Americans-thoughts on Medicaid?

[dakotaice]

Now I want to start off by saying I do not intend to offend or point fingers at anyone. This is just a healthy debate.

Lately I have been angered by some posts on Facebook and even some on here-from ladies using Medicaid for children they've purposely planned or as insurance just because they can get accepted for it, even if they already have their own private insurance. (obviously to save money)

This country is in a foul economic position. How do you ladies feel about families who plan and conceive purposely on state funded Medicaid? Or women who don't use their own private insurance in order to save money?

Just curious!

 

[Eternal]

Im not american, so dont understand the whole system, but recently read one for the UK saying is it irresponsible to TTC on benefits which I guess is a simular argument. Its in the debates sections, which may be a better place for this, but thats up to you (you can ask to have it moved if you want, the debates is allowed more freedom so is less likely to be shut down).

 

[gills8752]

Wheres the debates section??

 

[dakotaice]

Yes I was unaware there was a debate forum lol. A mod can move this if they feel like that's necessary! I'm still interested in everyone's thoughts!

 

[x__amour]

Both my daughter and I have Medicaid. It really has helped so much. We are ineligible after they expire though as my husband got a new job and makes too much but it comes with health insurance so we'll be okay.

 

[tinkerbellkj]

I pay A LOT for insurance and still had to pay over $2,000.00 when my baby was born. I feel like insurance is my responsibility to pay and not the government. I mean, I hate paying it believe me, but I also hated having to go back to work 12 weeks after my son was born, but you have to do to survive. I also don't have WIC or anything like that, either.

 

[Eternal]

Welcome to the debates section

I have a friend who lives in america, she is British but married an American several years ago and moved there.

They started TTC right away and had problems, she couldnt afford medical insurance, so would come back to the UK for tests etc, and now after 7 years i think she is pregnant, obviously not affording medical insurance they will get medi-aid (is that what its called?).

I dont really agree, I dont think its fair she comes here to use the UK for free treatment and then does the same there. But as I say I dont really understand the US system, but if she cant afford to pay for maternity care, what happens if that child or her need other medical help post birth???

 

[ahcigar1]

I personally think that it needs to be removed from our system. I have seen first hand way too many people who abuse our systems and it irks me to no end to see people like this when under my hard earned money and work. I worked in a pharmacy for 2 years and I can't tell you how many people I saw pull up time and time again with porshes, benz's, ect. and were on medicade, wic, etc. It is disgusting and we need to cut costs right now in order to save our economy and I think this is one of the first things that should be looked into being cut or greatly greatly reduced and actually have the people looked more into whether they trully neeed it or not or if they are just being plain old lazy. Also I believe it is VERY irrisponsible to be trying to have kids while on the system. If you have to have someone pay for caring for you then you don't need to raise the numbers more by having kids to be on other people's dime.

 

[x__amour]

I agree with the abuse, some people really do abuse it but some people really do need it. I worked and Medicaid was taken from my taxes and my DH worked and same as him but both my LO and I needed it as we couldn't afford private insurance and neither of the places we worked at offered benefits. But now that my OH makes $18+ an hour with benefits I'll no longer need Medicaid but I was grateful for the year that I had it, kwim?

ETA: Also wanted to add I had insurance when I fell pregnant. I lost it when I turned 19 at 36 weeks pregnant. Thankfully I got Medicaid quickly and they were able to cover my birth and all post partum appointments and LO's appointments as well.

 

[Ramen]

Due to a blip I lost private insurance for a year, and it figures that we'd get pregnant then. Pregnancy is a pre-existing condition unless you get health care through your employer which wouldn't kick in till January anyway so shopping around for private insurance failed utterly. I'm very thankful to have pregnancy medicaid. The only thing I don't like about wic/medicaid is that it encourages you to stay poor to keep it. The under 5k in assets rule is a constant worry as I'm a packrat with money so I don't see how anyone is living it up while on medicaid.

 

[Srrme]

I used Medicaid for myself and Elias while we were in Oklahoma, because my insurance didn't cover us there (we were visiting for Thanksgiving), and I went into spontaneous preterm labor. I am also using Medicaid temporarily this time around, until my husband's insurance goes through (which will be next month).

 

[dakotaice]

I am 100% ok with people using Medicaid for accidents or pregnancies that were unplanned. However harsh this may be, I feel like if you can't afford insurance for any part of your pregnancy for whatever reason, it isn't the right time for you to be trying to conceive. Girls I'm friends with on Facebook openly brag and talk about how they had their entire families (these are married women, folks) on Medicaid--several had multiple planned children on it. It is really, really frustrating. I also believe it needs to be heavily cut back. America can NOT afford to pay for everyone's pregnancies, births, and children just because families want a baby NOW and aren't rational enough to wait until a much better time for them financially and situationally (waiting for your own insurance, etc... Just wait for it to come through permanently before TTC, responsibility people!!)

