alone see a stagnant economy and a slowly sinking state. Louisiana can do better, and other states thinking about Medicaid expansion should think again.

America is booming under President Trump, but Louisiana is suffering under John Bel Edwards’ failed liberal policies. Louisiana CANNOT afford to miss out on the Trump boom. It’s time to start winning.

Read Ralph Abraham’s new op-ed here.

BATON ROUGE, La – The month of June begins with Congressman Ralph Abraham tied 45-45 against Governor John Bel Edwards.

The tied race coincides with Ralph Abraham’s name recognition exceeding 50 percent across Louisiana for the first time. This data shows a clear trend that Ralph Abraham will overtake Governor Edwards as his name recognition increases.

The survey, conducted by the nationally recognized polling firm, Remington Research, shows Congressman Abraham extending his lead over his Republican opponent to 26 points, strengthening the likelihood Abraham will be taking on Governor Edwards in the November General Election.

When asked if the Governor has done a good enough job to deserve reelection, John Bel Edwards is strongly repudiated, with only 42 percent of likely voters responding that he should be sent back for a second term and 48 percent responding that Louisiana needs a new governor.

“These are devastating numbers for an incumbent Governor – or really an incumbent anything – to be facing headed into re-election,” stated Lionel Rainey III, Ralph Abraham’s political consultant.

Congressman Ralph Abraham adds, “Voters are responding to our message of lower taxes and more jobs. They are sick of watching Louisiana lose and are ready to embrace a conservative leader who can turn things around.”

Pollster Contact Information:

Titus Bond
(913) 636-1532
tbond@remingtonresearchgroup.com

About Remington Poll:

Survey conducted June 1 through June 2, 2019. 1,471 likely 2019 General Election voters participated in the survey. Survey weighted to match expected turnout demographics for the 2019 General Election. Margin of Error is +/-2.6%. Totals do not always equal 100% due to rounding.

The poll can be found here.

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Thank you to conservatives from every single parish in Louisiana who are all in to elect Ralph Abraham as governor and get this state on track.