The political uproar since the rollout of the Affordable Care Act is covered in some of the dirtiest, mud-slinging backlashes in recent history. Citizens and lawmakers alike are frustrated, and people who once agreed now find themselves on opposing teams pointing fingers at one another.
Due to the Affordable Care Act, the underlying cost of healthcare has increased by 41%. This is an average, as some saw their rates reduced and others experienced an increase (some double and even triple). Of course, the average income did not automatically increase along with the cost of healthcare, so a good number of people are finding themselves in financial strains.
As it stands, 76% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. This means that missing even one single day of pay can make or break the ability to cover all of the bills in that month. So it is quite obvious why premium increases have been so frustrating to those who have experienced the worst of them.
Where a good number of these cases begin is in the “coverage gap” where many people make too much income to qualify for Medicaid but too little income to qualify for subsidies for an Obamacare plan. A survey taken by those who qualified for Obamacare but failed to enroll showed that the biggest reason for not enrolling was because they just couldn’t afford to.
Young and Healthy
Many of the professed “young invincibles,” whose enrollments are being relied upon for the Affordable Care Act to actually work as planned, are opting to pay the fine rather than the monthly premium. It seems the fines are cheaper than the insurance for 2014. In addition, there appears to be an extensive discontent among the young and healthy, feeling that they are being relied upon to keep healthcare costs down for everyone by enrolling in a plan that they can’t even afford.
A recent college graduate in New York says that with student loan debt and the high cost of living, there is no way he can pay the premiums under Obamacare, even though he currently works two jobs. There is nothing else he can do, because there are not enough hours in the day. He says that he, along with many people he knows, is already being stretched to his limits, and the implementation of Obamacare is causing them all unnecessary stress and even more bills.
1,800 Children Lose Coverage
A New Jersey healthcare plan was set up specifically for children of families who made too much money to qualify for Medicaid and too little money to pay out of pocket for health care coverage. Because of the changes in policy from the Affordable Care Act, their plan no longer met the minimum requirements of offering services such as mental health and other programs, which were not considered necessities when the health plan was created.
Because of this, 1,800 of these low-cost insurance policies for children were cancelled. The plan these families were dropped from included zero deductible, $5.00 doctor visits and $1.00 prescriptions. The new Obamacare plan from the same insurance provider comes with a minimum $1,500 deductible and covers service they do not need or want, and most of the families involved will not even qualify for the subsidies designed to help cover some of the costs.
One of the fathers, whose 16-year-old son’s policy was among those cancelled, spoke up saying it just feels like nobody cares. His own insurance had been cancelled last year, and now his son’s is being cancelled this year. The family cannot afford the plan under Obamacare, and as of this writing, neither of them have health insurance at all.
The father ended his claim saying how he does believe it is a good thing to offer insurance to those who are uninsured but not at the expense of those who already are.
The Disappearing Retirement Fund
One distraught couple has come forth stating that their insurance premiums took a steep rise from their current rate of $454 per month with a$2,000 deductible to $780 per month with a $3,500 deductible. The wife, who has a chronic condition, said that her medication runs into thousands of dollars per month, so opting out and accepting the penalty was not in the cards.
She had to find a plan that would help her pay for her necessary prescriptions; otherwise, she would be in even worse financial shape, and that higher-priced plan was the only one that made sense for them.
Paying for the new plan with comparable coverage under Obamacare, she says they are trading their retirement savings for health insurance, and at this point, they are distraught over the entire ordeal. She and her husband are thankful to have coverage, because of her health condition, but neither of them knows what they are going to do to save for their retirement now.
A Tragic Ending
A tragic story recently emerged about a woman in Florida who fell into the aforementioned “coverage gap” by making too much to qualify for Medicaid and making too little to get the subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. The woman, a single mother with three part-time jobs, was 32-years old and had a known heart condition.
She ultimately died due to having no medical treatment or medications, because she couldn’t afford to get healthcare. The Medicare expansion (meant to cover the gap) that was extended as an option to all states was not adopted by Florida.
Many believe that this woman is a victim of poorly written laws and Florida’s ability to opt out of Medicaid expansion. It is estimated that over 7,000 people have died due to a lack of coverage because their state of residence opted out of Medicare expansion.
Some people are wondering why states have the option to make such decisions, but individuals with real health concerns don’t get a comparable luxury. Some have said that people are dying due to “financial concerns secondary to politics.” The Supreme Court, however, won’t make Medicaid expansion mandatory (they refused to allow federal penalties for states opting out), and residents are wondering why a provision for these people hasn’t been put into place along with the Affordable Care Act.
Fingers can be pointed at all sides in this case. You can blame healthcare changes, saying that something should have been written into the ACA that would never allow a “gap” to exist rather than relying on each state to accept Medicaid expansion, and you can blame the GOP, which many others are doing, citing that they have put their “…disregard for human life on display.”
Whichever direction you point, this woman’s unfortunate case is proof that the Affordable Care Act isn’t a healthcare savior to everyone. Now instead of this woman suffering, her family will have to suffer the loss of a loved one while politics are being ironed out. Either way, a life has been lost, and that can’t be fixed in Washington.
The college grad, the 1,800 children, the couple who just wanted to save their own money for retirement, and the young woman who lost her life are all real-life examples of people suffering real-life consequences due to changes in the healthcare system.
These case studies barely scratch the surface of the actual number of people who have received negative consequences from the roll out of the Affordable Care Act. So while some families are enjoying financial gains and lower premiums, others continue to scale back already tight lifestyles or brace themselves for fines.
