It turns out that a family of three that is already covered by welfare has a $188 per month eligibility cap to qualify for Medicaid. That cap shakes out to 11.8% of the federal poverty level for a family that size. I can't get past this little factoid today--it just blows my mind.
Yeah, the state eligibility requirements for welfare and Medicaid are terrible. When Republicans say they want to send other programs like Medicare, Social Security, food stamps, etc to the states this is what they have in mind.
A government safety net should be as low to the ground as possible to prevent moochers from livin' large. Ideally we could outsource this net to the private sector for further budget efficiencies.