Health insurance exchanges in 6 states receive federal approval

News on Medicaid health insurance

News on Medicaid health insuranceObama has given the nod to the marketplaces that have been proposed by states.

The federal government has provided its conditional approval to the health insurance exchanges that have been proposed by six states that are moving forward on their versions of the healthcare reforms.

Each of the states that have received this approval are led by Democratic governors.

These states are made up of Massachusetts, Washington, Connecticut, Colorado, Oregon, and Maryland. Equally, the federal government failed to give its approval to other states that had proposed a partial Medicaid expansion which would provide coverage for a smaller number of people than had initially been intended by President Obama and Congress.

Some of the states have intentions of providing health insurance thorough Medicaid to people up to the poverty line.

This applies to adults without children, or to families with a child and that have a household income of up to $19,090. However, according to the top federal Medicaid official, Cindy Mann, the federal government would pay the entire cost of beneficiaries who are newly eligible for Medicaid only in the case that a state increased its threshold by 133 percent of the poverty line (which equates to 138 percent when a federal law adjustment is taken into account).

This would mean that a family of three with a household income that is $26,340 or less would be eligible to apply for Medicaid coverage. The national Association of Medicaid Directors’ executive director, Matt D. Salo, said that there would be “No partial expansion of Medicaid. No phased-in expansion. It’s all or nothing.” His organization represents the state officials.

In June, the Supreme Court upheld the reforms to the health insurance and healthcare law, but stated that the Medicaid expansion element would be optional for each state. President Obama had wanted it to be a requirement. At the same time, though, the federal government has said that the states could greatly benefit from expanding their Medicaid because the entire cost of new beneficiaries would be paid for by the federal government from 2014 through 2016. After that time 90 percent of the costs would be covered.

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