There’s been a lot of buzz about Obamacare lately and rightfully so. Health care reform is huge for the United States and the millions of uninsured citizens.
However, Obamacare doesn’t exactly have everyone jumping for joy. Some are for it. Some are against it. And many don’t even understand it.
I’ll admit, a couple weeks ago I was still a bit confused about the whole process and the new HealthCare.gov website wasn’t much help. After finding many contradictory articles online I turned to the best selling book on Obamacare: ObamaCare Survival Guide.
For single mothers in a position like mine Obamacare will be a HUGE help. Here’s a single mom’s perspective on Obamacare.
New Medicaid Eligibility
The federal government has proposed that the new Medicaid eligibility will be 133 percent of the federal poverty line. This means that millions of uninsured US residents will now qualify for Medicaid. There’s only one problem: the states get to individually decide whether they want to participate in the new Medicaid eligibility program.
Two states, Florida and Texas, are already on the fence about joining.
The federal government currently pays around 57 percent of Medicaid with the state government picking up the other 43 percent. The federal government has agreed to pay 97 percent of Medicaid for the “new eligibles” until 2020. The problem the states are facing is that they may now be flooded with Medicaid applications from “old eligibles” which the federal government would only cover 57 percent of . In addition the states are also worried where the Medicaid funding will come from after 2020.
If you take a look at the federal poverty limits you’ll see the limit for a family of three is $19,530. If you multiply this by 133 percent you get $25,974.90. This is just about where my 2013 income should fall, so under the new Medicaid eligibility rules my daughters and I would qualify for free health insurance. Even if my income is a little higher than 133 percent the poverty line I’ll still qualify for a very cheap health insurance plan.
The Problem With Medicaid
I can’t complain about free or dirt cheap insurance – although I wish I could find really cheap life insurance for my daughter’s benefit as well. I have wanted health insurance for the longest time and have seen what the lack of it can do to a family in an emergency situation. (My ex-husband has $50,000 + in hospital bills from one incident – no health insurance!)
However, the biggest concern with Medicaid is finding a doctor. Since Medicaid pays health care professionals a lot less than Medicare, many doctors are likely to stop accepting it. If millions of new people are on Medicaid then there may be a serious problem getting in to see a quality doctor – especially during an emergency.
The federal government decided to put a temporary band-aid on this problem by paying health care providers the same rates that they do under Medicaid. This only lasts until 2014. Then what?
What If You Still Don’t Qualify for Medicaid?
Don’t worry. Even if you don’t qualify for Medicaid you can still get cheap insurance and a subsidy to boot, as long as your income falls within 400% of the poverty line.
If your income falls within 400% of the poverty line and you currently don’t have health insurance or feel like you are paying too much for health insurance you can apply for insurance through the health exchange market place at healthcare.gov
There are different levels of coverage offered through the market place so pay attention to the plans – not just the price. Personally, I would be happy with a low cost catastrophic plan but you may feel better with a lower deductible.
My main goal with health insurance is to prevent financial ruin. (Like $50,000+ hospital bills.)
If you want to learn more about Obamacare and the health care exchange check out this post I wrote Obamacare and You: How it Works over at Cult of Money. I’d also highly recommend ObamaCare Survival Guide
Obamacare is Beneficial for Single Moms
If you’re in any sort of position like I am, income wise and lacking health insurance, Obamacare is a dream come true. Now thousands of single mothers will be able to get health insurance for themselves and their kids – which is awesome.
There are still many issues regarding healthcare reform that need worked out. I’m sure over the next few years we’ll see the rules and regulations change and find out what the true impact of Obamacare will be.
Until then I am just glad to be a step closer to having health insurance.
What are your thoughts on Obamacare?
Well, I have many thoughts on Obamacare (I work in health insurance but all opinions are my own…just to make that clear from the get-go). I don’t think a comment on a blog will do it justice, but I do think that there are some beneficial aspects to it (this coming from a libertarian!). I think it’s important that people are guaranteed coverage and that only works with the government protecting health insurers, which I think they do to an extent with some of the things built into the law. I’m glad you are going to be able to get health insurance soon and I really hate to see anyone go without coverage because it’s such a big financial risk.
It would be neat to hear your perspective on the whole thing, David. Maybe a future blog post? There are pros and cons with Obamacare but there are pros and cons with absolutely everything in life. I for one love the fact that I’ll be able to have health insurance.
There is some good and some bad like with everything. Hopefully the subsidies will make it affordable enough for you if you end up getting Obamacare. The real shock comes when you still have a crazy deductible and have to pay 40% of all costs after the deductible with the cheapest plan. Average Americans, even if they have the insurance, won’t be able to afford the deductibles and coinsurance payments.
