Health Insurance.

macgyver06

Strangest Tribe wrote:

Insurance is a scam. Insurance people are crooks.

anyone that takes your money and goes to endless means to never give it back to you as agreed with every exhaustable excuse they can concoct is a crook.

If you work for an insurance company you know what I'm talking about.

THAT SECOND LINE IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS!!

AWESOME!

baraka

Since Medicaid was brought up, I thought I'd post this article from 2005. It talks about how Medicaid was expanded to the 'working' poor after welfare reform. Interesting........

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-08-01-medicaid-inside_x.htm

Welfare reform opens Medicaid to millions
By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY
MARIETTA, Ohio — Jeremy Carpenter, 20, is a mechanic at a used car lot. His wife, Jessica, 21, stays home with their infant son and often cares for two nephews.

Before welfare reform, this working family would have been mostly or entirely without health insurance. Today, the Carpenters have complete government-financed medical, dental and optical care. So does Jessica's sister, a Wendy's restaurant manager, and her husband, a carpenter.

"I don't know what we'd do without 'The Card,' " says Jessica Carpenter, referring to a prized piece of paper twice the size of a driver's license that entitles her family to nearly free medical care.

The expansion of Medicaid to cover the working poor has fundamentally broadened the nation's safety net and changed the lives of low-wage workers in the USA. It also has put enormous strain on federal and state finances and made taxpayers the health insurance provider for millions of workers at Wal-Mart, McDonald's and other low-wage employers. (Related story: Workers swelling rolls of Medicaid)

The success of welfare reform in moving people off of cash assistance and into low-paying jobs has, for better or worse, moved the nation a step closer to a government-run national health care system. The change has occurred mostly in poor and working-class neighborhoods, out of view of the affluent and well-insured.

But here in Washington County, a relatively poor area along the Ohio River and the Appalachian Mountains, the change is startling.

Dramatic numbers

The county had 427 families on cash assistance in 1997 when welfare reform began. Today, it has just three. During that time, the number of people on Medicaid rose from 4,020 in 1997 to 7,316 today.

"People who left welfare went into jobs paying $5.15 to $7.15 an hour," says Michael Paxton, the county's welfare director. "Medicaid and food stamps and child care assistance make it possible for people to work at low wages."

Health coverage has been a costly side effect of welfare reform. Medicaid spending has soared 85% since 1997, to $295 billion last year. The program's growth has outstripped that of Medicare, the government insurance program for seniors. Medicaid enrollment surpassed Medicare's in 2001 and now covers 5 million more Americans.

Many states now spend more on Medicaid than anything else, including education. Tennessee and Missouri recently scaled back Medicaid coverage. But, overall, state legislatures largely have protected and expanded Medicaid spending, even during the recession earlier this decade. One reason: Every $1 in state spending on Medicaid generates an average of $1.44 in federal matching money.

Medicaid and the related Children's Health Insurance Program covered an average of 46.8 million Americans a day in 2004, up more than 13 million from when welfare reform passed in 1997. The program covered 61 million people at some time during 2004, nearly 20 million more than in 1997.

Without saying so directly, the Republican-controlled Congress has retooled Medicaid from a program that helps mostly the poor and disabled into one that tackles the issue of working Americans who don't have health insurance.

"This is not a mistake. It was the explicit intent of Congress to expand coverage to working families," says Ron Haskins, co-author of the book Welfare Reform and Beyond. "The original sin of social policy was tying Medicaid directly to welfare. Now, it's tied to working."

States determine who qualifies for Medicaid, so eligibility varies.

In Minnesota, for instance, a family of four with annual income up to $54,000 qualifies for Medicaid. A single adult without kids can earn up to $17,000 (about $8.25 an hour full time) and get Medicaid. This brings nearly universal coverage to fast-food workers, nursing aides and other low-income workers.

Visible effects

Ohio has stricter rules than most states. Adults without children don't get insurance unless they have exceptionally high medical bills. Even so, Medicaid enrollment has grown from 1.1 million in 1997 to 1.7 million today, or about 15% of the state's population.

For those who qualify — generally children in families earning up to $40,000 and parents in families earning up to $20,000 — Ohio's package covers a wider range of services than in most states.

The Medicaid boom can be seen in medical clinics opening in poor neighborhoods. A dental clinic aimed at Medicaid patients opened here in Marietta, a block from the welfare office.

In Springfield, the Rocking Horse Center, a modern pediatric clinic, opened in 1999 in the poorest neighborhood of the central Ohio city and now serves 6,000 children. It doubled in size this year with a federal grant secured by Sen. Mike DeWine and Rep. Dave Hobson, both Ohio Republicans.

The non-profit center has three workers who use computers connected to the state Medicaid system to qualify people for coverage. "There's no doubt children are receiving better medical care because of this money," says pediatrician James Duffee, the clinic's founder.

Without the Medicaid expansion, 12% to 14% of patients' medical bills would be unpaid, instead of the current 3% to 4%, Duffee says.

Republicans and Democrats have supported efforts to expand health insurance for poor children and parents, Duffee says. "Our motto is: Not from the left, not from the right, but from the spirit."

Medicaid costs also have risen because of aggressive efforts to get eligible people to sign up. States have simplified paperwork, made renewals automatic or less frequent and even sent workers door-to-door to sign up eligible families.

The welfare office in Athens County, west of Marietta in eastern Ohio, used billboards to advertise Medicaid, which is called Healthy Start and Healthy Families in Ohio.

"We wouldn't dare have billboards saying, 'Come down and sign up for welfare,' even though Medicaid is a form of welfare," says Jack Frech, county welfare director. "This program doesn't have the stigma of welfare or food stamps."

Medicaid advocates hope that added coverage will prevent higher costs in the future through reduced emergency room visits and other social problems. New Hampshire added mental health coverage this year. Colorado added weight-loss programs — $399 for a 12-week plan — and alcohol and drug rehab to its benefit package July 1.

"It is cost-effective to have Medicaid cover more things because our hospitals are groaning under the weight of so much uncompensated care," Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff says.

Beats company coverage

Many workers choose Medicaid over insurance offered by their employers because it is less expensive. Wal-Mart workers pay $273 a month for the company's family medical coverage and get fewer benefits than Medicaid.

(Medicaid is free or nearly free for recipients. Specific out-of-pocket costs and the range of services covered vary by state.)

Wal-Mart does not encourage its employees to use Medicaid, spokesman Dan Fogleman says. "But our employees are cost-conscious, and they do what's best for their families," he says.

Delaya Short, 30, of Chesapeake, in southeastern Ohio, had dental problems so severe that she could hardly chew before she went on Medicaid. Her husband is a welder on a barge, and their family of five could not afford his company's medical insurance.

"My life changed when I was told I could get The Card," she says. She had a root canal and fillings. Her children got their teeth cleaned and caps on their teeth. Her 7-year-old daughter got an ear infection a few months ago. "With The Card, I didn't have to worry about what it would cost to take her to the doctor."

Heather Root, 28, a mother of three from Marietta, worries about losing The Card, which, in the past few months, has paid for her children to be treated for meningitis, ear infections, bipolar disorder and other problems.

She doesn't know how much that medical care cost. She never saw the bill.

Her husband recently went from a $7-an-hour job as a roofer to a $13-an-hour maintenance job in a factory. "I dread getting a letter saying I'm off The Card," she says.