Walmart Workers At Risk In States Rejecting Obamacare Medicaid Expansion
Source: Huffington Post
If state governors follow through on plans to oppose the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare, one substantial group of low-wage workers appears vulnerable to going without medical coverage: people who work at Walmart.
The worlds largest retailer recently outlined a new policy that will exclude from health coverage newly hired employees who work fewer than 30 hours per week, as The Huffington Post reported this month. Experts described that move as an attempt by Walmart to shift the burden of providing health coverage to the government -- specifically, to Medicaid, the insurance program for the poor.
Obamacare includes a dramatic expansion of Medicaid, one that will potentially extend health insurance to as many as 10 million people by 2016, according to the most recent Congressional Budget Office estimates. It would achieve this by expanding eligibility to include individuals with annual incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty limit -- currently $14,856.
A primary mission behind Obamacare was to ensure that people in low-wage service sector jobs -- which typically do not include health benefits -- would gain some form of medical coverage. But in a landmark ruling this year, the Supreme Court gave states the right to opt out of the Medicaid expansion. Republican governors in Texas, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Maine and South Dakota have subsequently signaled plans to do just that.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/13/walmart-obamacare-medicaid_n_2280118.html
lalalu
(1,663 posts)At some point in time Americans are going to have to take responsibility for screwing themselves.
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)of health care.
lalalu
(1,663 posts)LynneSin
(95,337 posts)Walmarts closed out the local Mom & Pop stores. With no other decent jobs in the area most have to rely on places like Walmart for some sort of income.
I suspect if looked at the racial breakdown of Walmart employees that we'd find way more white people working at those stores.
THEY are the dumbasses who voted in governors who will keep them from getting the health insurance they need.
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)Rural America voted these assholes in and also probably did not go on strike/protest on Black Friday, but will continuing blame big government.
Rstrstx
(1,399 posts)The way I understand it, wouldn't there still be a federal exchange in place for them to purchase insurance? For people under 133% the FPL they would pay $288 annually for insurance, if they make under 100% FPL they'd pay $217 a year. In other words they'd still have health insurance just not through Medicaid. Do I have this right or am I off? Unless copays and other charges are outrageous if you're in the federal exchange this still strikes me as a pretty good deal and a HUGE improvement from where we are today.
november3rd
(1,113 posts)The people in some of these red states--and in many red counties in the blue states--are truly tragic, pitiful human beings.