America 's Health Insurance Plan

I chose to compare and contrast Ohio and Michigan State Medicaid. Medicaid is a state and federally funded entitlement program that pays for medical services to qualified low-income Michigan residents. It is one of the largest programs at the state level, providing services to over one million Michigan residents annually. All of the health care programs in Michigan have an income test and some of the programs also have an asset test. These income and asset tests may vary with each program. For some of the programs, the applicant may have income that is over the income limit and still be able to obtain health care benefits when their medical expenses equal or exceed their deductible (formerly known as spend-down) amount. Below are two examples of Michigan Medicaid plans that are available.

Medicaid is a social health care program that covers nearly 60 million Americans, including children, pregnant women, seniors, parents and individuals suffering with disabilities. Medicaid is the biggest source of funding for health related services and medical needs for the people with low income in the United States. This program is funded jointly by the state and federal level governments, but it is the state’s responsibility to manage this program. The Medicaid program is not a required program that states have to use, but all 50 states have implemented this program. With the introduction of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and its passing in 2010, the ACA unveiled its plans to expand Medicaid eligibility to nearly all low-income adults as an addition to the other groups that fall into the Medicaid eligibility. The Medicaid program had “many gaps in coverage for adults” because it was only restricted to the low income individuals and other people with needs in their own specific category. In the past, the majority of the states who had adults that did not have children dependent on those parents were not eligible for Medicaid. These low income adults without dependent children would be without medical insurance assistance before the ACA was introduced. Medicaid is now available to all Americans under the age of 65 whose family income is at or below the federal poverty guideline of “133 percent or $14,484 for an individual and $29,726 for a family of four in 2011” (NSCL).

Long time ago, there was no need for health insurance in America, as doctors had many clients because their services were not so expensive and in some cases in rural areas, people could pay by giving other items. Doctors were not as knowledgeable as they are nowadays to care for the sick, therefore this didn't have much effect then on the patients, as they were treated for the basic illnesses.

Per the Health Care Safety Net Increased Eligibility Amendment Act of 2005, its first manifest goal proposes that individuals 18 years of age or younger whose total gross income is more than 200% but less than 250% of the federal poverty guideline will be afforded reasonably priced healthcare and medical services. In addition, the act’s second goal proposes that the Mayor will create a thorough plan within 180 days of its enactment that outlines specific eligibility criterion for the aforementioned individuals whose gross income is more than 200% but less than 250% of the federal poverty guideline (Health Care Safety Net Increased Eligibility Amendment Act of, 2005). The individual’s total gross income will represent all money received, including but not limited to cash.

The federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) together with Illinois Public Act 98-104 will increase access to health coverage as a critical step toward improving the health of the people of Illinois (HFS, 2014). Illinois residents can use the health insurance marketplace, but easily compare health plans and see what costs are better for them before buying a plan. Every plan is covered essential benefits such as preventive care, doctor visit prescription drugs, maternity care, emergency services, hospital stays and more. Residents can succeed for financial help through the Marketplace to lower monthly premiums and out-of-pocket costs. Insurances companies’ cannot reject residents that apply for coverage for they are sick or have a preexisting health condition. People can receive Medicaid for the first time low-income adults who are legal residents, regardless of parental or health status may be eligible for health coverage through Medicaid. Adults that have incomes at or below 138% of the federal poverty level on the family may be eligible. Application for benefits Eligibility is an easier to apply for Medicaid, SNAP, and the Medicare Savings. Indiana purpose of healthcare reform for residents is enrolling adults in its new Healthy Indiana Plan. The plan was offered in the state of Indiana. With the plan,

The Affordable Care Act established by Barack Obama it is a revolutionary law that was passed to change the healthcare system in America. The affordable care act has many pro and cons. Is the Affordable care a good idea? The Affordable care act was put in place to help maintain healthcare spending cost, reduce the amount of people who are uninsured, create universal healthcare, expanding coverage for young adults and to make prescription drug coverage more affordable for seniors. In the year of 2010 and 2011 over 5.1 million seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare have saved over 3.1 billion on prescription drugs, however this includes a one-time rebate

For close to 50 years, the Mississippi Medicaid program has provided health coverage for its low-income residents. “While Medicaid originally only insured Americans receiving cash welfare assistance, Congress expanded it over the years to help insure those left behind by the private insurance system”.7 Medicaid in the state of Mississippi is a health care program that help pays for medical services for its low income residents. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, Medicaid provided $3.9 billion in benefits which attributed to 20.4% of all health care spending in the state7 and insured 754,333 – 1 out 4 (25.6%) state residents.6

