Medicaid

[Casey_03]

Has anybody here been on Medicaid and if so, is the coverage halfway decent? I know it's supposed to cover hospital stays and most doctor's visits, but I can't seem to get an answer about whether the coverage is actually decent, i.e. whether or not most places accept it.

I've been away from the States for so long that I don't even remember how it's supposed to work. Am going through the application form now and it just seems incredibly confusing.

 

[hodge]

Yep, I'm on a form of Medicaid for working adults with disabilities. It makes all my Rxs cost about $1 (including one that used to be $45) and is a good supplemental insurance that helps cover lots more of my therapy and medical bills than Medicare does. Everywhere I've been to accepts it.

I bet if you call the health/human services office in the county where you're going to move that they will help you fill out the form. That form's a real bitch. Good luck!

 

[Casey_03]

Thanks @hodge Yeah, I'm trying to call their hotline and it appears to be down, as does their website, which is really infuriating and not very encouraging. Ugh.

 

[Silver.]

Medicaid benefits also vary from state to state, so it would be better to look into the Medicaid website for the state you are going to be moving to.
They also have people available to help you fill out forms and answer questions you might have, which might be of help to you.

edited: most places do accept Medicaid, though it's good to call a provider and ask first, because they do have the right to turn down new patients that have that for coverage, as it is my understanding that providers get paid less from State insurance than insurance companies

 

[scout86]

I've bounced back and forth between a couple of government sponsored health care plans, with Medicaid being one of them. From what I understand, coverage depends on where you live. You might want to check the web site of the dept of health & human services in the state you're moving to.

When they implemented the affordable health care act, there was a provision where the federal government would subsidize the states if they expanded access to Medicaid. Some of the "conservative" states opted out of this and that affects what's available in those states a lot. Each state also has it's own eligibility requirements, etc. As a rule of thumb, kids are treated reasonably well, families come in second, and single adults the worst, which is actually kind of reasonable.. What that comes to depends totally on which state you're dealing with.

Here (possibly the most consistently liberal state in the nation) as a single 'working poor' adult, the coverage ranges from free to cheap and it's pretty good. Not much for co-pays etc. Here, they ask you to pick a 'provider' which amounts to picking an insurance company to deal with and you'll use their network of doc's hospitals, etc, just like any other insurance client. The only difference is the government negotiates the coverage with the insurance company. I'm not sure that's the same everywhere.

If you have a doctor (or therapist) you like, make sure they are listed in the network of the company you pick. Every year when it's time to redo the paperwork, they've changed the list of companies (that's a county deal in this state) and I email my T with a list of possibilities and ask him who he'd prefer to work with. So far so good on that. Most of the docs & hospitals in this county stay aligned with what ever the county goes with for networks.

There MIGHT be a residency requirement of some type. What that is depends on the state. Most of them don't want people moving into the state for 'welfare benefits'. In general, I'd say the more liberal the state, the better off you'll be. But, the web site/phone line deal doesn't sound like a good sign. (I once spent 2 hours on the phone with the main office at the state capital trying to straighten something out. That was a year ago and it's STILL not straightened out. But I still have coverage. :confused:)

 

[Casey_03]

Did they require an in-person interview?

 

[scout86]

Here they don't.

 

[Casey_03]

Damn my infuriating, corrupt state! All I've got is this absurd application saying they require an interview. All the hotlines are down, website is down. Reminds me of Russia!

 

[Casey_03]

As a side note, just for laughs, Ukraine is actually out of vaccines for my baby. That's how corrupt the healthcare system is here. The entire country is out of vaccines.

 

[hodge]

Cripes Casey! That's awful! Both that Ukraine is out of vaccines and that your state is so nasty. Consider coming to Minnesota. Yeah, we've got brutal winters, but we're also a good blue state with benefits, including heating assistance if need be.

 

[Silver.]

Interviews (usually) occur over the phone, I haven't heard of one having to go in person for one.
The state insurance here (Vermont) was overwhelmed for months, you couldn't call without getting at least a 90 minute wait time. Seems health insurance providers have been on overload this year.

 

[scout86]

All I've got is this absurd application saying they require an interview.

If they require an interview, they can't really expect you to show up until you get there. They very well might NOT let you get things set up before you're physically present in the state.

We've had a couple of episodes of 'the web site is down' here too. Usually it makes the news at some level. You might be able to poke around and find out if this is an ongoing problem or a temporary one.

MN has a web site for signing up for ANY "Obama Care" insurance. ("The Exchange") If you're eligible for one of the state subsidized plans, and you go to the general site and fill out the forms, it will re-direct you to the DHS site. You might check and see if the state you're dealing with has something like that. It's a potential 'backdoor' to where you want to go & might give you a clue on how big the other problems are. If nothing else, you might be able to email (or call?) the DHS (or local equivalent) in the county you're moving to. They will also know what's going on and might be able to handle things. (Had a deal last spring where I explained a problem to the local social worker, she said :"Those people in St Paul can't do ANYTHING right! Bring in a few year's worth of tax returns, they'll go in the pile of papers on my desk. When I get to them, I'll call you because I won't remember why they're there. Then I can fix it, even if they say they can't." Haven't heard from her since! There's definitely a special kind of insanity with bureaucracies.) The one thing I will say for things in this state, they know the system is f'd up and actually seem to go out of their way to get people covered anyway. (I still haven't gotten a bill for 2015's cheap insurance. They can see that I owe them money, but can't figure out how to generate a bill. But I had coverage anyway......) I think, in the end, things will work out.

Don't suppose the embassy has access to any vaccines that the general, local public doesn't? I can't imagine the ambassador's kid not getting vaccinated.