Feds Back Away from Health Care State Payments During Bridge Year

In a surprise to no one, states are discovering yet another down side to Obamacare. Like many Americans, I have a pre-existing condition. Diagnosed with breast cancer and a stay-at-home mom I held hope that one piece of the Obamacare legislation of offering health care coverage for those with pre-existing conditions would work. But understanding the costs and expenses with treatments also caused me to wonder how states could afford it.

My question has been answered. States have found that those who were uninsured due to pre-existing health diagnoses would require costly medications and care. So much so that many states ended the sign up for this program early. But even with limited patients on their dole states are looking for additional federal funds to cover their expenses.

Unfortunately, the federal government, finding itself a little short on funds, recently sent out a directive that they would cover (as agreed to) up to a certain ceiling and that states would be responsible for the costs beyond that point.

States like Pennsylvania, are finding that they are paying unexpectedly high dollar amounts for these patients. And without the previously promised federal funding are now concerned that they will have to reduce coverage.  According to an article in the TribLive: The root of the problem is that the federal health care law capped spending on the program at $5 billion, and the money is running out because the beneficiaries turned out to be costlier to care for than expected.

State officials say a likely consequence of the money crunch will be a cost shift to people in the program, resulting in sudden increases in premiums and co-payments. Officials are concerned that many will lose or be forced to drop their coverage.

This news comes following a press conference where the president stated the new health care program was going smooth with just a few glitches.