This is why you're still broke: Obamacare alone is sucking away 10% of Americans' incomes
J.D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) Between members of Congress and the general population, the latter are still getting the shaft when it comes to paying for Obamacare, while the former are still getting their premiums subsidized (by the latter).
Maybe now – you financially struggling American – you have a better understanding of why you're still having trouble making ends meet in this Obama economy.
As cited by Zero Hedge, Obamacare costs are sucking up 10 percent of Americans' income, on average, mostly due to skyrocketing out-of-pocket costs tied largely to rising deductibles.
"The latest dilemma facing economists is why 'unequivocally good' low oil prices haven't sparked excuberant consumer spending across America," Zero Hedge's Tyler Durden writes. "We have discussed the simple (though awkward for the establishment) answer many times - soaring costs for 'shelter' and healthcare have hoovered up every penny saved (and more); and now, a new study proves it- exposing the reality that many Obamacare customers pay more than 10 percent of their incomes toward coverage (and some paying considerably more)."
'You start to get hit pretty hard'
The study, by the Urban Institute, notes:
"The Affordable Care Act (ACA) improved health insurance affordability for many by expanding Medicaid and providing financial assistance for marketplace-based coverage for those with incomes below 400 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) [*More on this in a moment]. Together with new insurance regulations and a requirement for many to enroll in coverage or pay a penalty, these affordability provisions were intended to substantially reduce the number of uninsured. In recent months, however, an increasing number of voices have drawn attention to high deductibles and out-of-pocket costs and the affordability of marketplace insurance in general. While the 'right' or 'just' level of health care financial burdens is inherently subjective, financial burdens that are high relative to income can lower enrollment levels and compromise the ability of the ACA to reach its goals."
As further explained by CNBC, which cited the study, Obamacare customers are paying up to 10 percent of their already meager incomes for coverage – and for a measure that the president and his sycophantic supporters repeatedly promised would reduce annual out-of-pocket health coverage expenses ("an average of $2,500 per year"):
"One in 10 Obamacare customers who earn between just two and five times the federal poverty level will have coverage costs that exceed 21 percent of their incomes, an analysis by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute found."
What's more, the median Affordable Care Act consumer who earns in that range, and is spending more than 10 percent of their income on coverage, includes higher expenditures for monthly premiums and higher deductibles, the study found.
"Many who have modest incomes have high financial burdens even with average medical expenses," the report said. "For those at the top of the [health] spending distribution, financial burdens are very high."
"You start to get hit pretty hard," said John Holahan, an Urban Institute fellow, and co-author of the report.
Feeling better about Obamacare now?
No doubt. But there were signs of Obamacare's hit on personal finances prior to this report. So high were premiums and rising out-of-pocket expenses, that even the uber-liberal Web rag Slate had to admit it, though only after bashing the one political party that did not bring us Obamacare.
So yes, you do have less money now than a couple years ago, and yes, one reason for that is the inappropriately named "Affordable" Care Act – the "health reform bill" that Obama had to lie about repeatedly, with help from Marxist social micro-managers like Jonathan Gruber.
*As for the ACA expanding Medicaid, it has certainly done that, and in the process has created a huge new expense for taxpayers that is helping to add hundreds of billions to the already insane national debt (of nearly $19 trillion – and mounting). When that debt bubble explodes, it will be more than Obamacare's out of control out-of-pocket expenses that destroys American households.
Sources:
Urban.org[PDF]
http://www.naturalnews.com/z052622_Obamacare_medical_costs_insurance_coverage.html