ObamaCare’s Latest ‘Glitch’: Medicaid for Millions of Middle-Class Retirees

Great post by Michael F. Cannon of Cato.

"Remember how ObamaCare inadvertently kicked members of Congress out of their health insurance plans? (Just kidding! The Obama administration ignored that part of the law!)

Well, today we learned that ObamaCare also inadvertently gives free health care to millions of middle-class Social Security recipients:

President Barack Obama’s health care law would let several million middle-class people get nearly free insurance meant for the poor, a twist government number crunchers say they discovered only after the complex bill was signed.

The change would affect early retirees: A married couple could have an annual income of about $64,000 and still get Medicaid, said officials who make long-range cost estimates for the Health and Human Services department.

Up to 3 million people could qualify for Medicaid in 2014 as a result of the anomaly. That’s because, in a major change from today, most of their Social Security benefits would no longer be counted as income for determining eligibility.

Medicare chief actuary Richard Foster says the situation keeps him up at night.

“I don’t generally comment on the pros or cons of policy, but that just doesn’t make sense,” Foster said during a question-and-answer session at a recent professional society meeting. It’s almost like allowing middle-class people to qualify for food stamps, he suggested."