Kaiser Health News: A Harvard study published in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that low-income residents of three states that expanded Medicaid generally lived longer, were healthier and had better access to health care than residents of neighboring states that did not expand the program. (Link To Story)

National Council of La Raza: For 77 years, each generation has done its part to maintain our Social Security system—the foundation of our retirement security. In the past 30 years, Social Security has grown in importance as economic changes—such as the decline of labor unions and manufacturing jobs—have led to fewer companies offering retirement plans to workers, with American men being the hardest hit. Today, only a little over half of all workers have access to a private retirement plan at work, making our Social Security system more vital than ever. Latino workers rely even more heavily on Social Security, since only one-third have retirement benefits at work. Given the critical importance of our Social Security system to the vast majority of our nation’s workers, why are some politicians proposing to cut it? (Link to story)

The Nation: When we hear the term voter participation, we think about people who are engaged to some degree in local politics, and who will mobilize on Election Day to cast a ballot. The image also infers the opposite: eligible voters who do not participate, thereby weakening the democratic process. Voter participation focuses on individual responsibility—but a truly engaged voter base is also the responsibility of the state. (Link to story)