From the buried lead department

The Guardian's story about the first full-face transplant to take place in the United States, received by Fort Worth resident Dallas Wiens, has this little tidbit in the middle:

The new federal healthcare law also helped Wiens by allowing him to get insurance coverage under his father's plan for the expensive drugs he will have to take for the rest of his life to prevent rejection of his new face. He will be covered until he turns 26 in May. He expects to be eligible soon under Medicare, which insures the disabled as well as those over 65.
Wiens had no insurance when he was injured; Medicaid covered about two dozen operations in Dallas until his disability payments put him over the income limit.

I am no fan of Obama's healthcare reform - I think it's inadequate and could potentially cause some serious problems. But it's important to recognize how much of a step forward it is. It's grotesquely unjust that a person's disability payments should make them ineligible for Medicaid, and while the reform didn't address the underlying insanity of the American welfare system, it has made and will make a huge difference for many, many people.