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It's wonderful you do so much charity work. I don't think the point of my post was to "help the poor", it was more about trying to get one person to rethink their behavior and attitude and putting my opinion out there, which is what forums are all about! Just because you don't want to see a group of people bashed online doesn't mean you're out to be a SJW.
Read the post again. I am talking about people who are abusing the system, as you alluded to. I am not talking about people who are honest, hard-working individuals but maybe have fallen on tough times and need a little help TEMPORARILY to get back on their feet. I am talking about people for whom Medicaid is a way of life and families who have generations on Medicaid.
It's fine if you think I am an elitist and have lost my humanity. I would be more than happy to privately compare my last three years tax returns with you. I guarantee I have made more charitable contributions (as a percentage of income) than you. In fact, just last month I did over $4000 worth of dentistry for FREE because I felt bad for a patient. My suggestion to you is to either volunteer your free time at a Medicaid dental clinic or, even better, go down to the local dental clinic, pick out a patient at random, and offer to write a check on the spot to cover all of their dental needs. Most people are happy to do their social justice fighting on the internet, but can't be bothered to actually lift a finger when push comes to shove.
I want to clarify a few things about Medicaid, since I used to work in a health clinic (and a hospital) that also happened to provide dental care. This clinic was adept at getting grants for all kinds of care. It was their specialty to help the migrant farm worker. That is how they got their start...by helping migrant farm workers with mobile clinics. Years later, this clinic also took regular people, off the street, who had their own health insurance.
As a patient services representative, I assisted patients in completing their Medicaid applications, which also included the CHIP program for kids. There was a high percentage of people who were never approved for Medicaid. Sometimes our management would have a person who was not approved re-submit their application. Often, those re-submissions would not be approved either. A few were accepted from a re-subission. Our state has another generous option for people who were rejected by Medicaid. Keep in mind, specialists often do not accept Medicaid. So the buck stopped with the patient receiving only basic care from a family practice doctor. It did not help when someone had a chronic illness that required a specialist, for example, or for someone who needed surgery. The surgeon was a specialist who didn't accept Medicaid. The doctor and clinic needed to be creative in getting care for the patient when that happened. Often, grants were the answer for continuing care. But not all healthcare clinics are adept at grant writing....this is a whole other field for a healthcare ciinic.
I don't know how the Medicaid system is able to gather information to approve/disapprove an application. I was always amazed at the people who were not approved. But Medicaid seems to gather a lot of information about the people who are submitting applications for Medicaid. Enough information to say "no" we will not cover you. One reason some were not approved was they did not give enough attention to filling out their application completely. You would be surprised at the people - even people with an education - who aren't detailed enough to fill out an app.
Just want to state the facts as someone who saw the Medicaid system in action.
My wife's assistant filed for welfare. She went down to the welfare office with her boyfriend and their baby. During her interview, the welfare representative asked her if her boyfriend is the father of her baby. She said yes. The rep said she would get more welfare money if she wrote down that the father of the child is unknown, with a "hint-hint" type gesture. My wife's assistant refused to lie and said the representative acted surprised.
My wife's assistant filed for welfare. She went down to the welfare office with her boyfriend and their baby. During her interview, the welfare representative asked her if her boyfriend is the father of her baby. She said yes. The rep said she would get more welfare money if she wrote down that the father of the child is unknown, with a "hint-hint" type gesture. My wife's assistant refused to lie and said the representative acted surprised.
That may be, I imagine, because they figure the state can go after the father for child support payments if they know who he is and where to find him.
That may be, I imagine, because they figure the state can go after the father for child support payments if they know who he is and where to find him.
The real issue to me is that they are encouraging applicants to game the system. Another person I know said she filed for Medicaid to help her pay bills. She worked at an entry-level job in retail. She was denied because apparently she made to much. They straight up told her "It's too bad that you work, you should quit working and then we can qualify you."
