I suspect we may be complete outliers on this board, but we're frugal ER types who live entirely off of investments and have never had a taxable income above 13K in recent years (thanks in part, obviously, to low long-term capital gains tax rates).
I'm 56, DW is 50 and from what I can tell in my fairly extensive reading about ACA (including the threads on this board, which have been extremely helpful) we'd be eligible for Medicaid in 2014, based on income. Access to providers should be no problem, as we'll be living in a State (New Mexico) with lots of docs and clinics who take Medicaid. Clearly we'd pay for routine care, dental, etc out-of-pocket but having what amounts to free catastrophic insurance for major stuff is huge.
What seems slightly surreal to me - and I would be grateful to be corrected about this or any other assumptions if I'm wrong - is that the way I read it under ACA we would both have this coverage as long as we keep our taxable income low enough to qualify, but then as soon as I hit age 65 the normal Medicaid provisions that include means testing (which are not part of ACA) would kick in, meaning I have between now and then to set aside a chunk of change for what I presume will be sky-high Medicare supplemental premiums by then. Kind of the opposite of the current situation for so many, who pay through the nose for individual policies in their late 50's and early 60's hoping to make it to medicare eligibility age and some measure of affordability.
Any comments welcome and appreciated.
I'm 56, DW is 50 and from what I can tell in my fairly extensive reading about ACA (including the threads on this board, which have been extremely helpful) we'd be eligible for Medicaid in 2014, based on income. Access to providers should be no problem, as we'll be living in a State (New Mexico) with lots of docs and clinics who take Medicaid. Clearly we'd pay for routine care, dental, etc out-of-pocket but having what amounts to free catastrophic insurance for major stuff is huge.
What seems slightly surreal to me - and I would be grateful to be corrected about this or any other assumptions if I'm wrong - is that the way I read it under ACA we would both have this coverage as long as we keep our taxable income low enough to qualify, but then as soon as I hit age 65 the normal Medicaid provisions that include means testing (which are not part of ACA) would kick in, meaning I have between now and then to set aside a chunk of change for what I presume will be sky-high Medicare supplemental premiums by then. Kind of the opposite of the current situation for so many, who pay through the nose for individual policies in their late 50's and early 60's hoping to make it to medicare eligibility age and some measure of affordability.
Any comments welcome and appreciated.