FIRST, AND FOREMOST, "THANK YOU! AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO OUR ARMED FORCES WORLDWIDE"
My Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of DC HealthCare Committee Et Al…
IVe shared this article and my thoughts on it already with Mrs. Clinton, Senator, Mr. Biden, VP ELECT, Mr. Kennedy, Senator and you.
The idea is: MEDICAID IS A NEEDS BASED PROGRAM…we know that, Rosemarie?Medicaid is coming up to speed with the new issue of “Medicaid for folks working while disabled…spend downs are enormous, almost ruling out managing one’s medical expenses. IVe spoken about this elsewhere. To be a worker with a disability is to accept a challenge few can delineate, understand and fathom circumspect. You probably agree, but there are always a few who ruin it for the rest of us…the disABLED.
My figures are screwy but its about $46,000.000 per year, maximum income for a worker with a disability to maintain Medicaid medical coverage. They have expenses other workers who are not ill often don’t. IE>impairment related work items & C…the premium is approximately $50.00 per month. Few Medicaid workers know about the buy in. They’ll respond: “Spenddown?” You say no, they say, What? I know one person who filled out the paperwork, hunted down the coverage , spoke to everyone and anyone who would listen and FINALLY AFTER MUCH A DO, GOT THE COVERAGE. Luckily and fair-enough, it is still a needs based program: You cannot have more than $10,000.00 in the bank and still qualify. I thought that $10,000.00 was a generous limit.
These programs are meant to maintain us, medically, when we cannot keep up with out medical costs.
It is fair enough to cut benefits completely if someone is making $46,000.00 and has $10,000.000 in the bank. The system will have served him well and he is on the way to living “The American Dream” Loosely: Someone to love, Something to do and Something to hope for” (Youre home, family and sustenance).
These are my comments and the article that sparked my address is below.
I thank you for listening, hopefully Im not too verbose.
Have a happy holiday season! And remember, Civil Service is a noble profession.
I caught an article in "newsoberserver.com"
I understand that Medicaid is a needs based Federal Program open to low income and disabled persons, 'last I checked.
THis article was of particular interest because it is not promoting health, help and genuine concern for the (in this case) disABLED worker.
Concisely: medicaid is now extended to those who earn up to $10,800.00 per year. HOwever, no meniton has been made of 'THE WORKING WHILE DISABLED PROGRAM FOR WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES.
IN NEW YORK WE HAVE A BUY IN PROGRAM, GLOSSED OVER AND NOT DISCUSSED IN THIS ARTICLE.
to HEAR IT, THERE IS A CEILING OF $10,800.00 AND THEN BENEFITS ARE CUT OFF?
what kind of coverage is that? It saves money on one hand because less coverage is extended, but ER and hospital stay expenses are higher.
North Carolina has to step up and deliver services, information about service options and extend up to $46,000.00 (Thereabouts, check the EXACT figure, please..) before losing benefits.
The federal government is servicing North Carolina too, is it not?
The jist of the program (for workers with disabilities) is: work, make up to ?46,000?
and pay a "buy in" premium, which is very cheap: perhaps $50.00 per month for individuals & more for families...and your covered.
Im told by workers with disabilities that the application process, the fact that you cannot have more than $10,000.00 in the bank and the
fact that NO ONE Really knows about this buyin,
is discouraging.
People who work go to work to make a contribution, a needs based program like Medicaid keeps people off the streets, above the poverty level and living healthier happier lives as AMERICANS.
As an aside: I have often said, Thank God Im safe and free in America, perhaps in the East, Like India Id be living by the side of the road begging bread.
Please be patient and read this through Ive pasted the article below.
The contact persons in NC Are:
Wake County Human Services at 212-7000 or departments of social services in other counties.
I thank you for your time, attention to detal and industry.
Sincerely,
Rosemarie DUndon
_______________________Heres the article...
Thomas Goldsmith, Staff Writer
Comment on this story
For Richard Miller, a crucial rung on the financial ladder is no longer missing.
Under a new state program called Health Coverage for Workers with Disabilities, Miller, 30, can increase his hours and pay at a hotel switchboard in downtown Raleigh without losing the Medicaid health insurance that pays for his kidney dialysis.
The idea behind bending the usually strict Medicaid income limits is to nudge capable people with disabilities toward working, and eventually into paying for more of their health-care costs, social service experts said.
"If you can allow me to make more income and still receive some benefits, that's going to be a great situation," Miller said Tuesday.
An outgrowth of the Clinton-era "Ticket to Work" legislation, the new Medicaid guidelines will affect an estimated 1,200 North Carolinians and cost $1.2 million statewide in the first year. As other benefits are threatened by shrinking state revenues, the Medicaid changes are expected to cost $7.4 million by the program's fifth year, even including offsetting fees and deductibles to be charged people with higher incomes.
"The bottom line is that people feel that it is the right thing to do," said Kathleen Thomas, a researcher at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC-Chapel Hill who studied the program as it developed.
"For people with disabilities, the expectation of having a career is an important part of community involvement. In the long run, they should have employment that results in their paying taxes and also participating in the cost of their care."
Under guidelines in effect until Nov. 1, Miller and other people with disabilities could earn only $10,400 a year before making too much to qualify for Medicaid. Those limits could prevent qualified people from taking better-compensated jobs, or in Miller's case, from working more hours.
"What changed for me was my amount of work that I was doing, which caused me not to qualify any more," Miller said.
The new limit is $15,600 for a single person.
For taxpayers, a partial payback will come in a year or so, if and when earners with disabilities such as Miller start making even more money. At an annual income of $20,800, such recipients would start paying premiums and co-pays for the health insurance.
"You might have someone who is paraplegic but might be able to go to work, say, in the computer field, and still qualify for Medicaid," said Carolyn McClanahan, chief of the state Medicaid Eligibility Unit.
Counties are still getting the word out about the eligibility changes, but Miller and about 20 people with disabilities have already qualified. Dozens more have applications in the pipeline, McClanahan said.
Elizabeth Scott, director of adult economic services for Wake County Human Services, said the new program covers workers ages 16 to 64.
"The idea is to try to allow people who are able to work to do so without the fear of losing their benefits," Scott said.
"Medical benefits are not easy to replace -- a lot of jobs may not offer them.
"If they lost eligibility for full Medicaid, they would have had to meet a deductible, and that could be thousands of dollars over a six-month period."
More than three dozen other states already have Medicaid buy-in programs, but North Carolina's was held up because of required state legislation and technical difficulties in processing payments in the Medicaid system.
President Bill Clinton signed the Ticket to Work and Work Incentive Improvement Act into law Dec. 17, 1999, laying a foundation for states to extend Medicaid coverage for working people with disabilities.
In North Carolina, the new standards also allow Medicaid recipients with disabilities to hang onto a higher level of holdings without "spending down" as other recipients must.
"If someone is disabled and they want to go try to go work to improve their situation, they should be able to do it," McClanahan said.
thomas.goldsmith@newsobserver.com or 919-829-8929
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