COLUMBUS -- This Memorial Day, we are learning that a quarter million American soldiers may miss out on health care coverage because they live in states that are still considering whether to expand Medicaid coverage through the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
As Dana Jay from our sister station in Columbus reports, Ohio is one of them.
Some soldiers returned to central Ohio over the weekend to flowers and kisses. Not every soldier returns home to health care benefits.
Coverage through the VA is available based on service-related injuries, income level and other factors.
Victor Wilson, co-chairman of the Ohio National Guard Association, says, "it's a bureaucracy. There's lots of standards to be met. Each case is different and these folks we're talking about just don't hit the right standards to get the coverage."
A recent report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation suggests 52,000 Ohio veterans are without health insurance, and nearly half of them, about 25,000, could be covered if the state accepts money to expand medicaid through the Affordable Care Act.
It's a plan Ohio's republican governor and statehouse democrats are supporting.
Republican lawmakers are still considering it.
The concern is that the federal government may not be able to provide all the funding it's promising. It's unclear how members of this guard unit would be affected by the medicaid expansion. Some might find themselves in a grey area when they leave their unit.
"After you've done around 20 years of service in the National Guard you can retire and you don't receive any benefits until you're 60 years old," Wilson said.
Half the states have accepted the medicaid expansion, but critics say full federal funding will last only three years. After that, they warn that health care costs will explode. Many critics support other solutions, like health savings accounts in private markets.
Image courtesy of ABC.
As Dana Jay from our sister station in Columbus reports, Ohio is one of them.
Some soldiers returned to central Ohio over the weekend to flowers and kisses. Not every soldier returns home to health care benefits.
Coverage through the VA is available based on service-related injuries, income level and other factors.
Victor Wilson, co-chairman of the Ohio National Guard Association, says, "it's a bureaucracy. There's lots of standards to be met. Each case is different and these folks we're talking about just don't hit the right standards to get the coverage."
A recent report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation suggests 52,000 Ohio veterans are without health insurance, and nearly half of them, about 25,000, could be covered if the state accepts money to expand medicaid through the Affordable Care Act.
It's a plan Ohio's republican governor and statehouse democrats are supporting.
Republican lawmakers are still considering it.
The concern is that the federal government may not be able to provide all the funding it's promising. It's unclear how members of this guard unit would be affected by the medicaid expansion. Some might find themselves in a grey area when they leave their unit.
"After you've done around 20 years of service in the National Guard you can retire and you don't receive any benefits until you're 60 years old," Wilson said.
Half the states have accepted the medicaid expansion, but critics say full federal funding will last only three years. After that, they warn that health care costs will explode. Many critics support other solutions, like health savings accounts in private markets.
Image courtesy of ABC.