Running Head: MEDICAID CAN BRING RELIEF TO FAMILIES

Medicaid Can Bring Relief to Families Paula Long Jefferson Community College

MEDICAID PROGRAMS CAN BRING A RELIEF TO FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS

Health care cost is known to be problematic for many people. Through Medicaid programs there is a relief for families and individuals. They may not have any income at all or they may be at poverty level. Through no fault of their own they are unable to afford medical coverage. They may have lost a job due to lay off and became unemployed. Americans have a responsibility to help their neighbors, but, the question that plagues us is whether America can afford to insure everyone. Though it seems unattainable, if we focus on preventive measures through Medicaid programs such as Kentucky Childrens Health Insurance Plan (KCHIP), and Kentucky Womens Cancer Screening, we can significantly curb future health care costs. Let us not forget our history of health care. At one time society economic situation brought about financials hardships individuals could not see an end. Especially during the Great Depression which was marked by vast unemployment. This brought about The Social Security Act of 1935, passed in response to the need of individuals. Americans had the right to protection from economic instability and the federal government secured and accepted responsibility. The act brought about health assistance to the poor though social insurance, public assistance, and welfare services. Those who sought health care were of all ages, survivors, disability, and unemployed (Woodside, & McClam, 2011). Individuals had a right to benefits regardless of need. They no longer had to live without needed medical attention because of financial status. Another law in health care that passed in 1986 giving individuals the right to emergency care is The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. An emergency medical condition is defined as a condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain) such that the absence of

MEDICAID PROGRAMS CAN BRING A RELIEF TO FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS

immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in placing the individuals health in serious jeopardy, serious impairment of bodily functions, or serious dysfunction of bodily organs. Sadly to say individuals was going to the emergency room and denied service because they could not afford to pay. This dis-service was known as patient dumping where if you did not have any insurance or could not afford to pay they would transfer the patient to another hospital or not provide care. This law entitles you to three things: screening, emergency care and appropriate transfers. It also required hospitals to provide care to individuals regardless of their citizenship, legal status, or inability to pay who needed medical health care and not to release them if they were not in stabilized condition (Know your rights, 2011). It is unbelievable, but true about the unfair treatment of people needing emergency care. This act is a reminder that laws are needed in order to insure stabilization of society. It has been said that these people intentionally provide falsification of their financial status in order to dodge payment of their medical bill. That this law allows patients not be legally responsible to pay their medical bills. Unfortunately the cost of care given by this act is not covered by the federal government. Hospitals are writing off the care given as charity which increases financial pressure causing some hospital emergency rooms closure. This makes decreasing number of emergency rooms available for people to go to in spite of the demand for emergency care. Most emergency rooms wait time is up to four or five hours unless there is a bad trauma such as gunshot wound (Wikipedia, 2011). The need for preventive care shows up in the amount of people in the emergency room for severe headaches pain due to high blood pressure and other health elements that routine checkups could have foreseen a health problem before health situations became worse.

MEDICAID PROGRAMS CAN BRING A RELIEF TO FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS

Needless to say there will always be people against helping the less fortunate. Some will say if they can work and pay for health cost so can the next person. Why should people be responsible for other peoples health care cost? Why should their tax dollars go to support the poor? Society should abide by the saying of the three musketeers All for one and one for all. The writer, Keith Epstein wrote to inform us about the universal approach. No one knows when health care is going to be needed. A person can pay into a health plan for several years and not have to use it. That is one reason individuals of low income take a chance and pay their LG & E bill instead. Lots of individuals depend on employers for their health insurance but with todays tight economy employers are requesting the employee to pay a majority of their coverage. Critics of universal coverage say the nation cant afford to insure everyone. But healthcare advocates say the nations piecemeal approach to insurance doesnt keep Americans healthy and cost more in the long run. The absence of universal health coverage has been called one of the great, unsolved problems facing the United States at the onset of the 21st century (Epstein, 2002). Our nation depends on the good health of our people. Universally everyone should have health coverage. This curbing of health care costs helps hold the insurance industry accountable to help stop an illness before it starts. On the contrary insurance companies are known to be one the wealthiest industry in America. Yet Carla Howell in (2011), whom headed the Center for Small Government and is the publisher of Small Government News, argues uninsured Americans say they cannot afford health insurance because it saves them a boatload of money. They say it is a bad use of their money.

MEDICAID PROGRAMS CAN BRING A RELIEF TO FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS

For Instance in Massachusetts=-the Overpriced Health Care Capital of the World-young, health families can spend over $9,400 a year for the cheapest HMO policy they can find, and over 19800 for a broader coverage plan. Families with middle-aged parents can spend over $30,000-every yearto be insured. The older you are, the more unaffordable it gets. The worse of this overpriced health coverage is that it will not guarantee all health coverage. Care can be terminated if your illness is long term, then a person still in turn will need the same government welfare programs they would have if they had no insurance at all. So why buy a health insurance policy that has limitations. That will not insure you when you need it the most (Howell, C. 2011). In a nutshell most Americans tend to put their money elsewhere instead of paying for high cost insurance. Instead they say they are too poor to afford health care insurance. Children are the hope for our future. For this reason their health is very essential. Due to the rise of unemployment Parents are unable to afford health cost. Also an issue that affects parents finance is there are a lot of single parenting family homes with one income. Congress in 1997, created program Kentucky Childrens Health Insurance Plan is also known as KCHIP. The Kentucky Childrens Health Insurance Program is free or low cost health insurance for children. KCHIP is for children younger than 19 who do not have health insurance and whose family income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. A family cannot earn up to $44,700 a year and qualify for Chip (Kentucky.gov (2011). This program goes by the parents income and if the parent is unemployed there is no charge for the childs health insurance. Through the help of the government for establishing this plan will

