Medicaid

The original Medicaid started in 1965 was to provide healthcare for low income adults with children, elderly, blind and people with disabilities. Obamacare added low income adults without children. Since Medicaid is both a federal and state program there are some differences between states but most set up income guides for participation. For some Medicaid is free and for others a scaled cost based on income. For example, in Minnesota, adults with household incomes up to 138% of poverty are eligible for Medicaid. Children 0-2 in households with income up to 288% of poverty are also eligible.  For an individual this means free insurance with income of less than $20,700. Most of these people do not sign up until they need care since there is no preexisting clause. There are currently 29 million eligible who did not sign up. For a family of four the income limit for free insurance is $62,000. Higher incomes qualify for insurance but that requires a monthly premium and annual deductible and these plans are partially subsidized. The average Obamacare plan (silver) cost $500 per month with a $4,000 annual deductible. A person without subsidize would pay $6,000 out of pocket for the plan plus another $4,000 before they received any benefit. Enhanced Obamacare which is set to expire at the end of 2025 limits the out of pocket cost to 8.5% of income which means the family making $62,000 would have an out of pocket total of $5,270. Only about 5 million are eligable for free coverage.