$175 premium for a young, healthy student? Thanks, Obamacare!
By ASHE SCHOW | OCTOBER 3, 2013 AT 5:27 PM
Topics: Beltway Confidential Obamacare The Washington Post Health Care
American media outlets were finally able to track down a mythical creature — a person who actually signed up for the Obamacare exchanges online.
But that person, Chad Henderson, admitted to the Washington Post that the premium for the plan he enrolled in was $175. Ouch! Wasn’t Obamacare supposed to lower premiums?
Henderson’s going to pay a $175 premium and he won’t even receive vision or dental insurance. He has contacts, so not having vision insurance is kind of a bum deal.
Henderson, as far as we know a healthy, 21-year-old college student at Chattanooga State Community College who lives in Flintstone, Ga., and works part-time at a day-care center, did not qualify for tax credits to purchase insurance, according to the Post.
Without Obamacare, Henderson could have received health insurance for as little as $44.72 on eHealthInsurance.com, according to Michael F. Cannon of the Cato Institute.
“I can’t yet say whether Chad’s $175 premium is the lowest-cost plan available to him through the Obamacare Exchange,” Cannon said. “[I’m in the process of researching that, and it’ll probably take a few hours.] But it’s probably close.”
I carry a young healthy college graduate on my health insurance. Because of the Affordable care act we can continue to insure her. I would never gamble and allow her to be uninsured. Young people have health issues and accidents just like the rest of us.
Affordable care does not mean insurance for less than the people in the regular healthcare system pay. They should pay what I pay. If they are low income they will get subsidies.
My family is healthy but because we are in an insurance pool our premiums do not reflect that. I do not balme the government for my insurance costs.
The premise behind Obamacare is to force these young people into the system and use their better health risk profile to lower the overall payout to compensate for others with pre-existing conditions and older people with poorer risk profiles. It’s at its heart a wealth transfer system. The young and healthy are forced (under threat of fine and presumably other more stringent sanctions in the future) to overpay. That’s the beauty, to its admirers, of this scheme.
This is not enough information to tell if the $175 is a good buy. If the $44 has a max payment of $50,000 or something than it is useless, especially to the 21 year old who really needs insurance in case he is diagnosed with some major disease or suffers an injury.
The premise behind all insurance is the transference of risk from an individual to a group. I see nothing different about this than any other insurance product. It is sort of the same fundamental definition of insurance since it was invented in the 18th century.
The entire ironically named “Affordable Care Act” depends on young people being stupid enough to sign-up when paying the penalty is cheaper than the premiums. If young people have 1/2 a brain they won’t fall for it. Pay the penalty (oh, sorry Chief Justice Roberts, I mean “tax”) and then purchase good insurance if you ever have something major happen to you since the insurance comapnies won’t be allowed to reject you for the preexisting condition. Only people who pass a law “in order to find out what’s in it,” as Nancy Pelosi said, could come up with such a dumb approach. Way to go Dems. Don’t worry, I’m sure you will still get a trophy for trying so that your self-esteme won’t suffer.
If you think $175 is high for medical insurance then you must get it paid in full by your employer. This is an absolute bargain. Obamacare is absolutely moving us in the right direction as a country. Everyone needs access to health care without having to pay thousands of dollars and go bankrupt if there is a medical emergency. Plus, if everyone has insurance then they will be more likely to take care of the little things and thus avoid a bigger problem down the road. An untreated strep throat can lead to permanent heart damage. An untreated ear infection can lead to permanent hearing loss. But someone who does not have any insurance is likely to tough it out when the throat is very sore or the ear is very painful.
“Absolute bargain?” How can you say that when the guy could have had coverage for 1/3 that amount for a plan that no longer exists due to Obamacare. Even the Dems admit that the premiums have increased (they just say that it is ok because you are getting better coverage — of course it is coverage for things that you most likely won’t need, which is how this whole scam works). Get young people to pay more for a “better plan” that they won’t actually use in order to subsidize older people or people with preexisting conditions.
“The premise behind all insurance is the transference of risk from an individual to a group. I see nothing different about this than any other insurance product. It is sort of the same fundamental definition of insurance since it was invented in the 18th century.”
There are several differences. First is the use of force to throw everyone into the group. Second, in many cases this is not protection against catastrophe. Unlike auto insurance that covers accidents, many conditions (like contraception) are fully covered from dollar one, so this is not truly insurance — it’s subsidized medical benefits.
I agree that medical coverage is different because of the medical benefits. I wish true medical insurance was available (e.g. high deductible coverage with no medical care) but the private market has also refused to provide that option. The problem is that preventative care plays too large a role in determining future medical outcomes AND the cost of the catastrophic problems are so high that premiums on the high deductible plans are still very high.
Most insurance exists because it is required. If it were not required you would have a risk pool that only attracts likely claimants. Flood, workers compensation and auto insurance is required by law. Property/fire/earthquake insurance is required by banks. 3rd party liability coverage is required by vendors, landlords and customers. Boiler coverage is required by lendors. E&O/D&O policies are required by law/board of directors. Malpractice coverage is required by bar/medical associations and/or by law. etc. etc.
sorry Brian its government mandates state ,and federal , some state did offer catastrophic coverage for people at a very low cost but of coarse not New Jersey
#4 If you think that paying a penalty is smarter than paying for health insurance then go uninsured. If you are in a car accident then maybe someone will have a fundraiser to cover your rehab. Healthcare costs are the #1 cause of bankruptcy.
#6. You can’t just make things up. You don’t know anything about the hypothetical person in the example. To say that he/she paid one third the cost before Affordable Care is just silly. You don’t even know if the hypothetical person really exists. It is Affordable Care not free care.
I agree with #5. If you think that $175 is a lot to pay then you probably do not contribute to your healthcare premiums. Those of us who are already paying for family benefits do not think that this is outrageous. After looking at my premiums the $175 does not look bad.
Our auto insurance relies on subscriber pools too. I pay high premiums for living in NJ and because other drivers in my pool have claims. I do not like my rates but the law says that I must have car insurance.
Home insurance also spreads the risk with pools. In 30 years I have never made a homeowner claim but my rates do not go down. I (and my bank that holds the mortgage) would never go without homeowner’s insurance.
Look at all the shore homeowners who did not have flood insurance. They never had a flood so they dropped that portion of the insurance. After Sandy many cannot afford to rebuild. Who do you think is helping to pay for the recovery? The cost has shifted to the government, and that means you and me.
If you don’t have health insurance then you should be required to pay all of your medical bills. No bankruptcy. Stop shifting your costs to the rest of us.