MEDICAID PROGRAMS CAN BRING A RELIEF TO FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS

ensure that children living at poverty level will have the same chance of living a healthy life as children above the poverty level. Kentucky Womens Cancer Screening is a preventive program also but is for adult women at a low cost or no cost at all depending on income. Its most known function is to ensure yearly breast exams at local health centers. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the United States, after skin cancer, and the second leading cause of cancer death, after lung cancer. Yet breast cancer mortality rates have been declining, most probably the result of early detection and better treatment (Mantel, 2011). On the contrary, in 2009 there were some controversies raised about women forgoing mammograms. It was reported that breast cancer screening test were far from perfect. In finding a tiny tumor in a womens breast was a challenge in medical technology The problem comes when the same tumor gets large and spreads to other organs, then the woman will most likely die. Preventive care was a debate in 2009, when The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USPSTF) most recent data determined that routine mammograms for the ages of 40 to 49 would save few lives because of the false positives and unnecessary biopsies that result in that age group .They also stated that mammograms were only beneficial for women 50 and older. Otis Webb Brawley chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society stated there was a need for breast cancer screening, but he feared that lead engineers and medical device manufacturers presumed that early breast cancer detection was not worth their attention (Mantel, 2010). Even though a tiny tumor in a womens breast is hard to detect it is always wise to use early precautions become the tumor gets large. Early periodic screenings have been found to be

MEDICAID PROGRAMS CAN BRING A RELIEF TO FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS

important to avoid cancer from spreading throughout the body. Once cancer spreads through the body procedures to save lives can be costly. However when health insurance was developed in the United States in the 1930s, it only covered hospital stay and major medical bills not preventive services. Finally to Americans rescue after a long shift in thinking new private insurance policies where implemented, each and every one but grandfathered plans in existence at the time that President Barack Obama signed a law on March 23, 2010 that will have to cover 100 percent of most preventive services including Medicare.. This new law is called The Affordable Care Act and these changes will take effect in the year of 2011. The federal government will increase matching funds for states that offer approved preventive services in their Medicaid programs. This is a preventive turn in health care reform (Starr, 2011). Preventive care for everyone in America brings about a freedom to choose good health for the rich and the poor. President Barack Obama came to assist with the health and wellbeing of low income children. With his support KCHIP program is continuously improving. In spite of the Republicans who opposed government funded insurance expanding. They criticized the cost of offering health insurance to all children in America with state and federal dollars. President Barack Obama, ends a two-year process by Democrats signed the legislation that will allow 7 million children to continue coverage through the State Childrens Health Insurance Program and allow an additional 4 million to sign up. Obama stated The way he saw it, providing coverage to 11million children through the KCHIP program was a down payment on his commitment to cover every single American. Since August 2007, the House voted seven times to expand the childrens health insurance program. Opposite from President Bush who helped stiffen Republican resolve and helped block passage of the measures. Finally the debate was over and

MEDICAID PROGRAMS CAN BRING A RELIEF TO FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS

President Barack has pushed the bill through. This signed legislation effective in year 2011, will insure us a healthier America as kids become adults who will cut down future health care cost (Msnbc 2009). Preventive care is what America needs which will help cut in budget deficit by millions of dollars. Yes we can afford to help others. These two Medicaid programs have preventive measures to stop or detect a lot of medical problems before they become at a dreadful stage. We can save lives. Our Government is caring and takes pride in helping the less fortunate people who cannot take care of themselves. Preventive Care is a tool in health care to eliminate widespread denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. It certainly can lower our deficit by trillions of dollars by early detection of breast cancer or through KCHIP routine checkup of children and sound medical advice from their doctors of good health care for their future.

MEDICAID PROGRAMS CAN BRING A RELIEF TO FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS

References Associated Press (2009) Obama Views Childrens Health Bill AS Step One. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29011620/ns/politics-capitol_hill/t/obama-views-childrens Epstein, K. (2002, June 14). Covering the uninsured. CQ Researcher, 12, 521-544. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/ Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Famaily Services, Programs and Services. Retrieved from http://chfs.ky.gov/dms/services.htm Kentucky.gov (2011) what is KCHIP. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.ky.gov/en/kchip/ Know Your Emergency Room Rights (2011, November 17).Retrieved from <http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance. Mantel, B. (2010, April 2). Breast cancer. CQ Researcher, 20, 289-312. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher Shute, N.(2011, n.d.) Beyond Mammograms . EBSCO, 00368733, May2011, Vol. 304, Issue 5 Database: MAS Ultra - School Edition Retrieved from http://internal.jefferson.kctcs.edu:2070/src/detail Starr, Paul. "The Preventive turn in Health-Care Reform." The American Prospect 21.7 (2010): A19. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 22 Nov. 2011.

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"Why We Need More 'Uninsured' Americans by Carla Howell." LewRockwell.com. Web. 29 Nov. 2011. < http://internal.jefferson.kctcs.edu . Wikipedia. (2011, November 17). Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Woodside, W & McClam, (2011) p.43 Retrieved from: An Introduction to Human Services