Enrollment for the Michigan’s expanded Medicaid program has just begun now. The officials of the State opine that they are mentally prepared to hand a big number of enrollees intending to apply for the health insurance program. Basically, the name of this program is “Healthy Michigan” and it is being prognosticated that the program will cover 320,000 people in the first year.
Before making the website public, the officials of the state took plenty of tests of the website to avoid any traffic problems. Even though, Gov. Rick Snyder had also taken part in these rigorous tests. He said in his official statement that “Our people had really worked hard to launch the website and we adequately communicate with the people to avoid any inconvenience”. In addition, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Community Health Angela Minicuci said that “we are damn sure that our system will perfectly work and there would be no technical issues in the beginning”.
Here are six things to know about Healthy Michigan and Medicaid:
1. Who’s eligible?
This plan is especially for those people who are not eligible for Medicaid or Medicare plan. In other words those individuals who are having income of $16,000 and $33,000 with a family of four are eligible for this plan. This plan is only for the state residents and the age criterion is 19 to 64.
How to apply: Michiganders can obtain information about this plan at healthymichiganplan.org. They can apply any time online atmibridges.michigan.gov, by phone at (855) 789-5610 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
2. What you need to apply:
§ Complete information of source of income of all family members and employer.
§ Information pertaining to job related insurance of any family member.
§ If you have any insurance plan then provide policy number.
§ Social security number of those family members and dependants who are mentioned in the form.
3. When coverage starts:
The insurance will be effective from April 1 for those applicants who apply in April.
4. How much it costs:
This program is slightly different from states’ Medicaid expansions. It demands co-pays and premiums from the new recipients. You will be required to pay fee for any health service prior to selecting specific health plan. Once the plan is selected, you won’t need to pay premiums and co-pays for first 6 months.
Besides, those who have 133 percent or 100 percent federal poverty level have to contribute 2 percent of their annual income as a premium or cost sharing.
5. How we got here:
The Republican-led Legislature and Snyder prepared this plan last year but it was implemented on 1st April of 2014.
6. Traditional Medicaid:
The traditional Medicaid program is giving coverage to 1.8 million while the Medicaid’s adult benefits waiver program is covering more than 60,000 low-income adults. People who may qualify under the traditional requirements and applied on the federal government’s Healthcare.gov are asked to reapply on the Michigan Bridges site with immediate effect.
