Any household making under 133% of the family size-adjusted federal poverty rate is eligible for Medicaid, at least for states that go for the Medicaid expansion, with no asset test. One commenter on Time had the following to say about the cost to her under Obamacare, based on the Kaiser Health calculator:
I'm sorry but this calculator is very WRONG!!! It calculates a person's annual premiums based on where they fall on the poverty level (percentage-wise). Unfortunately, it calculates this percentage wrongly. If you put your annual income in (say, $8520 per year for a family of 2 - 100% of the poverty level is $15,510), this calculator claims your family is only at 55% of the poverty level & has to pay 43% of their annual income for Bronze coverage or 70% of their income for Silver coverage & are not eligible for Medicaid, tax subsidies or exchanges because their income is not far enough below the poverty level!!! I can put an income of $0 (which it states is 0% of the poverty level) in this thing & still have to pay $3038 per year in premiums for Bronze coverage & would get $0 in tax subsidies!!!!! FIX THIS CALCULATOR!!!!!!!!
Another commenter responded as follows:
The calculator is 'right'; it's just a confusing situation. When ACA was written, the intent was for everybody at 138% and below of the poverty level to be eligible for Medicaid. These people weren't (and aren't) simultaneously eligible for subsidies for private insurance on the exchanges, because if they were to get Medicaid, they wouldn't need to buy private insurance. However, some states have elected not to expand Medicaid, which leaves a hole in coverage: people who weren't eligible for Medicaid but make 138% or less of the poverty level aren't eligible for anything. The calculator shows you the cost of insurance on the exchange without subsidies for these people, since there are no subsidies available. Of course you wouldn't buy that if that were your income level. You also won't be fined for not carrying insurance. In other words, the situation for people in the coverage hole is the same as before ACA: no insurance.My guess is that people with no insurance coverage and no Medicaid eligibility in states without the Medicaid expansion (which does away with asset tests) would be able to buy insurance just before going to the doctor, since Obamacare does away with pre-existing condition exclusions (for a several-month period) for new health insurance coverage.
That 133% figure is the baseline figure, some states are using a higher percentage.