The Affordable Care Act Of 2010

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).

For those adults with children that are not eligible for Medicaid but their income is not enough for private insurance, KidsCare was an option until it froze in January 2010 due to a cost-cutting effort. KidsCare is a state sponsored insurance program for low-income families that is part of the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Arizona is currently the only state that does not have a CHIP program which forces families that were on the program to partake in the health care exchange and pay for private insurance or forgo health coverage and be uninsured (Whiteman, M., 2014). The number of children covered at the time of the program freeze went from 45,000 to about 2,000, which was a ninety-five percent drop (Whiteman, M., 2014). Governor Jan Brewer proposed to restore coverage to thousand of children through KidsCare II, where Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Maricopa Integrated Health System, and the University of Arizona Health Network would pull money together and receive extra federal funds. The federal funds that the

Throughout the early 1980’s and 1990’s the Federal Medicaid program was challenged by rapidly rising Medicaid program costs and an increasing number of uninsured population. One of the primary reasons for the overall increase in healthcare costs is the

The enactment of the ACA in 2014 would make it possible for more working and nonworking parents to qualify for Medicaid. Based on the income levels, 51% of working and 37% of nonworking parents qualified for Medicaid prior to the ACA. Afterwards, the percentage increased to 138% for working and nonworking parents, and childless individuals. The projections showed a 38% increase in the number of children 6-18 eligible for Medicaid coverage and fewer on the North Carolina’s Health Choice insurance plan. This increase would have been huge based on the case study (Short, 2013). State officials chose not to go with the Medicaid expansion program, and instead offered marketplace exchanges. This could mean North Carolina would potentially have a large number of uninsured

| State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was created in 1997 to insure children in families with too much income to qualify for Medicaid and too little to afford private insurance. It emerged from a budget negotiation between a Democratic president and Republican Congress. As such, the program represents a fine balance, designed to maintain equilibrium between states and the federal government, as well as between political conservatives and liberals. States have the option of providing child health assistance in SCHIP through Medicaid, a separate program, or a combination of the two. There is also flexibility in benefits designed; through benefits must meet certain set standards. On average, the federal government pays

The ACA of 2010 has a key goal of increasing access to health care by providing uninsured American’s with options to obtain health insurance. One way this is being done is allowing parents to keep their children on their health insurance plan, up to the age of 26 (HHS, n.d.). Another example is the option for states to expand Medicaid, and receive funding from the federal government to accomplish this. Medicaid covers

The CHIP program provides low-income families, whom make too much to qualify for Medicaid, access to low-cost or free health insurance (CHIP,

Medicaid and Medicare are government-sponsored healthcare programs in the U.S. The programs differ in terms of how they are governed and funded, as well as in terms of who they cover. Medicare is an insurance program that primarily covers seniors ages 65 and older and disabled individuals who qualify for Social Security, while Medicaid is an assistance program that covers low- to no-income families and individuals. Some may be eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare, depending on their circumstances. Under the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a., "Obamacare"), 26 states and the District of Columbia have recently expanded Medicaid, thus enabling many more to enroll in the program.

Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP’s healthcare coverage is usually used in the typical American household. Though they serve different people they all have the same goal: To provide health coverage for lower costs and better care. They all have many ways they are funded. Medicare is funded through taxes, trust funds, premiums from members of Part A,B, and D, and funds from Congress. Medicaid and CHIP is funded by the government. The federal government pays states for a specific percentage of program expenditures or costs for a specific group. The percentage for Medicaid is 15% higher than CHIP’s. If you want to be a member of medicaid, you have to have a limited income, be 65 or older, a child under 19, be pregnant, be living with a disability,

It was interesting that nearly 49 % of all 2010 Medicaid enrolls were children. Also, the eligibility of the children in Medicaid and CHIP has expanded over time providing them with access

The Medicaid program is a federal health insurance program for the under-privileged and incapacitated. The plan is managed by states within comprehensive limits instituted by the federal government. Together the federal and state governments finance the program, with the federal share ranging from 50 percent to 74 percent. Now Medicaid currently makes up 7 percent of the federal budget and 23.7 percent of all state expenses. Approximately sixty million people are enrolled in the Medicaid program and 400 million is spent annually.

In addition to the immediate health and financial benefits that Medicaid provides, children covered by Medicaid experience long-term health and economic gains as adults such as better health status, higher educational attainment, and greater earnings. Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) play an important role in providing health coverage for millions of children across the country. While the programs differ in terms of size and scope, financing and program design, together, they provide coverage to more than one in three children. In June 2013, over 28 million children were enrolled in Medicaid and another 5.7 million were enrolled in CHIP (Rudowitz R., Artiga S., and Arguello R., 2014).

Vulnerable populations are defined as “groups of people who are at a greater risk of developing health problems due to factors such as limited resources, poverty, socio-economic status, limited education, mental illnesses, prison time, age, gender, and homelessness” (Garcel 2015). There are three main financers of healthcare for vulnerable populations which include, the federal government, state governments, and private sources. Federal healthcare payment programs include Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP). These programs are managed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS). Each of these programs have their own set of eligibility requirements.

a. President Obama signed into law the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) on February 4, 2009. The new law is designed to provide coverage to large numbers of children that are currently uninsured and to improve their quality of care. Key to this legislation is that it reinforces the Children’s Health Insurance

Since the initiation of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, Americans have been put back in charge of their individual health care. Under this new law, a health insurance marketplace provides a haven for individuals without insurance to gain coverage. Just this year, citizens found out early whether they qualified for Medicare or the CHIP formally known as the Children’s Health Insurance Program. So much is to be learned about the Affordable Care act and this paper provides the roles of the different governmental branches, along with other important factors associated with this law.