In all seriousness, it’s not that easy to be poor and move to Mass. or California and other liberal havens, for any reason. I’m not sure how often it happens.
I understand that. Still, it was seen as the start of socialism from a President who was bent on destroying our freedoms, on one side, and the other side has a kind of fixation on a federal single-payer model - anything else is inferior.
Are you sure? I have it on good authority that it IS easy:
That’s my evil cousin Brickarzo, The Dark Lord.
I can only explain my own positions; I cannot be responsible for “it was seen” through others’ eyes.
Oh yeah, that’s right. Nevermind then
Hilarious, but moving between states is a matter of having the means. That is undoubtedly easier than moving to a new country which requires the means and official permission.
That’s true. But you didn’t say it was “easier than moving to a new country” You said “how easy it is to move between states”
Gimme a break. All my posts on this topic were regarding moving for benefits. Moving between states requires a truck and a rent agreement if you don’t care about a job. If your medical bills are an order of magnitude larger than your potential salary it is indeed relatively easy to move states.
I will say that I don’t think medical carpetbagging is a major barrier to state level UHC. There’s a bunch of other hurdles that are a much larger.
Well, I live in Maryland which offers Medicaid to low income adults even if they don’t have children. In Virginia, Medicaid eligibility requires some sort of dependent. I don’t think there has been a mass movement of poor single people with no children moving to Maryland in order to take advantage of the easier requirements for Medicaid in Maryland.
Fair enough. Can you list some of those hurdles? And can you explain why they don’t apply to Massachusetts?
It’s almost like Medicaid isn’t the only consideration in where you live for most people. Thanks for dropping that knowledge on me.
What? Aren’t you the one who said this:
I would imagine that poor people who have medical bills an order of magnitude larger than their potential salary would want to move to a state where it is easier to get health coverage via Medicare. And since you say it is so easy, why wouldn’t they?
Market power of the state government is a big one. When states go solo they get to be the solo target of national opposition lobbying is another.
You tell me. What percentage of the population is poor with insane medical bills?
You tell me. What percentage of people have medical bills an order of magnitude more than their potential salary that makes it easy to move to another state to receive medical care?
Why should I? I assume it’s not a large percentage and that’s why I don’t think it’s a big concern for state level UHC. All I’ve said is that it’s a much more reasonable concern at the state level than federal.
Fair enough. I don’t agree, but I can understand your reasoning.
Are you two assuming that Massachusetts health care system is that great?
It’s a bit better than most states, but it doesn’t cover everyone, and it has a number of flaws.
It is certainly not a system that you can just move to the state and have all your medical bills covered.
It still has high premiums and deductibles, it still leaves a decent chunk of the population uninsured (which would include the demographic of poor people moving there for the insurance). It’s better than most states, and possibly arguably better than ACA, but it is still far inferior to the healthcare provided by every other first world nation.
Point is, it’s kinda good, but not good enough to move for.
So, while I see where you are coming from, I assure you, your comments are entirely unfounded.
It is pretty easy to move between states.
You just go to another state, pick a house or apartment to rent, or in the case of the homeless, a nice sheltered area, and hey, you are now a resident of that state. For under $5,000, I could very easily become a resident of any state I wished, with less than a month’s notice. (the $5000 is a massive overestimate, if all I am concerned about is residency in the state, and didn’t care about more local conditions, then it would be easy to get away with under $2000). As this is less than the deductible on many plans, it would actually make perfect sense to do so if I found myself in any sort of major medical problems.
There is no process to apply for permission to enter the state, as there is for entry into the US, there is no process to apply to become a resident of the state, as there is for citizenship in the US. If you show up, they have to take you, when’s the last time you’ve heard of someone being deported from a state?
You’re right that people will not move from state to state for a minor improvement in the state’s health program, as they did not move to massachusetts because it was slightly better than most, but you are very wrong if you think that people will not move to a state that actually has a functional UHC that truly provided healthcare for all residents. Not everyone would move there, of course, just the sick, poor, and elderly.
So it’s easy for those people who don’t have jobs to move to states where there ARE jobs then. Great!