The oh-so UN-Affordable Care Act.

I had writer's block this morning. Until I saw the pricing released for the Affordable Care Act. For a single 27 year old making $46K a Bronze Plan will cost up to $209/month (depending on the cost of living where you live). The average should be $163/mo. The Bronze Plan is what most of us would consider a barebones plan from our employers. At $46K, a single 27 year old will not be eligible for any tax credits for his/her healthcare plan. Now, before you go "whoa, that's pretty good"...

Two years ago, for the PPO plan ("Premium" plan per Obamacare), I was paying around $240-260 a month for a plan covering me and children through my employer. The "Bronze" equivalent would've cost me about $160/mo....again, for a family of four. My employer at that time offered two cost levels--one for people making gross over $50K and one for people making less than $50K. That was my cost at over $50K. So, let me put it this way. That's not looking good to me.

If I'm the 27 year old single guy making $46K, I'm probably gainfully employed by a company that offers (or offered) good to great health insurance. Again, using the same gauge, he would've been paying about half of what I was paying for the kids and me. About half for the "Premium" plan--$120-130/mo. For the barebones plan, he would have been paying about $60-80/mo. So ummm, yea, affordable?

Ok, so maybe he should be paying more. He's at $46K gross. Which puts him at about 30% tax rate if he doesn't own a house with a mortgage payment. His weekly take home before investments, bills, and healthcare should be over $600/week. So what if he's paying double what he would've been paying two years ago. It's still only a third of his weekly take home. Spread the wealth?

So, at $25K, the pricing for the Bronze average price drops to $87/mo. Oh, right, after the applicable tax credits. I'm assuming here that the tax credits are being included immediately. Of course, the definition of tax credit is that you get that "back" from the government after you pay out the full price ($163 average/mo) and file your taxes. This is a logical assumption since the amount of the credit is actually based on the gross income at the end of the year. Nothing yet I've read insinuates that the credit might be immediate, so for the time being, the single 27 year old guy is still paying the $163, even at the $25K annual income. But he's going to get it back the following January to April, so let's go with $87/mo. Assuming his income is taxed at 20% (lower income level), his weekly take home will be about $384. So, just shy of a quarter of his weekly take home for the barebones plan and at $25K, he may or may not have a job that affords him healthcare. Sounds affordable.

Now, figure that the average rent in the USA is $1200/mo for a two bedroom apartment. With a roommate, the average single 27 year old should be spending with rent and utilities and cell phone (paying for his/her own) should have bills of approximately $800/mo. Assuming, which in our country unless living in a major city, he/she must own a car, gas and upkeep is an average of $400/mo. So, the average 27 year old should be paying $1200 mo without food. Assume ramen noodles and fast food on the run--add $200/mo. $1400/mo. At $384 take home per week equals $1664 take home per month. Tell me what you're going to with your extra $260/month? Half of it for health insurance or a even just a third of it? Really?!?!?!

Now assume that he has a health issue. He can no longer pay for his "affordable" insurance. It is cancelled immediately. Now, he pays penalties for no longer having health insurance and is still responsible for the health care co-pays with that "fancy" (feel the sarcasm) Bronze plan and all other associated costs......and because Medicaid funding is being cut with the new Affordable Care Act....he is screwed. (NOTE: I switched to he, because I just came across a note that a female of child bearing age would need to pay more for "female" coverage.)

Let's skip that for a second. Average increase per family of four that get their insurance from employers is reported to be $7500/year. They will also see a reduction in plan benefits by up to 30% according to most companies. This is because of the Premium Plan tax. Companies must pay a luxury tax for offering "Platinum" plans. Probably ultimately making "Platinum" plans like PPO plans a thing of the past. NOW, here's the current average cost of Medicaid for the average family of four through taxes: $5000. OH YES! The Affordable Care Act costs an extra $7500 per year per family of 4, with NO REDUCTION in the taxes we already pay!!!! In fact, they are starting to defund that $5K per family from Medicaid to pay for the ACA (aka. Obamacare). So, basically, by 2016, the average family of 4 will be paying (assuming no increase from the current $7500/year increase) $12500 per year for the new Affordable Care Act.

BUT, Medicaid is a broken system, right? Average cost per enrollee nationwide (as of 2010): $5563. Yup. For real. The Kaiser Foundation keeps track. (http://kff.org/medicaid/state-indicator/medicaid-payments-per-enrollee/)

Something else you probably didn't know: The Affordable Care Act increases the number of people eligible for Medicaid. Yup. Anyone below poverty level times 133%. At the same time, it also defunds Medicaid funding to the states. Yup. Not sure how that will work out.

SO, back to that whole example of the 27 year old fellow that was making $25K a year, became sick, and needs help. He'll probably still be able to get into the Medicaid system, which he would've been able to do either way by the above paragraph. But it is at the discretion of his state and the funding cuts that they will be dealing with. But hey let's say for shits and grins, no Obamacare, no Medicaid cuts....What are the average costs for him today under Medicaid? (Taken from: http://www.medicaid.gov/Medicaid-CHIP-Program-Information/By-Topics/Cost-Sharing/Cost-Sharing-Out-of-Pocket-Costs.html)

FY 2013 Maximum Nominal Copayment Amounts

State payment for service	FY 2013 Maximum copayment
$10 or less	$0.65
$10.01 to $25	$1.30
$25.01 to $50	$2.60
$50.01 or more	$3.90

FY 2013 Maximum Nominal Deductible and Managed Care Copayment Amounts

Deductible	$2.65
Managed Care Copayment	$3.90

MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE COPAYMENTS FOR FY 2013

Services and Supplies	Eligible Populations by Family Income
	<100 font="" fpl="">	101-150 FPL	>150FPL
Institutional Care (inpatient hospital care, rehab care, etc.)	50% of cost for 1st day of care	50% of cost for 1st day of care or 10% of cost	50% of cost for 1st day of care or 20% of cost
Non-Institutional Care (physician visits, physical therapy, etc.)	$3.90	10% of costs	20% of costs
Non-emergency use of the ER	$3.90	$7.80	No limit
Drugs                          Preferred drugs	$3.90	$3.90	$3.90
Non-preferred drugs	$3.90	$3.90	20% of cost

Tell me again how affordable the Affordable Care Act is.   Please.  

(OH YES, THAT IS DEFINATELY SARCASM.  DO NOT TELL ME HOW DAMN AFFORDABLE OBUMMERCARE IS.)