“As I was listening to co-workers ecstatic over Obama care because of pre-existing conditions and covering everybody, I tried to find an article on how much it would cost individuals with income under #200,000. But, no one seems to know. It certainly would help in changing minds and waking people up. One co-worker says she would not mind paying MORE so that everyone could be covered and hates the selfish people who only want coverage for themselves. Anyone have any idea what it’s going to cost a single/family for coverage? All I find is articles on ‘penalty fees’....which is useless.”
You have to divide it up into three groups:
MEDICAID
Obamacare greatly increases the scope of Medicaid coverage. About 20 million additional people will be covered under Medicaid. Under Medicaid, coverage/insurance is free. So about 1 in 6 Americans will be getting free health care.
BETWEEN 133% of the POVERTY LEVEL AND 400% OF THE POVERTY LEVEL
In this range, you might get coverage from your employer. More likely most employers will drop coverage and take the penalty. If that happens, you have to go to one of the insurance exchanges, where you can buy one of only three insurance plans permitted, Bronze, Silver and Gold. What must be covered in each type of plan will be set and changed by Dept HHS regulations.
How much these plans will cost is difficult to project. First, the cost has not been set. Second, gaming of the system by people who don’t buy insurance until they need it greatly increases the cost of these plans. If they get sick, they buy insurance and they cannot be turned down because they are sick. Third, you have to take into account income. Up to 4x the poverty level ($88,000) and you receive a subsidy for your insurance plan. The more money you make, the greater the subsidy.
GREATER THAN 4x POVERTY LEVEL
You or your employer or both just have to pay the price for a Bronze, Silver or Gold plan. How much that will be is anyone’s guess. The experience in Massachussets has not been encouraging. When the MA bill was passed, experts predicted premiums would go down. Instead, they have gone up 25-30%. The most likely factor in the increase is that people are gaming the system (see above) at a much higher rate than expected. In addition, MA wait times are the highest in the country. To get into see a doctor, the average wait is 45 days, last numbers I saw. So for the NON-Medicaid people, prices are going up and service is going down.
That said, the folks above $88,000 are obviously going to be subsidizing folks under $88,000 extensively, either thru higher premiums, higher taxes or higher federal deficits.
OTHERS HIT HARD
The other folks that are hit the hardest will be doctors, the folks under 133% of the poverty level, for whom Medicaid will be the only option.
In Medicaid, it has been irresistible for the feds to reduce costs by reducing reimbursements to doctors. That has been a steady trend since the 1980’s. It will only get worse as Medicaid expands. That’s why Medicaid patients have a very hard time finding doctors who will treat them, many doctors are losing money given the reimbursements they expect. So both doctors and poor people will be hurt badly with respect to Medicaid patients.
Thank you...