VIDEO: Healthy State reports that Medicaid beneficiary says $10 premium would force her out

If state lawmakers get their way, Medicaid recipients in Florida will soon be required to contribute $10 a month for their health services. Healthy State released a video today asking a Medicaid recipient what a $10 monthly premium would do to her family’s finances.

Patrina Williams, a “single mom with seven kids, ages 19 to 4,” told Healthy State that the premiums, which would amount to “$70 a month” for her,  ”would devastate her family – and likely force them out of the program.”

A recent study estimated that hundreds of thousands of people — mostly children — could be forced out of the program because of this new requirement. The report, by the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University, found that if the premium requirement is approved by the federal government, it “could result in 800,000 Florida children and parents finding themselves unable to pay the premium and disenrolling from Florida Medicaid.” This would affect almost half (45 percent) of the people currently covered by Medicaid in the state.

Right now, a federal agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is evaluating Florida’s request to levy premiums.

According to the Georgetown report, states typically charge premiums for beneficiaries in higher income brackets; the study explains that “no state currently charges premiums to Medicaid children with family incomes below the poverty line.”

“Florida’s proposed premium requirement is likely the most far-reaching to date because the state seeks to apply a relatively high charge to everyone in the program regardless of income or age,” the study said.

Watch Healthy State’s interview with Williams here: