Why having a food allergy costs more for the poorest kids, By Deborah Netburn, April 27, 2016, Los Angeles Times: “What is the financial toll of having a kid with a food allergy? The answer may depend on how much money you have. A new study published this week in Pediatrics found that food-allergic children from households that earn less than $50,000 a year incur 2.5 times the cost of emergency room visits and hospital stays compared with their peers from families that are in a higher-income bracket. At the same time, families that make more than $100,000 a year report spending more of their own money on visits to allergy specialists for their kids, as well as medicines paid for out of pocket, compared with families from lower-income groups…”
Tag: Low-income families
Insurance Coverage under the ACA
- Immigrants, the poor and minorities gain sharply under Affordable Care Act, By Sabrina Tavernise and Robert Gebeloff, April 17, 2016, New York Times: “The first full year of the Affordable Care Act brought historic increases in coverage for low-wage workers and others who have long been left out of the health care system, a New York Times analysis has found. Immigrants of all backgrounds — including more than a million legal residents who are not citizens — had the sharpest rise in coverage rates. Hispanics, a coveted group of voters this election year, accounted for nearly a third of the increase in adults with insurance. That was the single largest share of any racial or ethnic group, far greater than their 17 percent share of the population. Low-wage workers, who did not have enough clout in the labor market to demand insurance, saw sharp increases. Coverage rates jumped for cooks, dishwashers, waiters, as well as for hairdressers and cashiers. Minorities, who disproportionately worked in low-wage jobs, had large gains…”
- Obamacare seems to be reducing people’s medical debt, By Margot Sanger-Katz, April 20, 2016, New York Times: “Even if you lack health insurance, you’ll probably be able to get treatment at a hospital in the event of a catastrophe — if you’re struck by a car, say. But having insurance can mean the difference between financial security and financial ruin. A new study is showing that, by giving health insurance to low-income people, Obamacare seems to have cut down on their debt substantially. It estimates that medical debt held by people newly covered by Medicaid since 2014 has been reduced by about $600 to $1,000 each year…”
- Obamacare expanding coverage for the poor, study finds, By Karen Pallarito, April 20, 2016, Philadelphia Inquirer: “State Medicaid expansions under Obamacare have improved low-income Americans’ insurance coverage, increased their doctor visits and enhanced detection of chronic health conditions, which could lead to improvements in health, a new study suggests. The findings are important as policymakers continue to debate the value of expanding Medicaid, the publicly funded health insurance program for the poor, researchers said…”
Low-Income Families and Taxes
- For nontraditional families, the tax code can be especially confusing, By Yuki Noguchi, April 7, 2016, National Public Radio: “The TV and a cellphone are playing videos, as Trevor Franklin tries to quiet a brood of kids in the living room of the apartment he shares with his fiancée in southeast Washington, D.C. ‘TJ is mine, and Malik and Morgan are my stepkids,’ Franklin says. A 14-year-old stepdaughter is on her way home from school, and his pregnant fiancée is on bed rest with a fifth child. The Census Bureau says about 41 percent of children are born to mothers who aren’t married, about five times the rate in the 1940s. But they aren’t all single parents. A growing percentage of babies born out of wedlock have parents who live together…”
- Philadelphia wants low-income residents to take tax credit, By Katie Colaneri, March 30, 2016, Marketplace: “Even before Tax Day, Philadelphia resident Roslyn Sanders is ahead of the game. She’s at her local community development corporation getting her taxes done and it’s the second time she’s come here. Sanders is back because last year, the organization helped her and her husband, Donald get a big refund by figuring out they qualified for the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. She said they got a check in the mail for more than $3,000…”
- Editorial: Tax code should work for all low-income Americans, Editorial, April 5, 2016, Des Moines Register: “Conservatives have never met a tax cut they didn’t like. Liberals have never met a government handout they didn’t support. So Republicans and Democrats in U.S. Congress should be able to unite behind President Barack Obama’s proposal to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. The EITC, created in 1975, is intended to provide additional dollars to low-income Americans and promote employment. To qualify, people must meet income and other requirements, as well as file a tax return. The credit increases as an individual’s income increases, thereby encouraging people to enter the workforce or work more. Because it is refundable, it puts money directly into people’s pockets to spend…”