These people are projected to have incomes too high to qualify for their state’s existing Medicaid programs, but below the federal poverty level (nearly $11,500 for an individual) required to be eligible for federal subsidies to buy private coverage on the new online insurance marketplaces set up by the Affordable Care Act. Medicaid is the state-federal health insurance program for the poor. “Millions of adults will remain outside the reach of the ACA and continue to have limited, if any, options for health coverage,” the study concludes. The law provides full federal funding for three years to states that expand Medicaid to cover residents under 138 percent of the poverty level (or just under $15,900 for an individual). But the Supreme Court made that requirement effectively optional for states, and most Republican led-states have opted against expanding the
Most people have high deductibles before the employer will even start to pay some of the health insurance coverage. So while you are trying to meet your deductible you are paying way to much out of pocket by the time the insurance kicks in some people cannot pay their bills or having a hard time keep trying to make their appointments because they are spending a lot of their money on deductibles. Soon everyone is going to have to have health coverage in the U.S. Will they make it so that people can afford the coverage? Will it be decent insurance so that it will be worth paying for? The government needs to really look at the people that they want to provide insurance for.
“Medicaid” Our society is undergoing an intense struggle with healthcare. I chose to discuss Medicaid which is only eligible to a selected few. Medicaid is also a joint federal-state program that provides health coverage or nursing home coverage to certain categories that’s only eligible for people with disabilities, low income families and their children, and the elderly. Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health-related services for people with limited income in the United States. Medicaid was created to help low-asset people who fall into one of these eligibility categories "pay for some or all of their medical bills”.
Though healthcare is currently very costly, studies show that universal healthcare would be cheaper than the current privatized system (Conor). Healthcare acts as an umbrella: covering a group of people by spreading out healthcare costs amongst everyone under the umbrella. The problem with a privatized system is that the umbrella can fluctuate due to competiveness between insurance companies. The United States has a privatized system of healthcare; and out of twenty-nine countries, the U.S. is doing the worst when it comes to healthcare (Conor). There are many reasons why this is so.
There have always been reasons to why the U.S. has not taken the step towards universal healthcare. Insurance companies could end up losing many different patrons, the enduring anti-government sentiment, the complications of this type of health care, and even the racial politics of the South have kept the United States from taking the next step towards universal coverage (Quandagno 12). The inevitable truth is that the United States needs socialized medicine, even if it is hard to come by. Health care costs more per person in the U.S. than in any other nation in the world (“Health Systems” 1). According to the US Census, the percentage of citizens within the United States without any type of health care coverage was 15.3%, or 45.7 million people, in 2007(U.S. Census 9).
In addition, preventive and well-child checkups would be provided to all beneficiaries at no out-of-pocket cost. (Robert Longley) How Much Will Coverage Cost? As proposed, the maximum monthly Health Care for America premium would be $70 for an individual, $140 for a couple, $130 for a single-parent family, and $200 for all other families. For those enrolled in the plan at their place of work, anyone whose income was below 200% of the poverty level (about $10,000 for an individual and $20,000 for a family of four) would pay no additional premiums. The plan would also offer extensive, but so far unspecified, assistance to enrollees to help them afford coverage.
Under the regulation of the new health reform of the ACA, it does not require employers to have the option to give health insurance benefits to its employees. Although this is true, employers are still responsible to have insurance under certain circumstances. “Small employers with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from any penalties. Beginning January 1, 2014, large employers can be assessed a free rider penalty if their workers receive premium subsidies through the exchanges. In addition, an employer with more than 200 employees who offers at least one health plan must automatically enroll employees into one of the plans offered, though employees may opt out.” (HI101 2013 ).
The reason to question the effectiveness of the fiscal integrity of the Obama care bill. (Heritage Foundation, 2011) There are pro’s and con’s with the Obama care reformation. The cons are that one of the greatest fears of the Obama care is that they will lose the right to choose their own doctor. Another con is the medical cost and billing issues for both the patient and the doctors. Both parties are questioning who will cover the cause of health care treatment.
More funding was put into place for preventive health care within programs like Medicaid that offer services at a small cost or no cost at all to patients that qualify. The bundling of services that consumers receive was put into place by charging patients a flat rate instead of individually. Doctors are starting to get prepared to receive more patients in the years coming so their payout will be at 100% (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). 2014: Quality Care for All Patients who have pre-existing conditions are now able to gain insurance or renew their current coverage without any discrimination due to gender. There will be no limitations on the dollar amount of coverage a patient can have.
With taxes at a breaking point government has little recourse but to try to hold down costs. Government cutting budget for health care sector affects every aspect. Since labour is the main component of health costs, income for health workers and professionals have been brought under tight government controls. This causes brain wash. Health professionals will migrate to other countries were they would compensate for the same services they provide. This causes shortage of labour force in health care sector which in turn causes long patient wait time.