How Obamacare Helped Paul, A Homeless California Man, Finally Get Insurance

[ProSense]

How Obamacare Helped Paul, A Homeless California Man, Finally Get Insurance

By Scott Keyes

Hope isn’t an insurance policy.

This is the lesson that Paul, a 55-year-old San Francisco man with thin, wispy hair reminiscent of a benevolent mad scientist, learned three years ago when his closest friend died from cancer. She was diagnosed in early 2010. Four months later, lacking insurance and any means to pay for care, she died.

<...>

Things weren’t always bad for Paul, who preferred not to divulge his last name or have his photo taken. He had worked for a big technology company for years. When layoffs came following the dot-com bubble, he took a buyout and used the money to start his own IT consulting business. It was “thriving,” he explained. That is, until demand dried up after the 2008 market crash. His business went under and he was soon evicted...He has been homeless for nearly five years, sleeping in his car and trying every day to find work. It’s been 12 years since he had health insurance. For Paul, health care has meant aspiring, an annual flu shot, and confidence he won’t get sick.

<...>

On Monday, Paul showed up at Project Homeless Connect, a services fair for homeless people held near the Castro district of San Francisco, unsure of what he’d find...The problem is that, even though he had no health care, no home, and no assets, he still wasn’t eligible for California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal. That’s because for years, only people who were elderly, disabled, or had dependent children were eligible for Medi-Cal. Childless adults like Paul were excluded from the system.

That is, until Obamacare.

One of the most important reforms in the Affordable Care Act is the expansion of Medicaid to cover anyone with an income at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level...I ran into Paul after his consultation with SF PATH, a federally-funded insurance program that has served low-income San Franciscans, but will automatically roll over all its enrollees into Medi-Cal beginning on January 1, 2014.

- more -

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/10/11/2761931/homeless-obamacare/

The Cruelty of Republican States in One Chart
http://sync.democraticunderground.com/10023790604

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http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023826338
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023826338#post1

[ProSense]

1. Kick! n/t

[Melinda]

2. One HUGE problem with this scenario - CA has healthcare programs for indigent folks...

and CA continues to have healthcare for indigent folks until Jan 1, 2014 when the ACA transfers said peeps over to Medi-cal. All 58 counties participate in one of two forms of medical service programs for those ineligible for Medi-cal: "County Medical Services Program or CMSP" and "Medically Indigent Services Program or MISP". And the healthcare services proved by these programs are equal to those received under Medi-cal. There is NO difference save the name. Have a look:

http://lahealthaction.org/library/County_Programs_for_the_Medically_Indigent_in_California.pdf

Paul has been and continues to be eligible to these services. CA also has presumptive eligibility for anyone diagnosed with Cancer, which would have covered Paul's friend during her illness. One piece of paper confirming the diagnosis and instant Medi-cal coverage. Same day.

I welcome the ACA, but I don't appreciate propaganda about CA's medical services. My state has been front and center providing health care to the poorest and least among us for decades; the article posted is just flat wrong.

Now, Paul and his friend may have chosen NOT to enroll in CMSP or MISP, but that does NOT equal the assertion in the article posted. ALL indigent people in CA are eligible for healthcare services, regardless the program they fall into.

Sometimes a rose is a rose is a rose.

**Edited to Add: I just noticed the line about Paul and his consultation with SF Path; SF path is the MISP program for indigent folks in SF, and has been for years and years. Paul has been eligible to receive SF Path's MISP services as are all indigent folks in CA eligible to the same. These programs have been run separately from Medi-cal, they will now become part of it under the ACA.

[ProSense]

3. Interesting, but

the document states that coverage is limited in some cases to coverage between one, six and up to 12 months.

[Melinda]

4. Length of coverage depends on several variables, ie age, income, and residential status

The length of coverage for one over age 55 and employed with a steady residence is generally six months (and I say generally because each county's CMSP/MISP eligibility requirements may differ); under 55 years of age is from 3-6 months depending on County, homeless coverage is one month as those so unfortunate don't have a legal residence. I know of no county that allows more than 6 months coverage, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Several varibles for length of coverage, but covered nonetheless.

[ProSense]

5. Thanks for the information. n/t

[Melinda]

6. I expect better from ThinkProgress! And YQW. :)