Medicaid Eligibility & Discrimination
Medicaid, a government health insurance program, is available only to patients with low income. Patients on Medicaid should not be discriminated against for any reason when receiving health care services, but according to Elder Care Online, some patients find that some nursing homes discriminate against patients who receive Medicaid.
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Eligibility for Medicaid
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Medicaid is available to U.S. citizens and legal immigrants. Categories of patients who may be eligible for Medicaid include the elderly, the blind, the disabled, and pregnant women. Income tests are always required, as Medicaid is only available to low-income patients. You may be asked to sell some of your resources or to pay part of your health expenses yourself, depending on the rules of your state.
No Discrimination Allowed Within the Medicaid Program
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According to the Patient's Bill of Rights established within the Department of Health and Human Services in 1998, no Medicaid patient may be discriminated against because of his or her race or ethnicity, religion, age, national origin, sex or sexual orientation, physical or mental disability or genetic information.
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Discrimination Against Patients Receiving Medicaid
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Elder Care Online reports that some nursing homes discriminate against patients receiving Medicaid because they will be paid more for the same services by patients paying privately. Such discrimination is illegal. Signs of discrimination against those receiving Medicaid include a nursing home refusing to take an application from a Medicaid patient, saying they have a Medicaid quota, telling the patient to sell his or her home to pay for nursing home costs, or transferring the patient to another nursing home when he or she begins paying with Medicaid.
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References
- Photo Credit senior health care image by Pierrette Guertin from Fotolia.com
