There is and should be a sentiment out there that regardless of spin, Obamacare cannot be sustained on the basis of clever marketing. This month, the President appeared on “Funny or Die,” “Between Two Ferns,” for a short interview with Zach Galifianakis, (search, “Between Two Ferns, Obama,” as one means of getting there.)
The President still managed to plug the PPACA, Obamacare saying, “What we want people to know is that you can get affordable health care,” (minute 03:58).
I think we believed this going in. I think we believed this when we voted for the President. I even think we believed this after the PPACA was enacted and the President was re-elected, before provisions of the PPACA kicked in and we viewed what it meant for our health insurance policy options during the benefits election season of 2013 that would determine our health insurance policies for 2014. (Yes, for Obamacare election, healthcare.gov is still in benefits election season through the end of March 2014 to purchase a health insurance policy for 2014).
But, eventually consumers see what it is they bought, a pitch or a plan, and for most of us, it’s pretty clear that claims of “affordable health care” were and are a pitch.
Last week Kathleen Sebelius (HHS Secretary)testified before the House Committee on Ways and Means declaring, “I think premiums are likely to go up, but at a smaller pace than what we’ve seen since 2010,” (Search Sebelius, premiums will go up in 2015).
Under PPACA Section 1402, “Reduced Cost-Sharing for Individuals Enrolling in Qualified Health Plans,” you’ll find little consequences from such a premium increase for those eligible for the Obamacare entitlement where the Federal government kicks in some portion of premium costs and/or copayment or coinsurance costs because these amounts are based on a percentage, eg if you fall within earnings qualifications AND you don’t have an employer option then you will get the Federal government entitlement of some amount towards the costs of your premiums (and/or other payments such as coinsurance and copayments).
So, Ms. Sebelius is simply explaining and forewarning that the COSTS of running Obamacare will go up in 2015 because if the cost of premiums goes up and those eligible for the entitlement cannot be obligated to pay too much more under current provisions based on percentages, then the balance of the additional costs will be borne by the Federal government.
So who will pay for the increased costs of premiums? The rest of us outside of the entitlement, and likely that includes those who receive OTHER so-called “entitlements,” like Medicare and Veterans Benefits.
OK, so the PPACA had as a major goal addressing the alleged 46 million Americans without insurance and that was 15 percent of our population. So, 23 million would be, according to that math, 7.5 percent of the population. 13 million would be 3.75 percent, and 6.5 million, if Obamacare enrolled that many people would represent 1.875 percent of the population.
That’s IF Obamacare enrolls 6.5 million it would based on the numbers we’re provided with represent 1.875 percent of the population. Of the individuals signing up under healthcare.gov, according to HHS.gov, 83 percent of those as of February 2014, are eligible to receive Financial Assistance (http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2014pres/03/20140311a.html). So, if 6.5 million people enrolled and 83 percent of those got some sort of government handout, then we’re talking about 5.4 million people getting the Obamacare entitlement. To pay for that entitlement and keep the program going, the rest of the population (outside government workers) will be gutted financially if they need medical care and treatment for illness.
The worst affected will be those who do have an employer option meaning they have employer-sponsored health insurance which in 2013 remained at around 60 percent of the population (search number of US citizens with employer-sponsored health insurance).
Already we’ve seen, for the most part, our payments for premiums, coinsurance and copayments rise and an increase in how much more we must spend before we can consider the medical deduction (from 7.5 percent to 10 percent).
Already we’ve seen the insurance company twin option of higher rates/less coverage kick in for less coverage in the form of higher copayments or coinsurance, the amounts paid out of pocket when you go to receive medical care.
So who do you think will be affected by the Federal government’s need to contain costs of premiums or in the alternative collect more to pay for the premiums for the Obamacare entitlement and who do you think insurers will squeeze in order to keep their profits going? That’s right. The rest of us.
What I don’t think will happen is that employer-sponsored health insurance will disappear, but I do think it will become worse and worse in terms of what’s charged (going up) and what you get (going down).
I also believe that insuring your family will become increasingly difficult, discouraging parents from marrying since a single parent with dependents will likely have more options for financial survival than a married couple where one parent tries to purchase family insurance because remember, there are no limits on how much can be charged for FAMILY insurance, only SINGLE insurance.
It remains unclear why the President won’t give up this particular claim about the PPACA that is at best likely untrue for any working American facing a need for health care and treatment as opposed to a checkup. As a matter of fact, it’s likely that the PPACA will be among the most damaging legislation impacting the ability of non-Obamacare entitlement, non-government working Americans to be able to sustain financial health in the face of ANY illness.
The scariest part about this mess is that Democrats and Republicans seem to agree about gutting everyone else’s possibility to have financial security based on a lifetime of work and contribution to Medicare in the face of increased possibility of illness during our senior years. This agreement between the parties should be, in many ways, more terrifying to us than most of the disagreements between the parties, because it means that further gutting Medicare is likely to occur.
This is a warning for Democratic and Republican seniors that they need to pay better attention to the handwriting on the wall, the more costly the Obamacare entitlement, the more incentive for Congresspeople, you know they guys who protected their own benefits packages and salaries to work together to cut senior benefits.
