Will insurance be more affordable under ACA?

[redwitch]

Self employed friend is freaked out over having to buy insurance because his costs are so high, daughter with health issues, diabetes for him. Will costs to buy insurance go down so he can actually afford it?

[enough]

1. Useful link at Washington Post has a simple interactive view of what will happen

Last edited Sat Jun 30, 2012, 01:09 PM - Edit history (1)

to insurance costs, subsidies, etc. Plug in your income, number of people in family, current insurance status.

A lot of interesting info there.

On edit, sorry I forgot to include the link. I'll blame it on the heat!

Link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/what-health-bill-means-for-you/?hpid=z2

[magical thyme]

2. it depends on his income levels in 2014

There was a thread yesterday with 2 links to 2 different calculators, where you put in your income and status and it spits out your cost of health insurance.

Turns out I'm currently so poor that if my economic status remains the same, it will cost me *less* to buy insurance than pay the penalty. Like it or not, unless my situation changes drastically one way or another in the next 2 years, for the first time in 20+ years, I will have health insurance.

[redwitch]

6. I would love to find the threads with the calculators.

Would appreciate any help.

[magical thyme]

7. here it is...

the wapo link is in the OP. The other link is further down thread a bit.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002881187

At my miniscule income, my estimated insurance payments worked out to $85/mo versus $87/mo for the 1st year penalty.

[redwitch]

8. Thanks!

I think he will feel much better when he does the math.

[redwitch]

3. Thanks.

He currently pays out of pocket and it has worked for him for meds, daughters are in Healthy New York plan which is affordable. He has tried to find insurance that he can afford and can't. I want to be able to tell him that this actually improves his personal situation.

[Honeycombe8]

4. The cost of ins. is low compared to the cost of one overnight stay in a hospital. Tell him that.

With diabetes, he is at risk for many things to happen to him. Eye problems, infections that turn into systemic infections, stroke, cancer (I think), you name it. Not to mention the high cost of treating diabetes, since it is chronic.

One overnight stay in a hospital can be over $10,000, and might be $50,000.

He can buy a CHEAP, minimalist policy. Tell him to check out www.healthcare.gov for one stop shopping for a policy.

Costs for insurance have risen in the last two years, but they have risen only 4% or something, much less than it has risen in the decades before then. What happened two years ago? The ACA was passed.

[snot]

5. As I understand from commentators on NPR,

if his income is below a certain level, he'll qualify for a subsidy.

Another provision that might help is a requirement that insurers must use at least 80% of the premiums they charge to pay actual health care costs – i.e., there's now a limit on the extent to which they can jack up premiums and use them to pay their own salaries, stockholder dividends, or other admin. costs. Theoretically, this should help limit premium increases.