Medicaid Eligibility

Medicaid is the public insurance program for Americans who are poor and disabled, a program that covers 47 million people each year and is still growing. The states and federal government share the fiscal responsibility for the program, with the federal government providing slightly more than half the money�currently about $150 billion a year�and setting minimum rules for coverage (Goldstein, 2002, p.A1). States are free to offer extra services and include more people if they wish. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss Medicaid eligibility, especially in Massachusetts, with reference to differences among states, and coverage for immigrants and AIDs patients.

In Massachusetts Medicaid is included in the statewide program called MassHealth, covering families with children under age 19, children under age 19, pregnant women, people out of work for a long time, disabled people, adults who work for a qualified employer, and people who are HIV positive (MassHealth, 2003, p.1). The adult caretaker relative living with children under age 19 is covered if he or she is related by blood, adoption, or marriage, or are a spouse or former spouse of one of those relatives. Otherwise older adults receive health care through Medicare. Children under the age of 19 qualify regardless of where they live.

Recently some difficulties have arisen in the Massachusetts program as in other states around the nation. Rob Restuccia, executive director of Health Care for All, an advo

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tly concerned about the remaining spouse suffering from neediness (Jenkins, 2002, 351). Ohio healthcare official Barbara Edwards at a Medicaid conference in September sponsored by the American Association of Health Plans termed the current Medicaid struggle "a train wreck coming" (Wechsler, 2002, p.18). Early in 2003 a conference of state governors met to grapple with budget deficits. One of the target areas is Medicaid budgets. Lawmakers in 44 states are likely to consider freezing or reducing Medicaid eligibility requirements in order to deal with falling revenue and increasing costs (Anonymous, 2003, 14). Governors and state legislators have to either cut costs or generate new revenue in order to balance their budgets, and Medicaid is one of the large expenses that is being cut nation-wide. This means that those who were once eligible are possibly no longer eligible for help with their medical care. Legislatures have to consider restructuring and limiting Medicaid services with the full knowledge that such decisions have the ramifications of financial impact for hospitals, county health departments, and federally qualified healthcare centers. As mentioned in earlier paragraphs, a majority of the states have cut back on

Category: Medical - M