Health Costs Bear Down On Families Who Don't Qualify For ACA Subsidies

[DonViejo]

December 14, 20187:00 AM ET

Like millions of Americans in this final week of open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, Diane McCabe is shopping for health insurance.

"At my age, I can't go without it, even though I'm healthy now," says McCabe. She's 62 and a self-employed real estate agent in Luzerne County, Pa. "But the process is frustrating, and the expense significant."

That's because McCabe is one of the 5 million people who buy their own coverage (either on of off the ACA marketplace) and pay the full cost. Her income is too high to qualify for a government subsidy that would help defray the cost of the premium.

McCabe this week settled on a $773-a-month policy that has a $4,000 deductible — the amount she'll have to pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in. She estimates that will account for at least 15 percent of her income in 2019.

more
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/12/14/674791999/health-costs-bear-down-on-families-who-dont-qualify-for-aca-subsidies?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news

[Auggie]

1. My PPO quote for two is $2199 with a $9000 deductible.

The only HMO other than Kaiser I am offered (I get to pick a doctor) costs $1550 a month.

It pays to earn less money so you qualify for the subsidy -- The "Disincentive to Work," as it's called.

This is what happens when you guarantee insurance company profits. For some it works great. For others it's a nightmare.

[Ohiogal]

3. I couldn't agree more.

Why can't conservatives understand this?

[still_one]

2. The removal of the individual mandate, plus the slow whittling away of the ACA, have contributed to

those increased premiums. That along with the fact that because of the republican mandate to destroy the ACA, have put uncertainty into the marketplace, which caused some insurers to drop out, which meant less choices and higher premiums. But the worst part is that the republicans made NO ATTEMPT to address the deficiencies. Instead, the only thing today's republicans have demonstrated is that they destroy things, and one would be naïve to not believe that social security and medicare are not in their sights.

Right now they have been working on removing the pre-existing protection clause.

The damage caused by those who refused to vote for the Democratic nominee by voting third party or not voting, which also contributed to us losing those Senate seats in those critical swing states, has the potential unfortunately to be the gift that keeps on giving, since the result of that "perfect storm" caused the loss of two Supreme Court nominees that would have been appointed by the Democratic nominee if not for what had happened