One of the primary goals of the Affordable Care Act is to significantly reduce the number of uninsured Americans. The ACA includes language expanding eligibility for Medicaid. Funding for Medicaid comes from State and Federal government. In June 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that each state should be able to choose whether or not to expand eligibility as suggested in the ACA.
Recently Kentucky announced they would expand Medicaid eligibility. Read Governor Beshear’s press release.
“In Kentucky, Medicaid or Kentucky Children’s Health Insurance Program (KCHIP) benefits are currently available to:
- Adults if they have disability, serve as the caretaker relative for a child who is eligible for Medicaid and on average has income below 43 percent of (FPL), or are pregnant; and
- Children with family income up to 200 percent of FPL.
Expansion will allow more than 308,000 Kentuckians to access reliable, quality health care. The new threshold of 138 percent of FPL means a single person with no children earning less than $15,856 per year is eligible to sign up for Medicaid. A family of four with an annual income of less than $32,499 is also eligible.”
Some people think that uninsured low-income individuals will remain uninsured in states that do not expand Medicaid eligibility. As of May 10, 2013, 29 states indicate support of Medicaid expansion (including OH, although officially still undecided). Click here for current status by state.