In the simplest of terms, Medicaid is a state and federal program that assists low-income citizens that meets certain criteria with long-term care and health related services. The Medicare program was enacted in 1965. Today, the program serves millions of US citizens, permanent immigrant residents (with additional eligibility requirements), children, older citizens, pregnant women, and those with qualifying disabilities.
While Medicaid provides for many low-income citizens, it does not apply to everyone. Medicaid has a strict set of eligibility requirements specific to each individual state. Where a citizen may qualify in one state, their individual circumstances may not be accepted in another state with different eligibility requirements.

Income

Eligibility is determined by your financial need meaning, you are unable to afford health care or medical service. Whether you qualify for Medicaid depends on your current income and assets. The total amount must fall within the parameters for the amount acceptable as low income set by the state where you live.

Disabilities

A person must be deemed in need of help due to a disability, such as blindness. Every state provides Medicaid coverage for people with a disability as long as the person meets the eligibility requirements. Coverage in some states is automatic if the person is currently receiving SSI benefits.

Medicaid Coverage

Medicaid coverage for adults varies by state but some services are standard for each state and there are certain benefits each state must provide for children and may include some adults. Some of the basic Medicaid benefits for doctor’s services include X-ray and lab, outpatient, dental and vision for children, nursing facilities for adults, and prescription drugs. For children, some examples of benefits states must cover include eyeglasses, eye doctor appointments, mental health, and hospice services. Medicaid does cover pregnant women in all states with incomes up to approximately $20,000. Women with higher incomes may be eligible for Medicaid in some states while other states use the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Affordable Care Act (See: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/index.html )

In 2014, the Medicaid program will expand its coverage when it institutes the Affordable Care Act. This act will include citizens under age 65 as well as those with disabilities who did not qualify for SSI and whose income exceeds the state requirement. The income range for a single individual is approximately $15,000. Families with children and couples will have a higher income level than a single person.

Individuals, seniors, couples or families who do not qualif for Medicaid coverage, current options available include signing up with a low cost health insurance provider or discount health plan. Contact your local Medicaid office for assistance in determining if you qualify for coverage.

Health insurance on its own can be a very complex subject matter. For many individuals, it is hard to make a decision on health insurance on their own due to the fact that there are so many differences between health insurance companies and the policies that they offer. However, for those that don’t want to find quality health insurance on their own, there is help out there for them in the form of a health insurance quote.
What Exactly is a Health Insurance Quote?

A health insurance quote is similar to that of an auto insurance quote except in the fact that we are dealing with health insurance rather than auto insurance. You obtain a health insurance quote from an online source (or offline source, if that be your fancy) by inputting your information as well as anyone else’s information that you plan on having on the same health insurance policy. You may be asked a series of questions such as whether you smoke or consume alcohol or if you have heart or general health problems.

After you have supplied all the requested information, the end result is a health insurance quote that contains information regarding several different policies from several different companies. As a general rule, you can select and compare policies so that you get the most bang (or insurance in this case) for your buck!

What About Health Insurance Premiums?

Well, the thing with health insurance premiums is that there is no set rate – or at least not really. Health insurance premiums will vary from one individual/family to another and are based on a number of factors – all of which are included within the information that you supplied before obtaining your health insurance quote.

However, when you receive your health insurance quote, not only will you be able to view different policies as well as the different companies offering the policies to you, but you can view the policies in-depth as well as the projected health insurance premium based on the information that you supplied.

If you need health insurance, which we all do, then it is important that you obtain a health insurance quote to determine the type of coverage that you need, find a reliable health insurance company and get a look at how much your health insurance premiums may run.

Written by Eric Shaffer; for www.healthinsurance.ws

Medicaid is available for parents who have low-income who have children under the age of 18 and they can’t afford medical treatment. Although, medicaid is available for teens up to 18 years of age; it is referenced under another name.

Medicaid is for children 6 years of age and under. Children who are older still receive medicaid, but the branch of medicaid is known as Health Choice.

Medicaid covers doctors visits, immunizations, preventive care and screenings. Other coverages include vision and dental care, as well as emergency hospital visits. Medicaid programs help families in these situations, by providing payment for all of these instances, and they don’t have to pay for anything.

If you need to apply for medicaid, you can apply at your local social services department in person or by mail. Some social service branches have websites that will provide individuals with specific information regarding the requirements and guidelines that must be met.

In order to apply for medicaid, you will need to have your social security card ready, as well as a birth certificate and the same documents for any of your children that you are trying to cover with medicaid.

