What kind of medicaid do i have michigan

Gretchen Whitmer — who has long opposed the Medicaid work requirement but who took office after it had been enshrined in statute and approved by CMS — had asked Michigan lawmakers to delay implementation of the Medicaid work requirement until the lawsuit was resolved, in order to avoid wasting taxpayer dollars.

But they opted to allow it to continue as planned , although that only lasted a couple of months. Medicaid work requirements have been approved in several other states as well, but lawsuits have thus-far resulted in them being overturned in Kentucky , Arkansas , and New Hampshire. Indiana has suspended its Medicaid work requirement in the face of a pending lawsuit, and Arizona has indefinitely postponed its work requirement amid uncertainty over the legality of these programs.

This is an increase from the 2 percent of income premiums that already apply to Healthy Michigan enrollees with income above the poverty level. As of June , the Healthy Michigan website still indicates that these requirements will take effect later in But that depends on the COVID pandemic: Michigan issued a rule in April that prohibits Medicaid terminations unless the person dies, moves out of the state, or requests a coverage termination.

The rule applies for the duration of the COVID emergency period, which currently extends through mid-July in Michigan, but could be extended as the summer progresses. SB , which Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed into law in September , made some changes to the impending work requirement in an effort to reduce the number of people who would inadvertently lose coverage under the program.

The new legislation gives people until the last day of a month to report work hours for the previous month as opposed to only until the 10th day of the month to report work activities from the previous month, as the original legislation required , and it also essentially gives people an extra 60 days to report compliance after missing the reporting deadline without the month in question being considered a non-compliance month. The Healthy Michigan work requirement was ultimately overturned by a judge, but SB remains in place and would apply if the work requirement were to be resurrected in the future.

Although the work requirement has since been overturned by a judge and is not in effect, the following is a summary of how it would have worked if it had been allowed to remain in place:. The measure passed the House in June again, almost entirely along party lines — one Republican joined Democrats in voting against it, while the other 61 Republicans all voted in favor of imposing a work requirement for Medicaid.

The next step was for the state to seek federal approval for the work requirement. The waiver proposal was submitted to CMS in September and federal approval was granted just a few months later, in December So new Governor Janet Mills was able to simply withdraw the proposal after taking office, and a work requirement will not take effect in Maine; Whitmer did not have the same leeway in Michigan, as the work requirement was in statute.

The Senate bill also would have exempted people in counties where unemployment exceeded 8. That provision was also scrapped in the version of the bill that was sent to Gov. Various populations would have been exempt from the work requirement, including those with disabilities, the medically frail, people under 19 under 21 if a former foster care youth or over age 62, pregnant women, full-time students, people who are caretakers of a child under six or an incapacitated person who needs full-time care only one adult per household can be exempt as a caretaker , and people receiving unemployment benefits or recently released from incarceration.

The fiscal note for SB provides rough estimates of the number of people expected to be exempt. The work requirement would have applied to an estimated , non-disabled Healthy Michigan Medicaid expansion enrollees. An estimated , of them would have been exempt, with the other , having to comply with the work requirement. The majority of able-bodied Medicaid recipients are already working or attending school , but the House fiscal analysis projects that enrollment in Healthy Michigan would decline by somewhere between 5 percent and 10 percent as a result of the work requirement.

Loss of access to Medicaid could be due to increased income that makes a person ineligible for Medicaid, or failure to comply with the work requirement or the reporting requirements that go along with the work requirement as noted above, the relaxed reporting requirements included in SB were expected to reduce the number of people who would lose coverage, but only slightly.

This would be due to the reduction in enrollment in Healthy Michigan, which is ultimately the goal of Medicaid work requirements. It also makes it easy to blame the loss of coverage on the individuals themselves i. You qualify for Medicaid in Michigan if your household income is below the following limits the eligibility calculations includes a built-in 5 percent income disregard , making effective eligibility an additional 5 percentage points higher than each of these limits :.

While these are the main groups covered by Medicaid, other people — such as those who are blind or disabled — may also qualify. See the Department of Community Health website for more information on covered groups and eligibility guidelines. How does Medicaid provide assistance to Medicare beneficiaries in Michigan? Our guide to financial assistance for Medicare beneficiaries in Michigan explains these benefits, including Medicare Savings Programs, Extra Help, long-term care benefits, and income guidelines for assistance.

It took nearly eight months to authorize the Healthy Michigan plan. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder announced his support in February , saying it was a good move for public health and state finances. Snyder had support from numerous health care and advocacy groups, but was opposed by some Republicans in the state legislature. Ultimately, the state Senate passed Medicaid expansion in late August after an eight-hour session.

The House followed suit a few days later, passing it in early September, and Snyder signed it into law on Sept. While the Senate passed Medicaid expansion, it also prevented it from taking effect immediately and delaying the start of Healthy Michigan enrollment until April 1, instead of January 1, , which is when Medicaid expansion took effect in states that implemented it as called for in the ACA, without changes.

While the delay had a negative financial impact, it was also credited as a factor in the successful rollout of the program. Michigan was able to use the first three months of to plan and to build awareness, leading to rapid uptake of the program once enrollment began.

The legislation Michigan had passed called for changes to Medicaid eligibility after an enrollee had been in the program for 48 cumulative months. Some of this the 7 percent of income cost-sharing, and the month time limit presented problems for the Obama administration CMS, but the waiver had to be approved in order to keep the Healthy Michigan program active past April , as the stipulations had been built into the state law.

So CMS worked with Michigan officials to reach a compromise: As of April 1, four years after Healthy Michigan took effect , some Healthy Michigan enrollees with income above the poverty level ie, between percent and percent of the poverty level had to either switch to a QHP subsidized with Medicaid funds, or work with their doctors to fulfill the healthy behavior requirements to remain on the Healthy Michigan Plan.

To apply for Medicaid, complete an application online at www. Tweets by MichiganHHS. Browsers that can not handle javascript will not be able to access some features of this site. Some functions of this site are disabled for browsers blocking jQuery. Services covered by Medicaid are offered through what is called fee-for-service or through Medicaid Health Plans: Fee-for-service is the term for Medicaid paid services that are not provided through a health plan.

This means that Medicaid pays for the service. People under fee-for-service will use the mihealth card to receive services. Most people must join a health plan. The health plan pays for most of the services. For people that need to join a health plan, Michigan Enrolls will send a letter with more information.