Our health system and the poorest Americans

摘要

It is well recognized that the gap between the wealthiest and the poorest Americans has been widening for many years. The main safety net for health care among those in poverty has been the Medicaid program. The new health care law can provide federal subsidies to those who have incomes from the poverty level to four times that amount ($11,490 to $45,960). The new law also expanded the Medicaid program with mostly federal funding, but about half of the states have so far refused to expand Medicaid. This is going to leave millions of poor Americans deprived of medical insurance coverage. In the states refusing to participate in the expanded Medicaid program, those individuals having incomes below the poverty level will be unable to get tax credits toward low cost insurance, Medicaid, or other assistance for health insurance. For example, the New York Times article on this subject pointed out that the Kansas Medicaid Program will provide no assistance for coverage for adults with incomes from 32% to 100% of the poverty level ($6,250 to $19,530 for a family of three) as they are one of the states which chose not to expand their Medicaid program.