You will also need to complete an application that requests current medical bills, information concerning any bank accounts that you may have and any benefits that you may currently receive.

In some cases, to complete the application and have it processed, you will need to provide the names of the child’s father and prove your residency. Proof of residency is needed to ensure that the information you provide is accurate. In most instances, child support will intervene to provide a DNA test to be sure that the name you provided for the father is accurate. Once this step has been taken and completed successfully, your medicaid application will be processed… which is a different process than with traditional insurance agents.

Other forms of documentation may include wages, proof of income, proof of a child or adult care program if it is used, and operational expenses if this option is applicable. All the information that you provide will be taken, filed and processed by your worker. Your worker is the person you will call and inform if you need any questions answered or need to make changes to the previous information that you provided. It is important that you keep the information that you provided updated and current at all times.

When you lose your job or you no longer qualify under someone else’s insurance policy due to various reasons, such as divorce and passing the age of coverage, you may qualify for Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act (COBRA) health insurance. Under this provision, insurance companies are required to offer the same insurance a person previously had at cost for a specific period of time. The way it works can vary depending on the specific plan, but in general, most plans are similar.

Qualifiers

Not everyone qualifies for COBRA insurance. If you lose your insurance, you must meet three requirements to qualify for this continued coverage. The group health plan in which you were previously enrolled must offer COBRA coverage. You must be a qualified dependent of the coverage, as well as meet the qualifications of losing your insurance, such as losing your job, divorce or death of the employee who carried the coverage. If you meet these three requirements, the job must offer you COBRA coverage.

Cost

One of the biggest impacts of COBRA insurance is its cost. To continue your coverage, the employer through whom the policy is offered no longer pays their portion of the premium. Instead, the entire premium is the responsibility of the person who purchases the continued coverage provided by COBRA. Some companies may also charge an additional 2 percent administration charge to serve as a go-between for you and the insurance company.

Time Limits

If you choose to accept the COBRA coverage, you must understand that you can’t maintain the policy forever. COBRA insurance is meant to help you until you can find coverage of your own. Coverage begins on the date of the qualifying event and ends either 18 or 36 months from that date, depending on why you need the coverage. A loss of employment or reduction in hours only allows 18 months, while most other qualifying events require 36 months. You don’t have to take the insurance the entire time, however.

Health Insurance : Regardless of whether you choose to purchase COBRA insurance, the employer through which the insurance is offered must offer it. You will receive information about the available coverage for you and anyone else who qualifies within 14 to 30 days of your qualifying event, depending on the qualification. You then have at least 60 days to review the materials and decide whether you would like the purchase the insurance. If you do purchase the COBRA coverage, you will make payments directly to the employer.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), commonly known as Obamacare, attempts to cut health care costs while increasing the availability of quality health care to all Americans. There has been much argument for and against the plan, with overall deficit impact estimated by some agencies to increase by $700 billion or to decrease by $142 billion according to others. It was signed into law on March 23, 2010. Voting was along strict party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans against enactment.

Common goals for this program that would affect most Americans include the following:

* Provides and increases quality health care that is affordable to all
* Improves quality and efficiency of health care
* Improves public health care
* Prevents chronic disease
* Saves money by focusing on preventative care
* Provides assistance and support to community living services
* Provides revenue for the program

The Act requires insurance companies to charge the same premium without regard to any pre-existing conditions to applicants that are the same age and who live in the same geographic location. The Act allows dependent children to remain on parents’ policies until age 26, regardless of marital status or where they live. It prevents insurers from dropping sick policyholders.

Individuals will be required to purchase health insurance if they are not covered by public insurance or pay a penalty. This requirement is under scrutiny by the Supreme Court; a hearing on the legality of this is scheduled to be heard in March of 2012. At the state level, many lawsuits have been filed in Federal Courts against this Act. There are charges that it violates states rights.

Under this Act, Medicare eligibility and coverage would be expanded. Health insurance “exchanges” would be created in each state where people can purchase cost efficient coverage plans. The Act sets minimum standards for health insurance policies and eliminates annual or lifetime coverage caps. It provides subsidies for certain low income people and for small businesses.

On the controversial side of the arguments, this Act would require insurance companies to spend part of premium dollar on improvements to medical care or be forced to give policyholders rebates. If the government has to subsidize employee health care and a business employs over 50 or more people, that employer must contribute. Small businesses say they cannot afford Obamacare. The Act punishes profit because funding would be raised by higher taxes on insurance companies and medical device manufacturers by setting tax rates according to their market share.

