This is a Medicaid Program that they claim is a new benefit. Actually it has been around for a few years but Covid came along and stopped the implementation. It may be a benefit if you are only few hundred dollars over the limit for Medicaid. For the disabled it is a nightmare.
I know someone who is totally disable and can not hold down any job. He receives SSI which is $913 a month, an additional $1100 in survivor benefits from his father who was in the service and mother who were killed in a car crash. So his total income for the month is $2013. He has been on Medicaid for years and they have paid all of medical expenses that run from $25,000 to $125,000 a year.
A few days ago he got a letter from Apple Health, (Medicare in Washington State) about a new exciting Medicaid program called spend down. The letter said he was being put on spend down and that he will have to meet a $15,123 deductible (half every 6 months) before Medicaid pays anything, not even preventive care. He called DHS to explain paying 62% of his income would be completely impossible because of the expenses due to his disability. The DHS lady expressed sympathy for his problem and explained many people having the same problem. She said, "I will tell you what I tell them. Don't pay any part of your hospital bills. You don't have any assets or income that they can touch. All they can do is ruin your credit and sell your debt to bill collectors."
After listening to this, I don't know what is worst, the bureaucrats who come up with these crazy programs or the people they hire to administer them. It is expected over the next year 12 million adults and 5 million children will lose their health insurance.
I know someone who is totally disable and can not hold down any job. He receives SSI which is $913 a month, an additional $1100 in survivor benefits from his father who was in the service and mother who were killed in a car crash. So his total income for the month is $2013. He has been on Medicaid for years and they have paid all of medical expenses that run from $25,000 to $125,000 a year.
A few days ago he got a letter from Apple Health, (Medicare in Washington State) about a new exciting Medicaid program called spend down. The letter said he was being put on spend down and that he will have to meet a $15,123 deductible (half every 6 months) before Medicaid pays anything, not even preventive care. He called DHS to explain paying 62% of his income would be completely impossible because of the expenses due to his disability. The DHS lady expressed sympathy for his problem and explained many people having the same problem. She said, "I will tell you what I tell them. Don't pay any part of your hospital bills. You don't have any assets or income that they can touch. All they can do is ruin your credit and sell your debt to bill collectors."
After listening to this, I don't know what is worst, the bureaucrats who come up with these crazy programs or the people they hire to administer them. It is expected over the next year 12 million adults and 5 million children will lose their health insurance.
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