 

[citymouse]

In general I would prefer it if those programs could be seen as a safety net rather than a crutch. I have known friends and family who have needed to go on them for help because they simply had no other way to afford care. But they used them, and then went off of them as soon as they could.

The problem is that our society has become just a machine to feed certain segments of the population directly into those programs and into circumstances where the users feel they have no other options than to just live off the system. In my opinion it starts with poor education and grows from there.

So while I'm quite conservative financially speaking, I can't see how it would be fair to cut the funding even from the abusers, because in many cases they have grown up with no other realistic option. I mean, yes, you can have a young woman who decides she is going to buck the system and go to college, but for many kids who were raised in situations where there is no hope or expectation that you will make your own way, you can hardly fault a person for continuing the cycle.

I think it will take a rebuilding of the system on a massive level to solve its problems and teach young people not to grow up with the expectation of being cared for by the state.

Another thing that bothers me about Americans' trumpeted lack of health insurance is that many young people who COULD afford it would rather spend their money on expensive cell phone plans, nice cars, cable TV, going out and drinking, buying cigarettes, etc. When you're young, single, and healthy you can get health insurance for $100 a month but most choose not to. And then they moan about not being insured. (And then they get sick and CAN'T get insurance because of pre-existing conditions.) I'm not saying this applies to families or pregnant women but for a large segment of the uninsured population, making a few personal sacrifices would get them insurance. As it is, soon their parents are going to have to pay for them until they're 26! What a joy for the parents.

 

[mummy3]

I'm totally fine with our tax dollars being used to cover accidental pregnancies ad gaps in insurance etc I just feel the whole system needs a rehaul. Educate people so its treated as a safety net and certainly not something to inspire to be on longterm

It's incredibly selfish to ttc on this plan, if you cant even afford basic healthcare for your kids wait until you are in a more secure position to provide for them.

We were in a position where my husband swaped jobs whilst i was pregnant, in this economic climate it happens, he didnt have a period out of work but he did have a month out of insurance. I went into labour 2 days after his new insurance kicked in but it was close. Now we are not eligible for medicaid/wic or anything else but I felt so angry that we were in that stressful position for a month (our hosp bills with no ins would have bankrupted us) yet we pay thousands for others to get insured

 

[hb1]

this is why I am so glad to live in the UK - we pay in our taxes so everyone has a free service - i think health is one thing that shouldn't be dictated by finance - I hope our nhs survives this economic situation as it is worth saving

 

[Eve]

I am very proud of Canadian Health Care and Medicare. We can see our doctor, go to hospitals, have surgery, delivery babies etc... free. I also think if you can't afford children, you shouldn't try for them. Of course sometimes even with trying to prevent, you can become pregnant and then I do believe you deserve proper treatment and coverage. It's such a difficult thing to govern.

 

[Ashley8806]

We were on Medicaid with my first. After finding out we were expecting, my husband's job got cut. I was working and going to school, and he found a new job quickly, but we couldn't be put on his insurance since I was already pregnant, and my job didn't offer it because I was part time. I don't know what we would have done without it. The way I look at it is we pay our taxes, we both work - I shouldn't need to fee guilty about getting in a bind. There are people that abuse it, I agree, but I don't like to have that title because of irresponsible people.

 

[Ashley8806]

Also, if we didn't get Medicaid I wouldn't have been able to finish college, which would mean we would probably still be on the assistance now. But because of the assistance, I am a college graduate in the career that I chose.

 

[DukesAngel]

I agree with Medicaid/Care to a point. I think there is too many abuses of the system and its too easy to qualify for it.

I'm unisured and pregnant now. (I have individual health insurance with no maternity) There was never a thought in mine or my husbands mind to apply and there still isnt. We have been responsible with our money and have lived without cable, nice vehicles, a huge house, and other things that some people feel like they can't live without. But, this has set us up nicely with savings and has also helped us plan for unexpected events like this.

I will be getting on works group plan in Feb so that the delivery part can be covered and am cringing thinking about the increase to our budget, but it will work itself out I'm sure and I will probably change the health insurance again once the kid is 2 to something similar to what we currently have now.

When I see younger people, older people, or people my age not taking the steps to ensure their own future it really makes me angry. They abuse the system, do not plan, and don't think about what will happen tomm. They know that they can always get on some assistance and will abuse the system to get on it and stay on it. Educating people about money and planning is a far away step after restructuring the entire system. Too many people rely on the system to be there when they haven't planned things out.

Wow this is long. I'll stop now.

 

[AirForceWife7]

I agree that it is okay to have medicaid if you actually NEED it. So many people abuse the system & I believe that it is too easy to receive. Florida became the first state to begin drug testing in order for one to receive eligibility for benefits. I wish the remaining 49 states would do the same. That way we can get rid of all the people who do abuse the system.