The state of Colorado is extending its Medicaid program to include coverage of some adults who do not have children. There is something in the Affordable Care Act that will offer a federal match of funding to help states cover this group. Only seven states have decided to take advantage of this provision.
Medicaid is a public form of health insurance. It was designed to assist people who were very low-income and who can not afford to pay for a health insurance plan from a private insurance company. In general, the program covers children who come from low-income families, women who are pregnant, people of all ages who are disabled, and some people who are elderly.
The funding for Medicaid comes from both the federal government and the state. Right now, the federal government offers states a dollar-for-dollar match to help pay for health care coverage of kids, pregnant women, people who are disabled and the elderly.
The problem is that the federal government does not offer states a dollar-for-dollar match to cover the health care costs of adults who do not have children, who are not elderly, who are not disabled, and who are unable to afford to pay for a health insurance plan from a private company. The state of Colorado has an indigent care program that helps clinics and hospitals to cover the medical bills of the homeless. But, it only pays ten cents on the dollar.
Colorado has decided to extend its Medicaid program to cover that group. There is a provision in the Affordable Care Act that extends the federal dollar-for-dollar match to cover adults who do not have children. Colorado hospitals volunteered to pay a new fee to the state Medicaid program. That money pulls in the federal matching funds. This allows Colorado to cover more people with Medicaid. Colorado is one of only seven states to take advantage of this program.
In 2014, the federal health reform laws will require states to expand their Medicaid programs. Colorado is starting to do that now, and they are doing it in a way that works for their state. This is a much better solution about how to manage the funding aspects of an expanded Medicaid program than what some other states, like Illinois, are doing.
Illinois decided to save money by changing the eligibility requirements of their All Kids Medicaid program in order to exclude many of the kids who were covered by the program. The purpose was so the state of Illinois could save some money.
Image for Molly DG on Flickr