Low-income families turn to Medicaid for children

Low-income families turn to Medicaid for children
The healthcare crisis that is threatening to swamp the United States is now forcing even working families at the lower end of the payment spectrum to put their children under the Medicaid program. Rising costs of private care coupled with increasingly complex insurance statements, which eventually pay for minimal care are the prime reasons for concern for families who have a job, but cannot afford expensive healthcare.

"People who you might've thought of as middle-class a few years ago are now eligible for programs that we typically thought of as programs for the poor," pointed out Rebecca Kavoussi, who is the director of public policy in the Community Health Network of Washington.

However, the Department of Social and Health Services says in its latest report that in Washington area alone, the number of children covered by Medicaid and other governmental health programs is expected to push up to 19 percent by 2009. "It is becoming the mechanism to insure children in low-income families," said MaryAnne Lindeblad of Health Options.

As far as Medicaid is concerned, children under the age of 18 are covered as long as the family income does not exceed $37,700 a year. This provision exists even if the family is classified as a working family.

Dr. Bob Crittenden, Head of department of family medicine at Harborview Medical Center says that the rising costs of health care are now forcing people to choose between getting treated and other basic necessities like bus fare, "A rational person is going to say, 'Where can I get it less expensively?''” said Crittenden. He also happens to be the chairman of the Working for Health Coalition.

All this in sum means that people are choosing to let their health care costs fall on federal and state governments, which are already short of funds and could creak under the added burden. Those who do not make the cut for government aid choose to go without insurance and consequently rely increasingly on emergency rooms. This means that hospitals are forced to transfer the costs to employers and workers and this again continues the vicious cycle.