Insurance

One of the main concerns with the new big bill is health insurance under Medicaid. The old Medicaid did not cover adults without children but when Obamacare came in this was changed and adults without children qualified like others based on income. There are about 11 million people in this group and under the new bill they will be required to work 80 hours per month in order to maintain their Medicaid coverage. This work could include community service, going to school or engaging in a work program. Many people will opt not to go to work since Obamacare allows for coverage with pre-existing conditions. This means a person can sign up after they have a health problem and get coverage the first day of the following month. This is antithetical to insurance since it allows coverage after the event. A person is diagnosed with cancer on July 15th and they sign up for insurance and they are covered August first. When Obamacare first started in 2010 people who chose not to sign up were penalized and had to pay a penalty of 2.5% of their income when they filed their taxes. This was so unpopular that it was dropped in 2018. Today there are about 26 million people who do not have insurance but could get it if they wanted.