For the last decade in New York, to get Medicaid, you had to sign up for a Medicaid HMO – a limited network where everything goes through a primary care provider. In theory, HMO’s provide whatever treatment you need, but in practice your network can be extremely limited. So, many Medicaid recipients have gotten a pass. Fully 40 percent of them don’t have to sign up for Medicaid HMO’s. These are people with HIV-AIDS, people who are blind or paralyzed or severely schizophrenic. They’re people who are homeless – or people who live in nursing homes. Or, like Ivette, they’re people who are on ventilators. (http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/75758)