today our hr dept. sent out a notice

[arely staircase]

Saying the ACA requires everyone to have health insurance and an explanation of how to get help if you cant afford it. Ted Cruz can shit and piss himself in public while reading children's books until Jesus returns. But guess what? This is real. We did it!

[bunnies]

1. Im glad it will help you.

Hopefully someday we'll have something that helps everyone.

[arely staircase]

2. it pretty much does nt

[bunnies]

3. Unless youre poor. nt

[arely staircase]

4. especially if you are poor nt

[bunnies]

7. Oh really?

Then why is that I will not be able to get coverage? I dont make enough to get subsidies and even when my state expands medicaid, it will be unacceptable under the ACA due to a lack of a second plan option.

My choice is either to pay full price for a plan on the exchange or go without. Thats not so helpful, IMHO.

I addressed this, in great detail, just today.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023732942

[Thor_MN]

8. "I dont make enough to get subsidies"

I'm confused, I thought the subsidies were phased out based on how you make... As far as I know, one can make too much to get subsidies, but one can not make too little to get subsidies...

[bunnies]

9. Nope.

If you make less than 100% of the poverty wage, you dont get subsidies. I was blown away to find this out. I put all the exact info from healthcare.gov in that OP I linked to. The WH calls it a "gap" that low income people fall through. Its pretty sad, really.

[bunnies]

21. Thats a great suggestion.

Thanks Frankie. Fuck it. Ill do it.

[Cryptoad]

17. Do tell us which State does not furnish Medicaid to those below the poverty threshold.

[bunnies]

19. Read the OP I posted.

Theres a handy list there. NH, where I live, is one of them.

[Lefta Dissenter]

32. And Wisconsin, of course. :(

I think I'll fare really well under the ACA, but my adult daughter will be screwed, because of her super-low income.

[Jamastiene]

34. North Carolina is one.

Just being below the poverty threshold does not qualify you for Medicaid in North Carolina. There are a very limited number of circumstances that allow someone to get Medicaid in this state. Being below the poverty threshold is NOT one of those circumstances. And North Carolina opted out of the expanded Medicaid. I don't know where you are getting your information, but it has been discussed numerous times about how states are allowed to opt out of the Medicaid expansion.

[arely staircase]

20. then lets close the gap

Write your congress person a nd demand obamacare be extended to fill the gap.

[bunnies]

22. Youre right.

I should make this my issue. Great idea.

[Cryptoad]

30. Your State not expanding Medicaid

is why there is the gap...... you need to raise hell with your State Politicians, too!

[Nye Bevan]

38. Please take a look at this.

Some of the millions of poor people expected to lose out on Obamacare coverage next year because their states are not expanding Medicaid might have a way to get help, but the strategy carries risk.

Experts say the key is for them to project their 2014 income to at least the federal poverty level, about $11,500 per person or $23,500 for a family of four. That would entitle them to federal subsidies that would cover nearly all the cost of private coverage sold on new online insurance marketplaces set up by the federal health law. The subsidies are available on a sliding scale to people making between the poverty level and four times that amount.

Everyone applying for subsidies must estimate their 2014 income. For the poor, the difference between qualifying -- or not -- could be $1,000 or less a year. Since many rely on hourly or seasonal work, their incomes often fluctuate by a few thousand dollars each year. That's one reason why people often lose eligibility for Medicaid, the state federal insurance program for the poor.

While there are steep fines for knowingly lying on a government application for financial assistance, if someone merely miscalculates their income above the poverty level in 2014, and is later found to have made less than the poverty level, they won't have to pay any money back, according to the Treasury Department. "There's little risk because under the rules you don't have to pay anything back," said Richard Trembowicz, vice president for Celtic Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Centene Corp. which is offering plans on several exchanges, including Mississippi.

http://www.webmd.com/health-insurance/20130808/how-poor-might-qualify-for-obamacare-subsidies-in-states-that-dont-expand-medicaid

[bunnies]

39. That would be a problem for me because my income is $0.00.

I lost my job last November due to needing a joint replaced. It was a physical job that I could no longer perform due to extent of my degeneration. Losing the use of my arm has so far not been deemed disabling enough for me to get assistance.

If I had a job though, I wouldnt hesitate to do this. Until I get that surgery I wont have my life back.

[Nye Bevan]

40. Sorry, that sucks. Good luck (nt)

[Puzzledtraveller]

10. In the case your employer offers insurance you are not eligible for them.

Our training had numerous scenarios, some of the most odd were case where some members of a family may get coverage while others don't. Eligibility for Medicaid, for example is determined by house hold size, relationship of applicants and income and several technical eligibility factors. Tax filing status is the front door for eligibility for new programs and HBE plans.

