Are those who were eligible for the old medicaid but never signed up for anything going to be put on that program even if they think they are signing up for the new Mack Daddy freebie? It sounds like a shell game, or bait and switch. I'm not following how this works.
(But then, neither are most of the people writing the laws, it seems)
People who would have qualified for the “old” Medicaid will still be signed up for Medicaid.
And, it will still be free.
But - the state will be charged the “old” cost, which is about 50% of the bill.
The people who qualify for the “new” Medicaid will also get it for free.
But - those people will cost the state just 0%-10% of the bill.
Many states are afraid that millions of people who will cost them 50% will sign up, which will destroy state budgets.
Anyone who makes less than $63,000 (family income) is automatically put on Medicaid. There is no choice and that pun was unintended. The only other option would be a private plan at a higher cost.
The difference will be the doctors and the hospitals. Where we live, that isn’t too bad because we don’t have a choice of hospitals anyway. The conflict is going to come in when you need an out of area specialist, or a specialist, period. For instance we are seeing more and more general practitioners doing obstetrics.