However, contrary to the expected success of these provisions involving healthcare coverage to rural areas, healthcare coverage to rural areas did not change as much as expected due to several other factors. The same judicial decision in June 2012 that deemed one of the act’s most controversial provisions constitutional also dealt a large setback to extending healthcare coverage in rural areas. The decision ruled that expansion of Medicaid, a state government, become optional for states because Congress had “exceeded its constitutional authority by coercing states into participating in the expansion by threatening them with the loss of existing federal payments” (Supreme Court). Two years later, twenty-four states were not implementing the Medicaid expansion. The states that are not expanding their Medicaid program are primarily the states with Republican-led state governments: Midwestern and Southern states (Weiner 9/15/15). In addition, many states are defining coverages areas differently. When a region chosen as a coverage area combines rural areas and nearby urban areas, the number of insurers and number of coverage plans available to the rural areas increases. As a result, the costs of insurance due to competition and other factors are lowered. Therefore, this is beneficial to both urban and rural residents. However, some states, due to the discretion that they have, are not defining coverage areas that way (Dickstein). One example is Texas, which has created regions
Critically analyze the implications of the state’s decision to opt out of Medicaid expansion on the citizens of the state.
These programs in state level would cater health service on basic levels to rural areas and also the urban areas. However, There must be the same rules and regulations for health care services across the state as well as the country and the access to minority groups to health care services must be fast and continuous in rate. The positives of state flexibility in health care certainly outweigh the negative in that some states have more growth than other states, therefore in these situations, the levels of health care may differ. As population and development grows in a state, the health care industry must grow, thus increasing the need for new technology. "Due to the needs of vulnerable populations and the requirements necessary to make health insurance coverage for them viable, these programs are quite different from standard private health insurance plans (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2013)." Private state insurance health care plans have the flexibility of choosing what groups they want to cover and what type coverage they will pay for. Medicaids concern for the needy is ethical and moral, illness or injury doesn't
On June 28, 2012, The Supreme Court ruled the Federal Government does not have the constitutional right to sanction an individual to buy health insurance, but declared that the states do have the right to place a tax on citizens that do not carry insurance. This ruling is in response to President Obama’s Patient Protection and Healthcare Act of 2010. Passed on March 23, 2010, President Obama’s Reform Act mandates Texas, as well as the nation, to provide Medicaid funding to all individuals that are uninsured by 2014. As well as expanding Medicaid, it will provide exchanges, which are pools of insurance companies a previously uninsured person can pick
Missouri is one of a twenty-four states that has failed to expand Medicaid. Missouri’s failure to expand medicaid to working Missourians is based on political party rhetoric, misinformation and health care provider resistance. The Missouri Legislature has failed to expand access of quality healthcare to working Missourians because politician follow party line banter. This is evident in the Missouri House and Senate.
One of the states that have not participated in the Medicaid expansion is Florida. States that are opting out in the Medicaid expansion can leave several citizens uninsured and their health will be at risk. Currently, since the America’s Supreme Court has given the states more flexibility relating to the Affordable Care Act, some states are opting out of the Medicaid expansion plan that is intended to give low-income citizens in the state dependable healthcare. To reasons the state of Florida opting out the Medicaid expansion, the governor of Florida stated, that Floridians are more interested in economic growth and employment, better quality of education for their children, and that they keep the cost of their living low. Florida State is
In every day life one must make decisions, and with decisions there comes options from which to choose from. One decision from Texas that has caused concerned has ties to one of the provisions in the Affordable Care Act. This provision wants to expand Medicaid coverage to low income Americans. However, the Supreme Court ruled a decision to make the Medicaid expansion optional for states. Therefore, Texas opted out on this idea but is still indecisive on weather or not this expansion is beneficial to the state. As we all know factors like politics enter into the mix, as does the costs of the expansion, availability, and quality of care for these new “enrollees”. The idea of medical care for all seems like a simple effective idea, but the effects overall is detrimental to Texas citizens like myself and my family, who doesn’t necessarily fit into this “mold” of the uninsured citizen the act is trying to attract. The decision Texas made to not expand, in my opinion is a reflection of all citizens who feel that they will not benefit from this implicated Medicaid program.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also referred to as ObamaCare, is a complex U.S healthcare reform that attempts to expand and improve access to healthcare and decrease spending through taxes and regulations. The main goal of the ACA is to provide more Americans with affordable health insurance. States vary in when and how they implemented the ACA in order to meet the needs of their state in hope to decrease the uninsured population. Every state had the option decide whether to offer healthcare through a state-based or a federal marketplace. Some states sued the federal government questioning whether they even had to right to impose this act. New Mexico and Pennsylvania are just two of the states that have had to figure out a way implement the Affordable Care Act. Each one had to take into consideration several factors including their state population, the demographics of that population, how many uninsured people there were, and the economy of their state. They both had the public plans such as Medicaid, Medicare and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) options as well as new federal subsidies that would now be offered depending upon income. Since there is no “one size fits all” health plan each state was challenged to make the best decisions using the tools available to them. This information was then used to formulate a plan that would give the most people access to affordable healthcare in each of these
