Let's think about the average American family and its healthcare. If we have a married couple with one child that has an income of $50,000 per year, we are in the range of those who make up the vast middle of our population. Now let's assume that neither member of the couple works for a company that provides healthcare to its employees. That means that this family needs to get its health insurance on the Obamacare exchange. I used Connecticut to get cost information based upon each member of the couple being 35 and the child being 3. That provides a relatively low premium because in Connecticut (unlike some other states like New York) age is taken into account in determining premiums. In other words, the younger one is, the lower the premium. After the Obamacare subsidy the family receives, the policy costs $350 per month or a total of $4200 per year.
Let's stop here for a moment. This amount means that after state and federal income and payroll taxes, the family is paying just about ten percent of their remaining income for health insurance. That is a substantial amount for any family. But let's consider what they get for that payment. Each of the spouses and the child gets one well care visit per year with no payment. All other visits to the doctor cost money. If one of them gets sick and requires multiple visits to the doctor, then this family starts making payments which go towards meeting the $4400 annual deductible. There's also an additional deductible applied towards prescription drugs. These deductibles, however, are only for in-network doctors and hospitals. Even after the deductible is met, there are still co-payments to be made until the annual maximum payment of $10,000 is met.
The sad truth is that for many families, paying for the deductible and co-pays is out of reach. In other words, for many families, having the health insurance gives them little real coverage. It is true that if one of the family members were to become very sick and require extensive hospitalization the insurance policy would cover the bulk of the costs, but the family would still face a cost of something like $15,000 over and above the insurance.
We have to add that there are many people who get subsidies not just for the premiums, but also for their deductibles and co-pays. The family in the above example, however, has too much income to qualify for that subsidy. For those who do get that subsidy, the total cost of a hospitalization may reduce the cost to something like $5000, but for those people that amount is likewise too high to deal with.
So here we have the wonder of Obamacare. The president loves to talk about how many more people now have health insurance (although he uses phony numbers to pad the increase substantially.) The problem, however, is that few people focus on how many more people (if any) actually get real healthcare (as opposed to insurance) due to Obamacare. Is it some sort of success if we have people with insurance who still cannot afford regular healthcare? Should we proudly proclaim that our family in the example has been helped when they still avoid going to the doctor because of the high cost? Shouldn't Obamacare actually have to help more people get healthcare in order to be a success? Does it make sense to spend literally trillions of dollars for this massive government system which provides insurance to some but healthcare to very few?
The reality is that calling Obamacare a program that benefits society is a lie. It is just another one of those government programs that gets put in place to "help" but which does no such thing. It really needs to go.
Let's stop here for a moment. This amount means that after state and federal income and payroll taxes, the family is paying just about ten percent of their remaining income for health insurance. That is a substantial amount for any family. But let's consider what they get for that payment. Each of the spouses and the child gets one well care visit per year with no payment. All other visits to the doctor cost money. If one of them gets sick and requires multiple visits to the doctor, then this family starts making payments which go towards meeting the $4400 annual deductible. There's also an additional deductible applied towards prescription drugs. These deductibles, however, are only for in-network doctors and hospitals. Even after the deductible is met, there are still co-payments to be made until the annual maximum payment of $10,000 is met.
The sad truth is that for many families, paying for the deductible and co-pays is out of reach. In other words, for many families, having the health insurance gives them little real coverage. It is true that if one of the family members were to become very sick and require extensive hospitalization the insurance policy would cover the bulk of the costs, but the family would still face a cost of something like $15,000 over and above the insurance.
We have to add that there are many people who get subsidies not just for the premiums, but also for their deductibles and co-pays. The family in the above example, however, has too much income to qualify for that subsidy. For those who do get that subsidy, the total cost of a hospitalization may reduce the cost to something like $5000, but for those people that amount is likewise too high to deal with.
So here we have the wonder of Obamacare. The president loves to talk about how many more people now have health insurance (although he uses phony numbers to pad the increase substantially.) The problem, however, is that few people focus on how many more people (if any) actually get real healthcare (as opposed to insurance) due to Obamacare. Is it some sort of success if we have people with insurance who still cannot afford regular healthcare? Should we proudly proclaim that our family in the example has been helped when they still avoid going to the doctor because of the high cost? Shouldn't Obamacare actually have to help more people get healthcare in order to be a success? Does it make sense to spend literally trillions of dollars for this massive government system which provides insurance to some but healthcare to very few?
The reality is that calling Obamacare a program that benefits society is a lie. It is just another one of those government programs that gets put in place to "help" but which does no such thing. It really needs to go.
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