Some Little Known Subsidy Cuts to "Safety-Net" Hospitals, May Leave Some Without Care . . . . .

As various subsidies to hospitals that provide care to the uninsured, especially those that do not qualify for Medicaid, are implemented - some could be left with nowhere to go for much needed medical care.

The Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act would have provided coverage to many of these people.  But - since Supreme Court ruled that the states would have to be given the ability to "opt out" of the Medicaid expansion, many did.  That leaves a gaping hole in the body of people who would have been covered by the expansion.  Without the expansion, many of these individuals will not qualify for Medicaid - AND - they may not qualify for a federal subsidy to purchase health insurance through the new health insurance marketplaces.  An individual must have a Modified Adjusted Gross income of $11,490 to qualify for a subsidy.  If you make less, but do not qualify for Medicaid coverage, you will have no options other than to pay full price for a health insurance policy - which many cannot possibly afford.

Hospitals that previously might have cared for these patients because they were subsidized for doing so, will now have those subsidies cut and may need to begin to refuse care or turn people away.

The Wall Street Journal published a good article that explains the predicament very well.  Read more here . . . .

Obviously, some adjustments will need to be made to the health care law to compensate for these unexpected situations arising out of modifications in the law to date.  A lot of delivery of care and coverage issues were hoped to be solved with the Medicaid expansion.  Since that was limited significantly, large groups of people who had counted on it as a mechanism for health care coverage will be left behind once again and will remain uncovered, unless something is done to correct that.