[fla-left] [The Other Florida] Study: Florida poor second among those losing Medicaid (fwd)

[Michael Hoover <hoov@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

forwarded by Michael Hoover

Study: Florida poor second among those losing Medicaid

By Rob O'Dell, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 20, 2000

WASHINGTON -- A 15-state study released Monday says
that Florida experienced the second largest percentage
decline in the number of low-income families that received
Medicaid during the past two years.

Florida's 26 percent decline in the enrollment of families in
Medicaid during that period was the second largest of the
states in the study by Families USA, a nonprofit
organization that advocates health care for all Americans.

Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said that
since the welfare reform law took effect four years ago,
many low-income families have been ineligible for
Medicaid and unable to obtain health insurance from their
employers.

"For the poorest families, Medicaid has historically offered
the path to health insurance coverage," Pollack said. "But
since the implementation of health care reform in 1996,
the number of people enrolled in Medicaid programs has
decreased substantially."

The welfare reform legislation forced many formerly
unemployed people to get jobs, but Pollack said
employer-sponsored health insurance is often not available
to low-wage workers.

"Most people who have health insurance obtain it through
their employment," Pollack said. "Only 13 percent of
people (nationwide) with incomes below the poverty line
have health insurance coverage by their employer."

One reason for the decline in Medicaid enrollment is "poor and sometimes
unlawful" administration of Medicaid by states, such as a failure to notify
eligible families. Another is the low-income eligibility threshold which
disqualifies many needy low-income families, Pollack said.

"In almost two thirds of the states, (32 out of 50), people who work full
time at minimum wage --$5.15 an hour -- are considered to have too much
income to qualify for Medicaid," he said.

In Florida, people who earn more than $9,648 per year are disqualified from
Medicaid coverage, the study said. That's equivalent to working 36 hours
per week at minimum wage.

Pollack also said that many states failed to "de-link" welfare and Medicaid
after welfare was reformed. Previously, Medicaid was automatically provided
for people on welfare, but since welfare reform was enacte, many low-income
working parents were not notified that they could still obtain Medicaid
coverage, Pollack said.

"Many states have shown poor administration of their Medicaid programs
since welfare was reformed." Pollack said. "Computers were not reprogrammed
and caseworkers were not retrained, denying many people who qualified for
Medicaid the opportunity to have it provided for them."

He added that many low-income parents were not told that they were
automatically eligible for Transitional Medicaid for six months after their
Medicaid eligibility ended and up to a year if their income level was less
than $26,177 for a family of three.

Pollack said the failure to inform people of their eligibility for Medicaid
was a violation of federal law.

Specific figures of those families who are eligible for Medicaid but are
not currently enrolled in the program were not made available in the
report.

The report is the second this month that has cited the growth in the number
of uninsured Americans. An article in the June issue of the American
Journal of Public Health also indicated a decrease in Medicaid enrollment
since welfare reform.