HUFFINGTON
02.16.14
JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES
TOO POOR FOR OBAMACARE
Under the pre-Obamacare
rules, eligibility for the program
typically was limited to low-income children, pregnant women,
parents caring for children at
home, and adults with disabilities. Without the law’s expansion, an adult without a disability
who isn’t living with their children — like Alphonse — doesn’t
qualify for Medicaid, no matter
how poor he or she is.
For those who don’t qualify
for Medicaid coverage, Obamacare offers tax credits for private health plans sold through
the law’s health insurance exchange marketplaces. But those
subsidies are available only to
those making between the poverty level, or about $11,500 for
an individual, and four times that
amount. In states not expanding
Medicaid, people who earn less
than poverty wages get nothing.
In Alphonse’s case, his family
is trying to survive on his unemployment insurance. It amounts
to $4,800 a year — far below the
Florida
Governor
Rick Scott
(R), center,
greets Scott
Dorfman as
he arrives for
a town hall
meeting with
the Agency for
Persons with
Disabilities.
Scott was
initially a
health care
reform
antagonist
who opposed
Medicaid
expansion, but
then changed
his mind.