In order to qualify for Medicaid individuals must meet certain regulations. Eligibility depends on each state, age and whether the individual is a U.S. Citizen, blind, pregnant, single parent, or suffers from any disabilities; all of this plays a huge role in the Medicaid eligibility criteria. Although, some immigrants may be able to benefit from this program, if the immigrant is a woman whose labor and delivery of child is taken care of inside the U.S. that is enough to make them eligible for Medicaid (Medicaid, 2012). Even though the states are allowed to provide their own regulation guidelines along with other decisions for this health program, there are certain mandatory federal requirements that must be met by each state in order to receive funding. Some of those requirements include; inpatient hospital service, prenatal care, vaccines for children, rural health clinic services, transportation services and many others that according to the federal government are extremely essential for the management of this program ("What is medicare/medicaid?," 2012).

As more provisions of the affordable care act continue to be implemented many find controversy ineffectiveness of the new health plan. On an annual basis the correlation seems to grow more positive on one end, and more negative on the other. Since the start of (2014), the approval percentage of the Affordable Care Act has increased from 10% to 16%, while the percentage saying it has hurt them has also gone up, and by a similar amount, from 19% to 27% (Riffkin, 2014). Overall 41% Americans approve of the affordable care act in comparison to 53% of Americans that disapprove. The complexity of the changes really affects populations differently based on their income levels. The 2010 Affordable Health Care Act passed through congress has

The Obama Care bill also Known as the patient protect and Affordable Care Act was established on March 21, 2010. The Affordable healthcare Act also known as Obama Care has helped over a billion people gain access to health. In 2010 it shows that 50 million people in America did not have insurance, it also shows that 48.6 million people had decreased, and then it increased in 2012. In 2010, before the Healthcare Act was signed Obama noticed some of the small issues that were going on in healthcare systems. Obama seen that some of the insurance Companies had some unjustified rates for their healthcare plan. He observed how some of the prices for healthcare were controlled by hospitals and private doctors. The way that the healthcare system used to work was that the people that could afford the healthcare plans were able to get them. The People that were unable to get healthcare insurance like through their job or a private practice had to rely on getting Medicaid and Medicare was only for disable people or elderly people. The Affordable healthcare Act was placed to help people throughout the U.S. receive insurance even if they don’t qualify with their employer or private healthcare insurance. What many people do not know is that the new affordable care act offers many great benefits. Such as great benefits for women’s health, Birth control, people with preexisting conditions have great benefits, etc. Having this Affordable Act care will bring great benefits to our future and

Currently, Medicaid expansion has been implemented to cover individuals up to 138% of the federal poverty level. It fills in the coverage gap between individuals whose income is too high to qualify them for Medicaid but too low to purchase a healthcare plan on the exchange market. This policy has provided health insurance to millions more of Americans, created jobs

The bill lowers, from 133% to 100% of the official poverty line, the minimum family-income threshold that a state may use to determine the Medicaid eligibility of children between the ages of 6 and 19. In addition, the bill reduces the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for Medicaid home- and community-based attendant services and supports. (Black, 2017, p.1)

Michigan expansion. The “Healthy Michigan Plan” is the Section 1115 waiver that was approved by CMS in December 2013 for Michigan to implement the ACA’s Medicaid expansion. This plan uses Medicaid funds to provide coverage for all newly eligible adults with income up to 138% of the FPL (Norris, 2017).

The ACA addresses eight themes: Access; cost control; quality improvement; prevention; workforce; revenue; administrative items; and the CLASS Act (which was eventually repealed) (Emanuel, 205). The “access” section primarily focuses on efforts to cover the 15 percent of uninsured Americans at the time of the ACA’s conception. Part of this included raising the age young adults could be covered by parents’ insurance until the age of 26, which affected three million young adults who otherwise would have been uninsured. The largest chunk of the section, though, was dedicated to transforming Medicaid and establishing web-based marketplaces that would allow people to buy health insurance with government subsidies. By 2014, the ACA established nationwide eligibility standards dictating that American adults under the age of 65 with incomes below 138 percent of the federal poverty level would qualify for Medicaid (Emanuel, 205). Prior to the decision, some states were only providing Medicaid to residents making as little as an abysmal 18 percent of the federal poverty level ($20,090 for a family of three) (Medicaid,

a minimum amount of coverage or pay a “tax” of either three hundred and twenty five dollars or