I’m hoping the fiscal cliff analysis that’s getting underway in earnest will delve into and publicize the costs of Obamacare as it’s now designed.
It would be great to provide everyone cadillac healthcare but we (the country) can’t afford it, period. The unaffordability of Obamacare will cause it to be trimmed to the bone. You might say it’s got its own fiscal cliff looming straight ahead.
The way I understand the ACA, taxes+penalties+money pulled from Medicare=the funds required to pay the subsidies to make the insurance "affordable".
Here is why I don't think this will work. If we take a huge drag on the Obama crack pipe and assume the tax revenue and Medicare savings come out as planned then the rest of the subsidies are paid for by penalties. When the number of people needing this coverage increases only the penalty revenue increases. That is a fraction of the amount needed to cover the subsidy. Assuming today's rates for federal government employee coverage and the projected subsidy for a family of 4, the penalty from one employer will only cover 40% of the subsidy. The other 60% isn't budgeted for. Remember this is budgeted for 10 years of revenue to cover 5 years of benefits. At the end of the first 10 years the costs effectively double.
It is doomed to failure and that was the plan all along.