Most of the men then fell into what policy experts dispassionately call the doughnut hole of coverage—meaning these men were just well enough to maintain menial employment, working hourly on assembly lines or at odd jobs. The income from these jobs put them just above the level of poverty—at the time, $15,856 a year per person. Most of them thus no longer met state requirements for Medicaid. Insurmountable mountains of medical bills then followed.
