tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post5712980743393053223..comments2024-03-10T13:59:19.230-04:00Comments on xpostfactoid: "Medicaid expansion is the jewel of the ACA"Andrew Sprunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-24661866927037741742017-04-02T17:20:42.628-04:002017-04-02T17:20:42.628-04:00In Poloack's article, the main beneficiaries o...In Poloack's article, the main beneficiaries of Medicaid expansion are addicts, the mentally ill, single mothers with two jobs, and younger people with horrible illnesses.<br /><br />In the feverish Republican imagination, the beneficiaries of expansion are "able-bodied" young gangsters, male and female, who interrupt their days sitting on street corners with a free visit to the doctor or ER.<br /><br />Pollack portrays Medicaid as almost Christ-like. As usual, the official conservative Christians in America mostly hate this group of beneficiaries.bob.hertzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09686373408419885558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-21045499409610400182017-03-31T07:18:52.791-04:002017-03-31T07:18:52.791-04:00Oops, sorry, Bob -- I left out the link to Pollack...Oops, sorry, Bob -- I left out the link to Pollack's article, now inserted. For sure, Medicaid or Medicaid-plus extended up the income scale would be a buy-in, like MinnesotaCare, which is not particularly cheap at 200% FPL. The task force that recommended extending it to 275% FPL even had an AV 73% at the top of that income scale -- which strikes me as too low, unless the cost of care is so low that enrollee responsibility for that high percentage is affordable.Andrew Sprunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-34029912322147988412017-03-31T06:26:59.175-04:002017-03-31T06:26:59.175-04:00I could not find Pollack's actual article, so ...I could not find Pollack's actual article, so my comment may be off base:<br /><br />however, Medicaid costs per adult are now running about $6500 a year (due to some increases in fees paid to doctors, which is long overdue.)<br /><br />If we create a buy-in program, so that people pay a per cent of income for Medicaid and most do not get it for stone free, this has possibilities.<br /><br />But we must not re-create the means tested monster where Medicaid is free until you make a tiny bit of money or get some assets. The monthly churn in and out of Medicaid due to asset and income limits is monstrous, and certainly no "jewel."bob.hertzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09686373408419885558noreply@blogger.com