Medicaid Coverage and Childless Adults

Health overhaul would help the childless poor, By Rick Schmitt, March 8, 2010, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Marilyn Matthews has no job, no health insurance, and until now, no chance of qualifying for Medicaid. She’s unquestionably poor – her last regular paycheck was more than three years ago – and would meet the income criteria for Medicaid. The rub is that Matthews, 51, of Havertown is a healthy adult with no children. While Medicaid is the main government health insurance plan for the poor, the joint state-federal program has excluded Matthews and millions of other adults with no dependent children since the 1960s. Medicaid has been limited mainly to children in poor families, the elderly, pregnant women and the disabled. Some states have tried to fill the gap, but most uninsured Americans now are childless adults. The lowest-income members of the group would be big beneficiaries of the Democratic health insurance overhaul plans in Washington. All told, 15 million more people could join Medicaid, including not only childless adults but also others such as those whose health insurance vanished with their jobs…”