[Humanist_Activist]

14. That's my issue, employer offers really crappy health insurance...

at just under the 9.5% income threshold to allow me onto the exchanges, so I will have to pay about 9.4% of my income on bronze level coverage(if I'm lucky), when I'm poor enough to qualify for a 50% subsidy(at least), if I was allowed to buy insurance on the exchanges.

[arely staircase]

11. I was going to say that but you already did

Not making enogh to get subsidies makes no sense. Subsidies are for those who make too little not too much.

[antiquie]

13. SCOTUS Medicaid expansion ruling really harms people

in states (20?) with Republican idiot governors who refused to expand Medicaid.
ACA exchanges are for people above 133% (maybe a but more) up to about 400% of federal poverty level.
Medicaid covers medical for for people in families under 133% of poverty level.
-- meaning adults without minor children get nothing.
The ACA Medicaid expansion fixed this problem until the Supreme decision.
Apologies if I messed up some details.

People like bunnies get hurt. Badly. Unfairly.

[Mojorabbit]

33. Yes and it will hurt almost a million people here in Fl. nt

[Cryptoad]

18. just because a state has not expanded Medicaid does not

mean that they are no longer providing it for Poor folk. and if you are making $0 there are none any poorer....... you have crossed some bad info somewhere.

[bunnies]

24. Im not over 65 and have no kids.

Unless the state labels me "disabled" I get nothing. There is no safety net for poor adults who dont fall under one of those 3 categories.

See for yourself:
http://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dfa/medical/index.htm

[Cryptoad]

27. Thats a bummer man,,,,

seems you are in a crack..... not any good options that I see off hand...... guess you could move to a more progressive state.,,,,and there is always the ole ER option. Surely this will be addressed when the GOP settle down a little...!

[jtuck004]

28. Not your fault some folks are just too busy cheerleading to become well informed, or

whatever it is they do.

Medicaid expansion gap could leave poor shortchanged

WASHINGTON — The decision of some states not to expand Medicaid means that the nation's poorest — those the Affordable Care Act would have helped the most — may not receive any help at all.

That's because the 2010 law was written to provide Medicaid coverage for those making less than 100% of the federal poverty level, $23,550 for a family of four, in all 50 states. Because those Americans were to get Medicaid coverage, they were not made eligible for the federal tax subsidies that would help them pay for health insurance they will be required to buy.

However, when the Supreme Court ruled last year that the requirement for most uninsured Americans to buy insurance was constitutional, it also ruled that the states did not have to expand Medicaid to continue receiving federal funds for their existing programs.

That leaves out almost 7 million adults ages 19 to 64 who would have qualified for Medicaid in the 25 states that have not voted to expand it, according to an Urban Institute report. Medicaid is the federal-state health care program for low-income Americans. It covers 60 million children younger than 18, pregnant women, blind or disabled people. Other adults don't typically qualify.
...

Here

That's 7 million of our neighbors, NO money, NO Medicaid and NO subsidy for Obamacare.

7 million. Whether they SHOULD have coverage or not is irrelevant, because they don't.

On the upside, the DHS said they won't be penalized for not having insurance if they could have qualified for the state program that is not being offered. Wow, what a benefit.

[bunnies]

29. I hadnt seen that article. Thank you.

And thank you for getting it.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

16. Maybe some day they won't even have a bill.

[Puzzledtraveller]

5. Your employer doesn't provide it?

[arely staircase]

6. they do. but it doesnt mean everyone has signed up nt

[Roland99]

12. Got my email a week or so ago. Waiting for the FL Health Exchange to come online on Oct. 1

Interesting to see what it ends up costing me. Been pricing stuff on Florida Blue (Blue Cross Blue Shield) and einsurance.com, too.

[JaneyVee]

25. My private sector union sent us the same letter. It even says don't listen to the

"Noise" politicians are making about the marketplace exchanges. Spoke highly of the ACA.

ETA: they sent us the letter even though our employer does provide healthcare.

[arely staircase]

26. I work for a school district in the redest part of texas

and the message from HR was straightforward and very helpful. Gohmert (my "representative" must be going nuts (well, more than usual)

[Cha]

31. Schadenfreud, arely!

[NCTraveler]

35. Every company has to give this to its employees by Oct. 1

or face a fine of $100/day/employee. Size of the company doesn't matter.

[harun]

36. Yep, already got mine.

[arely staircase]

37. just like nazi germany

Lol