Why is Medicaid a huge topic in Texas and how does it relate to me? This is one important question to consider. Well this paper will help shed light to the matter and illustrate the urgency for action. Just recently Texas had an option to extend Medicaid, but hastily denied. Medicaid Expansion was part of the Obama care reform in which the federal government gave the 52 states an offer to expand the current Medicaid in was that it would include the coverage of low income adults not only children. The latest on the issue is Texas had agreed on a deal but only temporarily. The agreement on the reform has given Texas some light, but not enough to reach through the other side of the tunnel. Eventually, Texas
The state of Texas has pulled its Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, leaving poor residents with few options for affordable healthcare. Medicaid, a program focused on helping low-income families and individuals receive healthcare, has always been jointly operated by the state and the federal government. But to who this program would be eligible for is entirely up to the state. More conservative states, like Texas for example, strictly reserve Medicaid for only the most severe cases of poverty-stricken families, leaving a large portion of low-income residents uninsured. The Affordable Care Act, a federally mandated reform of Medicaid introduced by President Obama, would provide healthcare for many American citizens in need. Despite being
Such data suggests that rural areas were actually better off in terms of medical care prior to the enactment of the Affordable Care Act than they are now. Before ACA implementation, the rural population was significantly more likely to be covered by Medicaid (21%) or other public insurance (4%) than the metropolitan population (16% and 3%, respectively). Therefore, while urban individuals on average had more healthcare benefits due to the nature of their insurance provider, since Medicaid made up some of the gap in employer-sponsored coverage in rural areas, the uninsured rate was similar in rural and urbans populations prior to the ACA (Figure 2).
Expanding Medicaid was supposed to to be a main element in the states wide acceptance of the Affordable Care Act, because Medicaid’s sole purpose is to provide coverage for all uninsured adults. Medicaid is mainly used by the working poor or those who don 't make enough money to pay for health insurance on their own. The expansion, however, is part of ObamaCare and Texans hate it, despite the numerous money problems that not accepting it causes. An example would be, the 100 billion dollars that the federal government has set aside for Medicaid over the course of ten years. Even though it seems that the insurance is doing good for many states, Texas Governor Rick Perry could not opt out fast enough. His reasoning behind the
Dr. Donald A. Barr in Introduction to US Health Policy discusses the different methods in which states attempt to expand health care coverage throughout his book. In chapter eight, The Uninsured, Barr focusses on one such successful expansion. Massachusetts increases the number of people insured in their state through individual mandate, a term used to describe when a government requires individuals to obtain health care (240). After the success of Massachusetts, the federal government attempted a similar system through a policy called the Affordable Care Act (ACA). How does the ACA compare to the Massachusetts’s policy? Though the ACA was made to reflect the Massachusetts’s individual mandate policy, they also have some key differences.
Texas has the largest uninsured population with an estimated 6.2 million uninsured citizens within its stateliness, approximately a quarter of the statewide population (Rapoport, 2012). In 2012, then governor, Rick Perry decided that Texas would not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This decision led to much debate over whether or not Perry made the right decision to leave upwards of a million Texans, who did not receive insurance subsidies and did not qualify for Medicaid, uninsured. These Texans fell under what many politicians refer to as the “coverage gap.” Texas decided not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act because of the effects it would have on hospitals, financial reasons, and increased number of
As per the law United States legal citizen whose income is 133 percent lesser than the poverty line can be enrolled for Medicaid. Operated by state government but Medicaid is funded jointly by state and federal governments. Funding to Medicaid is by federal government called as Federal Medical Assistance Percentage is calculated based on state per capita income and typically varies between 50 to 75 %. But the Obama care act provides Medicaid expansion through which federal government will pay 100 % of Medicaid costs during 2014, 2015, 2016 but 95 % of costs during 2017, 94% during 2018, 93% during 2019 and 90 %during 2020. Not essentially all states accept this Medicaid expansion program, typically states ruled by democrats implement this expansion but states ruled by republicans deny the expansion. As per study health reform monitory survey4, those states who accepted Medicaid expansion has uninsured rate of only 7.3% but in not accepted states have uninsured rates of 14.1% which constitutes half of nations uninsured population.
Ironically, Texas has the highest number of uninsured citizens in the nation, 6.2 million to be exact. The majority of these citizens are children. According to Goodwyn (2013), “by Texas refusing to participate in the Medicaid expansion, which is part of the ACA, the state will leave on the table an estimated 100 billion dollars over the next decade. It is sad to know many citizens in this state will be denied health care by those who already have the best insurance and will never have to worry about being uninsured. In addition, the Texas politicians fail to recognize the need for health care for neither its most vulnerable citizens nor the burden on the Emergency room as well as the rise in healthcare premiums for citizens who maintain health insurance. Landers (2013) reports, “whether they have a good income or a lower one, Texas lag behind much of the nation in access to and quality health care.” States who fail to expand Medicaid will see their funds distributed to states on board with expanding Medicaid.