Mattie Billing, 62, who lives in East Chattanooga, has no health insurance because she is too young for Medicare but unable to afford insurance through the new health insurance exchanges that will begin enrolling patients Oct. 1.Read moreControversial reforms in health insurance offers benefits for some higher costs for others
COMING MONDAYConservatives pull out all the stops to overturn the Affordable Care Act.Answers to 5 more questions about what the new health law means to you.
BY THE NUMBERS400,000: Number of Tennesseans who lack insurance who might qualify for an extended Medicaid program if it’s offered in Tennessee. The state is still negotiating for a waiver to implement a Medicaid expansion with co-pays.650,000: Number of uninsured Georgians who might qualify for expanded Medicaid program if offered. Georgia has decided against participating in the Medicaid expansion.$11,490: Poverty income for a single person. Federal subsidies for health exchanges don’t begin until persons make above the poverty rate but will extend to incomes up to four times the poverty level.4: Number of health insurance companies in Tennessee that will roll out rates and coverage plans on the new federally regulated Health Insurance Marketplace in the next two weeks.FIND OUT MOREThe Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce’s Hixson Council will discuss the effects of the Affordable Care Act on small businesses at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday at the North River Civic Center, 1009 Executive Drive. Julia Harris, health policy associate with the Strategic Planning and Innovation Group at the Tennessee Division of Health Care Finance and Administration, will discuss the federal health insurance exchanges in Tennessee.
At 62 years old, Mattie Billings says her arthritis and bronchitis prevent her from finding another job and her age makes it too expensive to buy health insurance.
The former hospital service worker, who lost her job in January and her unemployment benefits this summer, thought she would get some help from the health care reform plan known as Obamacare.