This is a very short diary, but I'm just curious what people think, especially if you have followed the health care debate. Will the new Medicaid expansions mean that COBRA insurance could potentially become obselete?
Medicaid is about to become calculated by income. If you lose your job and are on unemployment insurance, you will probably fit the income guidelines, at least temporarily. Will this make you eligible for Medicaid, instead of having to come up with very expensive COBRA insurance at a time of reduced income? I suspect that the answer is no, because it is probably is based on some sort of annual average.
But could this a point that could be "logically expanded" from the current reform measures? Could we push further reform sometime before 2014 when this all kicks in and enact an additional expansion of Medicaid, so that anyone who has lost his/her job be made eligible for some sort of "temporary Medicaid card"?
I haven't heard anyone suggest this, so I don't know if people just haven't thought about this angle, and whether a "temporary Medicaid card" might be something to strive for.
Is this just a ridiculous idea, or maybe something that progressives could push?
EDIT: Fixed tags