Alphecca » Obamacare: Killing Jobs and Spiking Inflation

by Jeff Soyer

On Nov. 2, the Congressional Budget Office estimated what the plans will likely cost. An individual earning $44,000 before taxes who purchases his own insurance will have to pay a $5,300 premium and an estimated $2,000 in out-of-pocket expenses, for a total of $7,300 a year, which is 17% of his pre-tax income. A family earning $102,100 a year before taxes will have to pay a $15,000 premium plus an estimated $5,300 out-of-pocket, for a $20,300 total, or 20% of its pre-tax income. Individuals and families earning less than these amounts will be eligible for subsidies paid directly to their insurer.

Now. There are a lot (millions) of individuals who choose not to have insurance. Mostly they are aged 18 to 40-years-old and are in good health. If they are now forced to purchase insurance, that is (let’s use the example above) $5,300 dollars less that they will have to spend on clothing, dining out, electronic gadgets, car payments, etc.

Myself? I am on track to earn a whopping $21,000 or so this year. About $1,750 per month before taxes are taken out. Figure about $1,550 after fed and state taxes. Let’s say the government subsidizes me 50%. I still have to come up with about $2,600 dollars, or about $220 bucks a month.

Current monthly expenses: I could enroll in my company’s health plan and instead just cough up about $160 instead. I should do that but, at the moment I can afford neither.

I”m sure there are a hell of a lot of single folks in exactly the same position.

By the way, how do I come up with figuring a 50% subsidy from the government? Just an optimistic guess. Whenever the government tries to figure out what constitutes a “poor person” who might qualify for a 100% subsidy, they always use someone from the inner city or Mississippi or Alabama who can live on a heck of a lot less. They never realize that some areas of the country are a lot more expensive to live in, say large cities or the urban areas surrounding them or, yes, many rural locales. They think a single person earning 21 grand is rolling in dough.

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