Reasons to Prep – A Quick Guide to Rising Obamacare Rates – The New York Times

Published on by nysiashomestead

While I don’t use Obamacare personally right now, I have talked to a few people who have. I have yet to find a person HAPPY on Obamacare. Mostly I hear horror stories about folks who accidentally underestimated their income for the year and had to pay 10s of thousands in penalties to compensate.

These increases really matter only for those who buy their own insurance.

via A Quick Guide to Rising Obamacare Rates – The New York Times

Well, duh! Gee thanks NYT for making that clear. However is it true? Can we really adopt a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) mindset? What if I was suddenly forced to purchase insurance through Obamacare? Not only that, but when we move to our homestead, purchasing our own insurance will be one of our biggest hurdles.

Just to see what was at stake just for me and one dependant, I entered my data and got my rates. I would have to pay almost $300 per month with no less than a $5000 yearly deductible. That means I would have to pay out of pocket $5000 before my insurance would cover me. Some were as high as $12,000 deductible!! And you HAVE to purchase or you pay fines. I would be better off saving my own $300 per month, plus $12,000 per year, and paying when I need it, but the government won’t let me do that.

If you get a subsidy, and you’re willing to switch plans, you won’t have to pay these big increases. More than 80 percent of Obamacare customers get subsidies that help them pay the cost of their premiums. via A Quick Guide to Rising Obamacare Rates – The New York Times

That’s true, but my quote above for this so called affordable care INCLUDED the subsidy. I would pay more if I was not subsidized.

In the long run, I AM paying for Obamacare regardless, because my taxes pay for those subsidies. My qualified subsidy was $216 dollars. There are 10 million people enrolled in Obamacare and 80% of those are on subsidies. I am in the middle income bracket and chose a plan for myself and 1 child (using only my income, not my husbands), so if I fall on the average, my subsidy is also about average. So give these loose figures, the average subsidies paid out per year is roughly $1.7 Billion. I imagine the cost is actually much higher.

In 2016 the cost of NOT having insurance was MUCH less than anything on the market. Had I not been graced with a job that has insurance, I think I might have chosen this “plan”.

The annual fee for not having insurance in 2016 is $695 per adult and $347.50 per child (up to $2,085 for a family), or it’s 2.5% of your household income above the tax return filing threshold for your filing status – whichever is greater.

via ObamaCare Individual Mandate

Also, what many people believed was that this new program was going to overall reduce the cost of insurance and medical care. That did not happen. In fact,

Many insurers …mispriced their plans in the early years of the law and have either left the market or have had to raise their prices sharply to cover the cost of providing coverage. The insurers say they need higher rates to pay for the expensive medical care that so many people are receiving under the law. via A Quick Guide to Rising Obamacare Rates – The New York Times

Again, I have yet to find anyone who is happy with their Obamacare plan, and the massive taxation and spending that goes along with it.

With our national debt rising exponentially this type of program is not sustainable. So while this item alone might not bring the world to ruin, it doesn’t help our situation.

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As my circle of acquaintance if very small and therefor unreliable as a true source, I would be interested to hear your experience with Obamacare, feel free to comment below.

 

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