Linda Spence is a 63-year-old full-time student at University of Missouri-Kansas
City. After losing her job as a Program Director on the campus of UMKC, she has
no health insurance because she does not qualify for Medicaid.
After the US Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional for the federal
government to force states into expanding their Medicaid coverage, Missouri now
has a choice of whether or not to expand Medicaid for people like Linda
Spence.
The Federal government will pay 100 percent of the
financial burden imposed by Medicaid expansion for the first three years, but
starting after the initial grace period, Missouri would start to become
responsible for some of the cost. Starting in 2017, Missouri would be
responsible for five percent of the cost in 2017 and 10 percent starting in
2022, according to state officials and advocacy groups.
Spence said she takes advantage of a discount at Truman Hospital for people
with lower incomes. She said not many people know about this discount, and
people who want it must apply for it. Spence also said without this discount,
she would have no way of obtaining any kind of regular health care. She
also said that not having insurance can affect the quality of health care she is
able to receive.
"If I were able to qualify for something like Medicaid, granted I would have
to qualify for it, but at least I would know it was something a little bit more
guaranteed. I might have access to other physicians other than going through
Truman. Maybe I would be able to choose my own doctor, for example. Go to
specialists of my choosing, instead of just specialist that are available," said
Spence.
A major concern legislators have with expansion is that it could take away a
lot of funding from other areas of the budget, namely education.
"When you're looking at increases of potentially 100 or 200 million dollars
that you have to find because of expansion, there is only one place where there
is a pot of money big enough to take that, and that is public education," said
Senate Appropriations Chair Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia.
Schaefer said that there is no way around public education funding taking a
hit with the Medicaid expansion, and if the true cost, is too detrimental to
education then he would not be in favor of expansion.
Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, thinks Missouri would have to pull funds from
a diverse group of areas to fund expansion.
"I know from my experience as a legislator, that anytime one program absorbs
up a bunch of resources, they try to spread the pain around everywhere else. So
it isn't just education, every other program would suffer," Schaaf said.
Schaaf said Missouri does not have an obligation to use tax dollars to give
able-bodied adults health care.
"We already take care of kids, and we take care of the disabled, and we take
care of the elderly. These people are able-bodied, and it would be wrong for us
to give them free health care and put them on Medicaid, and expect other working
adults to pay for them," Schaaf, a licensed physician, said.
For a single parent with one child to receive Medicaid under the current
coverage in Missouri, their annual income would need to be less than $2,809.00,
according to the Missouri Foundation for Health. The new program, should it be
implemented in Missouri, would allow anyone at 133 percent of the federal
poverty line to receive Medicaid. That covers a higher percentage of the poverty
line than is currently afforded to people
No comments:
Post a Comment