|
msnbc.com...
Millions
of middle-class people could
get Medicaid
By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar
6/24/11
WASHINGTON
— President Barack Obama’s
health care law would let several million middle-class people get
nearly free
insurance meant for the poor, a twist government number crunchers say
they
discovered only after the complex bill was signed.
The
change would affect early
retirees: A married couple could have an annual income of about $64,000
and
still get Medicaid, said officials who make long-range cost estimates
for the
Health and Human Services department.
After
initially downplaying any
concern, the Obama administration said late Tuesday it would look for a
fix.
Up
to 3 million more people could
qualify for Medicaid in 2014 as a result of the anomaly. That’s
because, in a
major change from today, most of their Social Security benefits would
no longer
be counted as income for determining eligibility.
It
might be compared to allowing
middle-class people to qualify for food stamps.
‘Doesn’t
make sense’
Medicare
chief actuary Richard Foster
said the situation was keeping him up at night.
“I
don’t generally comment on the pros
or cons of policy, but that just doesn’t make sense,” Foster said
during a
question-and-answer session at a recent professional society meeting.
“This
is a situation that got no
attention at all,” added Foster. “And even now, as I raise the issue
with
various policymakers, people are not rushing to say ... we need to do
something
about this.”
Administration
officials said Tuesday
they now see the problem
“We
are concerned that, as a matter of
law, some middle-income Americans may be receiving coverage through
Medicaid,
which is meant to serve only the neediest Americans,” said Health and
Human
Services spokesman Richard Sorian. “We are exploring options to address
this
issue.”
Administration
officials and senior
Democratic lawmakers initially defended the change, saying it wasn’t a
loophole, but the result of a well-meaning effort to simplify the rules
for
deciding who would get help under the new health care law. Instead of a
hodgepodge, there would be one national policy.
But
Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the
ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, called the
situation
“unacceptable” and said he intended to look into it.
Governors
complain
Governors
have been clamoring for
relief from Medicaid costs, complaining that federal rules drive up
spending
and limit state options.
Read
the full story at msnbc.com
|