Unless I am understanding this wrong (which is highly possible) there’s a maximum out of pocket expense for a family of $12,700. To me $12,700 wouldn’t be financially devastating. Sure, it’s a lot to pay but it’s not an amount that would catapult someone into bankruptcy. So I think the catastrophic plans are good as well especially if they’re low cost.
Alexa, I’m glad you’ll get coverage soon! Obamacare definitely has winners and losers and that’s usually how sweeping policy changes go anyways.
Thanks, Holly!
Good to hear that you’ll be able to get coverage soon. I don’t think it’ll affect me too much since I’m still covered by insurance from work so I’m lucky. I think the ultimate goal of Obamacare is to get more people covered which is great, but they probably have to work out the kinks.
I have a good friend who works for the state as well. (If I remember correctly you work for the state?) His insurance isn’t affected at all.
I really don’t know if OBama care will work. But, the system that we have doesn’t work either ….
Agree!
There is no doubt that most lower income families will benefit, while many higher earners will pay more.
One consequence of the Medicaid expansion is a big gap for certain lower incomes families who live in states not moving forward. Some families make too much to qualify for Medicaid under the old rules, but not enough to qualify for Obamacare subsidies (which begin at 100% of FPL).
I am pretty sure my state is one of those that are opting in for the new Medicaid eligibility laws, which I’m really thankful for.
That is so true! PA is on the cusp….the governor is proposing his own plan, but it may not go through in which case he will not approve an expansion to medicaid. The ONLY silver lining to that is that if your state is not participating (which about half right now are saying they won’t) and you don’t qualify for medicaid even though you’re under the income limit, then you won’t have to pay the tax penalty for not having insurance. In PA not too many adults qualify for medicaid…they stopped the program largely a couple of years ago. (Also, if it’s an emergency situation, I’m pretty sure the hospital will still have to accept you like they do now. ER visits by the uninsured are part of the reason we need a change like this so much.)
I love hearing about the ACA helping someone out – it’s rare to see a positive spin on it. I’m glad that it’ll do for you what the title of the bill purports to: make healthcare more affordable.
Let us know how it goes!
Thanks, I think ACA will help many, many others who truly need it.
I am glad your family is able to het health insurance. For me, I see more cons than pros especially for my family but I am glad some people will be able to benefit.
Thanks.
Alexa,
Glad you’re getting health insurance, I know how expensive emergencies can be. When I was in college I didn’t have insurance and got into an accident, the ambulance ride was $400.
Good to hear that you’ll benefit. Personally, I think our healthcare system needs some big changes and that the government covering more people is part but not all of the solution. We as consumers are completely disconnected from what the care we receive actually costs, and that puts us in a poor position to choose higher value providers. I think that we’re a wealth enough country to provide health care for all, but we need a new paradigm that doesn’t bankrupt us to do so.
I think the system is not perfect but at least is something. I’m sure they will be upgrades here and there. I am very happy that you will benefiting from this.
Even though I’m young and healthy, my income qualifies for subsidies that will help me tremendously. I wouldn’t have insurance otherwise.
It’s encouraging to see stories like yours. It’s ridiculous that until now we just let you go bankrupt if your child got sick. There are always problems with rolling out new legislation , especially something as complicated at the ACA, but I’m so happy that America has been able to extend healthcare to more and more people at or near the poverty line.
Personally, I’m most excited that insurance companies can’t turn me down because I was born with a preexisting condition.
This is great that you can get coverage for you and your daughters now. I’m surprised your state didn’t have a children’s health insurance plan for your kiddos before (something for people too “rich” for medicaid) because even Texas has one (or maybe you were too “rich” too?).
I think over time costs will go down as a whole for health insurance, but it will take a while for it to even out. Some states like NY had huge drops in insurance costs while other states had huge increases but I think that’s due to the fact that so many people were without insurance before in those other states and it takes a while for the costs to come down. I’ve been lucky to have health insurance all of my life so I’m happy to see more people being able to get it.
I am a single mother who cannot afford $300 a month for Obamacare. My income is approximately $45,000 a year and living in California and paying $1400 for a 2bedroom apartment combined with all my other monthly expenses there is no way it is possible. So, now I am going to be fined? Sure, it helps the people who make a very low income but the middle income people still cannot afford it. I know many single mothers in my boat and its funny to me that no one ever talks about this problem. There is a large population of single parents with single incomes just getting by and to be fined for working hard but not making enough money to avoid a fine is a slap in the face.
Hi Kristin, sorry to hear that healthcare is still expensive for you. Have you checked to see if your employer offered a better discount? Unfortunately I make less than $40,000 and what my employer was offering was just as expensive as what I was being offered through the Marketplace. Your child(ren) may still qualify for medical assistance through the state depending on your household size, and for yourself you could do a health sharing ministry. That’s what I did and it allows you to opt of out Obamacare without getting fined. I pay about $131/month with Liberty Healthshare.