Obamacare

You point to the known crack in the Act that was a major contention during the debates and negotiations at the time. It was known that millions of Americans would fall in the void between having too much income for medicaid or subsidies and not enough income to afford premiums.


Your friend is one of the unfortunate to find themselves there, along with millions of the working poor not covered by their employers.

Good article on the subject.


http://kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/the-coverage-gap-uninsured-poor-adults-in-states-that-do-not-expand-medicaid-an-update/


Excerpt
The ACA Medicaid expansion was designed to address the high uninsured rates among low-income adults, providing a coverage option for people who had limited access to employer coverage and limited income to purchase coverage on their own. However, with many states opting not to implement the Medicaid expansion, millions of uninsured adults remain outside the reach of the ACA and continue to have limited, if any, option for affordable health coverage: they are ineligible for publicly-financed coverage in their state, most do not have access to employer-based coverage through a job, and all have limited income available to purchase coverage on their own.

The majority of people in the coverage gap are in poor working families—that is, either they or a family member is employed either part-time or full-time but still living below the poverty line. Given the characteristics of their employment, it is likely that many will continue to lack access to coverage through their job even with ACA provisions for employer responsibility for coverage are effective in 2016.12 Further, even if they do receive an offer from their employer that meets ACA requirements, many will find their share of the cost to be unaffordable. Because this population is generally exempt from the individual mandate, and because firms will not face a penalty for these workers remaining uninsured, they will continue to fall between the cracks in the employer-based system.

It is unlikely that people who fall into the coverage gap will be able to afford ACA coverage without financial assistance: in 2015, the national average premium for a 40-year-old non-smoking individual purchasing coverage through the Marketplace was $276 per month for a silver plan and $213 per month for a bronze plan,13 which equates to more than half of income for those at the lower income range of people in the gap and about a quarter of income for those at the higher income range of people in the gap. Further, people in the coverage gap are ineligible for cost-sharing subsidies for Marketplace plans and could face additional out-of-pocket costs up to $6,850 a year if they were to purchase single individual Marketplace coverage. Given the limited budgets of people in the coverage gap, these costs are likely prohibitively expensive.

If they remain uninsured, adults in the coverage gap are likely to face barriers to needed health services or, if they do require medical care, potentially serious financial consequences. Many are in fair or poor health or are in the age range when health problems start to arise, but lack of coverage may lead them to postpone needed care due to the cost. While the safety net of clinics and hospitals that has traditionally served the uninsured population will continue to be an important source of care for the remaining uninsured under the ACA, this system has been stretched in recent years due to increasing demand and limited resources.

Further, the racial and ethnic composition of the population that falls into the coverage gap indicates that state decisions not to expand their programs disproportionately affect people of color, particularly Black Americans. This disproportionate effect occurs because the racial and ethnic composition of states not expanding their Medicaid programs differs from the ones that are expanding. As a result, state decisions about whether to expand Medicaid have implications for efforts to address disparities in health coverage, access, and outcomes among people of color. In addition, the population in the coverage gap shows that, as a result of state decisions not to expand their Medicaid programs, many remaining uninsured under the ACA will reflect the legacy of the system linking Medicaid coverage to only certain categories of people. Many people who fall outside these categories—such as adults without dependent children—still have a need for health coverage. The ACA Medicaid expansion was designed to end categorical eligibility for Medicaid, but in states not implementing the expansion, the vestiges of categorical eligibility will remain.

State decisions about Medicaid expansion have implications for the potential scope of Medicaid under the ACA. If all states expanded their Medicaid programs, eligibility for Medicaid in non-expansion states would grow from just over half a million to 5.5 million. Though some of these people can currently purchase subsidized coverage through the Marketplace, there are advantages and disadvantages to Medicaid and private coverage in different states. For example, enrollees may face higher out-of-pocket costs and limited networks for Marketplace coverage than they would for Medicaid, whereas access to specialist care may be problematic in some state Medicaid programs. In addition, while people can enroll in Medicaid throughout the year, Marketplace enrollment is only available during a limited open enrollment period. Medicaid is designed to provide a safety net of coverage for low-income people, with benefits and provider networks targeted to this population and coverage available throughout the year as people’s circumstances change. There is no deadline for states to opt to expand Medicaid under the ACA, and debate continues in some states about whether to expand. If more states adopt the expansion, the coverage gap will shrink and more low-income adults will gain access to Medicaid eligibility.

Interesting. Thanks.

I promise that this isn't some kind of sneaky attempt to argue for the elimination of Obamacare. I don't want it eliminated, and I have been a strong supporter, but my support has been based on the idea that it would bring affordable health care to everybody.