There's Medicaid, which is a program that provides health coverage for the impoverished: children with low-income parents, the elderly, people who make up to 133% of the poverty line (which is practically nothing, the 133% number also depends upon whether the state's governor accepted Obamacare's expanded Medicaid subsidies).
Then there's Medicare, which is a payroll tax-funded health insurance program for people 65 and older and the disabled. A lot of people who make too much to qualify for Medicaid and don't receive insurance subsidies basically have to hope they don't get sick until 65.
The unemployed probably qualify for subsidies on the Obamacare insurance exchanges but I'm not sure. May qualify for Medicaid, not sure what the deal is.
Obamacare mandated purchasing insurance, but for many it's cheaper to pay the penalty than buy high-deductible insurance that won't pay out without thousands in out of pocket costs. And prohibitive costs lead people to defer treatment of progressive conditions (in really poor areas it is not uncommon to see people with untreated diabetic leg sores) until their shit is really fucked, at which point they seek treatment in hospital emergency rooms, which are legally obligated to provide care. By then the festering leg's gotta be amputated, plus a multi-day stay while they treat the blood infection, oh, and that will be $15,000 please. When the patient inevitably can't cough up taxpayers wind up subsidizing the bill.
05-Mar-2017 15:17:00
