Not everyone will be able to get low cost insurance under the Affordable Health Care Act. Families with incomes under the poverty level in many states will not be helped at all.
In states where the governors have chosen to decline expanded Medicaid, low-income individuals are not entitled to any subsidy, but will not have to pay a penalty for having no insurance.
Most of those low income families will not chose to decline health insurance because the marketplace policies will not be affordable, in most cases being several thousands of dollars a year, with no credits available for them to subsidize the cost.
Individuals already on Medicare can not buy insurance through the new insurance marketplace, and accordingly are not able to get any subsidy through tax credits either.
Individuals already on Medicare can not buy insurance through the new insurance marketplace, and accordingly are not able to get any subsidy through tax credits either.
Obamacare expands Medicaid to many low-income adults, including adults without dependent children, except in the more than two dozen states that have chosen not to expand Medicaid. Florida's Governor Rick Scott elected to not expand Medicare for it's residents, so low-income families will not receive any tax credits to lower insurance costs.
In states that expanded Medicaid, some may qualify for Medicaid as a single individual if earnings are less than about $16,000 a year with little assets, while other family sizes can qualify at higher incomes. In states that did not expand, you may have few or no options for affordable coverage. In that case, you will not have to pay a penalty for not having coverage.
In states that did not expand Medicaid, you may be able to get tax credits to help pay for coverage in the new marketplaces but your annual income must be between about $11,500 and $46,000 for a single person, or between about $19,500 and $78,000 for a family of three.
You can find out whether you are eligible for federal assistance that will lower the premiums you pay by using the Kaiser Family Foundation’s online calculator to get an estimate of the premiums and subsidies that may be available.
The federal government has set up a toll-free 24-hour hotline at 1-800-318-2596 to handle consumers’ questions. To find out more about Obamacare, visit www.healthcare.gov.
In states that did not expand Medicaid, you may be able to get tax credits to help pay for coverage in the new marketplaces but your annual income must be between about $11,500 and $46,000 for a single person, or between about $19,500 and $78,000 for a family of three.
You can find out whether you are eligible for federal assistance that will lower the premiums you pay by using the Kaiser Family Foundation’s online calculator to get an estimate of the premiums and subsidies that may be available.
The federal government has set up a toll-free 24-hour hotline at 1-800-318-2596 to handle consumers’ questions. To find out more about Obamacare, visit www.healthcare.gov.
-Some information in this story from the Kaiser Family Foundation
Note: All 12 states that declined Expanded Medicaid for the extremely poor are all Republican Governors, go figure. Let God heal them for free, what compassion they show for mankind.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, 26 states — all with Republican governors or Republican-controlled legislatures — have thus far declined Medicaid expansion, leaving the health care situation of millions of uninsured people unchanged.
ReplyDelete