The real issue to me is that they are encouraging applicants to game the system. Another person I know said she filed for Medicaid to help her pay bills. She worked at an entry-level job in retail. She was denied because apparently she made to much. They straight up told her "It's too bad that you work, you should quit working and then we can qualify you."
I think she might be lying. In the first place, TANF applicants are denied benefits if they refuse to name the father. If they 'aren't sure' they are required to name the men who might be the father. The county will have the court subpoena each one and try to establish fatherhood via DNA testing. It varies but in most states if they collect support from the father the state keeps it for reimbursement of benefits but they allow a $50 pass through to the mother.
And this stuff about a medicaid applicant being told "you should quit working so we can qualify you" That makes no sense. If this is in a state with expanded medicaid she would qualify for medicaid if she makes less than $16,643 annually. If she lives in a state without expanded medicaid unless she has children she would not qualify for medicaid.
I think she might be lying. In the first place, TANF applicants are denied benefits if they refuse to name the father. If they 'aren't sure' they are required to name the men who might be the father. The county will have the court subpoena each one and try to establish fatherhood via DNA testing. It varies but in most states if they collect support from the father the state keeps it for reimbursement of benefits but they allow a $50 pass through to the mother.
And this stuff about a medicaid applicant being told "you should quit working so we can qualify you" That makes no sense. If this is in a state with expanded medicaid she would qualify for medicaid if she makes less than $16,643 annually. If she lives in a state without expanded medicaid unless she has children she would not qualify for medicaid.
All good points - I only know what I was told which could as you mentioned could very well not be true.
In the above example, if a person made $16,644 annually and had children would it be to their financial advantage to quit working and rely solely on welfare? Honest question here.
All good points - I only know what I was told which could as you mentioned could very well not be true.
In the above example, if a person made $16,644 annually and had children would it be to their financial advantage to quit working and rely solely on welfare? Honest question here.
She would do better working, "if" she had someone to care for her kids while she works. For years I did volunteer work for poor women, many of whom were facing homelessness. Welfare is crazy there is no way in the world a person can live on the cash grant, in Tennessee it's $185 a month for a family of three, in Nevada it's $383, and it's time limited, in Arizona you can only get cash benefits for 12 months.
In addition to the cash, a welfare family gets SNAP (food stamps) which is around $500 for a family of three and medicaid, the women I worked with in Nevada would sell half their food stamps for 50 cents on the dollar in order to pay for weekly motel room for themselves and their kids, and subsidized housing in most area has a 4-10 year wait list.
A wage earner with children who earns $16,644 gross would still be eligible for medicaid, even in most states without expanded medicaid. Assuming two kids and a rent payment of $500 a month she would still get $385 in SNAP benefits while working and she would get earned income credit of around $5,600 a year. The reason some women stay on welfare rather than working is because they can't find affordable child care - that's a huge problem in some areas. If we want the poor to work we've got to find some reasonable solution to childcare. My stepson and his wife live in San Francisco and pay $1800 a month for childcare for one kid.
The real issue to me is that they are encouraging applicants to game the system. Another person I know said she filed for Medicaid to help her pay bills. She worked at an entry-level job in retail. She was denied because apparently she made to much. They straight up told her "It's too bad that you work, you should quit working and then we can qualify you."
I know, and it's disgusting to hear, IMO, that they do encourage lying and and turn a blind eye to people that do game the system. I worked in health care in southeast FL for many years, and can tell you there are no shortages of folks there who know every trick in the book to look as though they qualify for every entitlement they can get, they don't need the Medicaid office employees to give them any pointers.
They do treat dental emergencies. Every hospital has dentists and oral surgeons on staff.
However, they are not there for general dentistry just because a patient might be in pain. In those cases, they will give appropriate RX and send you on your way to see a general dentist.
The hospitals' dentists and oral surgeons go home at night. They wake up when the er asked them for help.
Not all toothache are regarded as emergency, this varies in different states or countries.
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