Funding for PPACA is designed to come out of taxes and offsets. Higher taxes would be levied on individuals making over $200,000 annually, or $250,000 for joint filers. Higher taxes of 40% would be placed on “Cadillac” insurance plans and there would be higher taxes on pharmaceuticals and high-cost diagnostic equipment.

As it stands now, there is very little going on in the realm of healthcare reform. The country, and congress, seems to have very little desire to revisit the battle that took so much time and effort from the Whitehouse early in the Obama administrations’ time in office. The focus has been shifted to deficit spending and jobs, and the only updates are on the minutia and various loopholes that have arisen.

Healthcare loophole could leave many uncovered
A loophole or unseen error in the regulation has recently come to the forefront that would leave millions of family members uncovered by the law. The law would prevent some families that decline employer based healthcare plans from taking advantage of state provided subsidies. The error seems to be in the interpretation, and many regulators are expected to interpret the law in favor of the families. Many advocates are pressuring the Obama administration to ensure there is no mix-up when the law goes into effect, and the administration has responded by ensuring the error will be addressed.

Three states rule the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to be unconstitutional
An appeals court (the 11th circuit court in Atlanta) has ruled that certain parts of the PPACA are unconstitutional. Chief Judge Joel Dubina called the law “unconstitutional” and that states could not, nor would not “the costs of the program’s amplified enrollments.”

The State of Florida and 25 other states filed a lawsuit shortly after the law was passed. All of the provisions and rules will go into effect in 2014.

Mitt Romney plan calls for repeal of “Obama-care”
Mitt Romney, long considered the forerunner for the model of healthcare passed nationally, has called for a repeal of the healthcare reform passed in 2010. Mitt Romney’s plan released on Sept. 6th 2011 calls for sweeping changes to Medicaid and Medicare, and stated he would issue an executive order in his first day in office to stop or hinder the healthcare law from taking effect.
For more information on healthcare reform, visit http://www.healthcare.gov/

Healthcare.gov is the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ informational site about health care and health insurance. It is intended to provide citizens with information on federal programs that can help them obtain affordable health care. Because it is a government site, it has the advantage of being free from advertising.The site design is clean and it loads quickly. A video tutorial, linked at the bottom of the main page, helps users find their way around the site and find what they need quickly. The only negative aspect of the main page is a mouseover to access explanations for different classes of people. It is easy to hit this by accident, which might be distracting.

Information provided focuses on assistance that can be obtained from the Federal government. It has a particular emphasis on the provisions of the recent health care reform law. However, it also has a state by state database of good, affordable private plans. Accessing this database involves doing a short survey about your specific healthcare needs.

There is also some information about prevention; however, the best data provided is a link to a different site, healthfinder.gov. Also in the area of useful external links is a set of links to tools that are intended to help compare quality of care.

The site is tidy with no visual clutter or unnecessary code. However, it does have a specific viewpoint. It is useful for information about health care law as long as the reader bears in mind that it was written by people who work for the federal government and from that point of view. This does, however, mean that it does not favor a specific private company as many health information sites do.

The site also provides a well-written, if somewhat dry, blog about health care information.

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, known commonly as COBRA, is a specific kind of health insurance that allows eligible employees, and their dependents, to retain their health coverage upon becoming unemployed, experiencing dramatic reduction of work hours and other qualifying situations. It is equally applicable whether the termination of employment is voluntary or involuntary. The coverage is temporary, lasting eighteen months from the time of job loss but may be extended under certain circumstances. Choosing to take advantage of COBRA coverage is an employee option. Your employer must advise you if it is available as an employee benefit.

The same specific coverage of you group health insurance policy continue under COBRA. It is important to note, however, that other types of insurance that may have been part of the benefits package offered by your employer, will not. Life insurance, for example, is not covered nor is dental insurance in most cases. Check to be sure. Opting for a private interim policy allows you to add those coverage options if you choose to do so. COBRA coverage begins on the date that health insurance coverage would have been terminated due to the loss of employment or other appropriate circumstances. The terms of COBRA coverage apply only if the original plan to which it applied is in effect. If your employer closes business or eliminates group coverage, COBRA coverage is terminated as well.

Lapses of health care coverage can cause difficulties in obtaining a new policy so it is essential to stay insured during periods of transition. Other options, such as a private, temporary policy, are available as alternatives to COBRA. Compare prices. Because your employer paid into your Cobra policy, you did not incur the total premium cost. When you leave that job, the employer is no longer required to contribute. The entire cost becomes your responsibility and you will see an increase in the cost of your premiums. On occasion, private policies are cheaper.