My take based on other things that I have read is below. If I am wrong on some of this, I would love to hear the facts (with sources to read, please.) I may have left things out from ignorance, and I would love to be better informed.
Without Obamacare 85% of Americans have health insurance, and 15% do not. Most of the 15% do not have health insurance because they can't afford to buy it (and still pay for things like rent, mortgages, heat, electrictity, water, fuel, and food.)
Note: Just because someone doesn't have health insurance does NOT mean they don't have health Care. Some people choose health care that is not covered by health insurance and will not be covered by Obamacare. Others choose to pay for health care only when they need it. So the 15% is NOT an indication of people who get no health care.
Obamacare is a law that requires everyone to buy health insurance. It provides no medical care whatsoever. The less affluent (or poor) can get tax credits to help pay for the insurance if they opt to buy it. The poor (those with income low enough to not pay any taxes) are exempt from buying health insurance under Obamacare. Since they pay no taxes, the tax credits don't actually help pay for the insurance, so it's likely they will not buy it because they still can't afford it.
What happens to the poor when they get sick? They can beg for help, of course, by appying for medicaid with the government, just the same as before Obamacare.
So the really poor, the illiterate, those who have mental deficiency will still drop through the cracks and get no benefit from Obamacare, (or they will continue to get the same care as before Obamacare under medicaid.)
Many people who don't have insurance because they can't afford it do not qualify for Medicaid, and others are disgusted by having to beg for help. Those who have chosen in the past to apply for medicaid will continue to do so. Those who have not done so and have chosen to pay for their own care only if they get sick will not have that choice, and will have to get insurance that costs more than the care they were paying for, or pays fines to the US gov.
Who benefits? The insurance industry, owned by people like Warren Buffett, and, of course, Wall Street bankers. All those healthy young people who purposely chose not to pay for health insurance because they are healthy and young (and its a waste of money that they could apply toward buying a home, for example) are now forced to be customers of an industry that produces nothing and enriches people who are leeches on the productive.
Are there some benefits for others? Yes, insurance companies can no longer refuse to sell insurance to people who are sick, just because they are sick. Those sick people are likely to get better care than before, and that is a real benefit, and it's something that a wealthy society should be willing to do. Those extra expenses of caring for those people will cause the insurance rates for everyone to go up, of course, because the insurance companies will still have to make a profit for the stockholders... Warren Buffett and his pals on Wall Street.
Who else benefits? The medical industry, that is, companies who run hospitals, clinics, diagnostic facilities.... and the shareholders of those companies: Warren Buffett and his buddies on Wall Street. Before Obamacare, the medical industry had reduced and inconsistent profits because they treated people without insurance, and sometimes they did not get paid by the less affluent patients who had no insurance. Under Obamacare the medical industry gets paid every time. This makes profits higher and more consistent for Warren Buffett and his mates on Wall Street, at the expense of the poor and lower middle class who must pay for insurance they can't actually afford.
Oh, almost forgot, women benefit, and men have to pay more because insurance companies have charged more to women because women get sick more often due to their physical construction makeup. So healthy men get to pay more instead of the women who get the care. Gee, that doesn't sound fair, does it? I may be starting to understand why the bill passed in congress.
Who loses? Every other business and all their employees. All the money going into the cost of health insurance will not be available for buying homes, cars, furniture, appliances, computers, mobile phones, electricity, water, etc. Big businesses will survive by increasing prices and by taking advantage of their slave laborers in China and other 3rd world countries. Small businesses will lay off people, and some will close, putting many more people out of work than are hired by hospitals.
An example of a low paid 60 yr old individual:
Annual income 20,000
Income Taxes 1,099
Obamacare annual premiums 6,880 less tax rebate 1,099 = 5,781
If the individual gets sick he will have to pay for 13% of the cost of care, too.
The premiums are reduced by 1,099 because that is all the tax he pays, and he can't get any more reduction than the amount of income tax paid. Obabacare CLAIMS he can get up to 5,859 premium reduction, but he doesn't make enough money to get the tax credit.
He is REQUIRED to buy the insurance costing 5,781 under Obamacare or be fined.
Maybe he can go burgle a house to get the money required, because he certainly can't afford to spend 31% of his paltry net income on health insurance. That would leave him with
$252 per week for everything he needs to survive. Before Obamacare he had $363/week
(and no health insurance) if he didn't get sick, and he was screwed if he did get sick. With Obamacare and he gets sick he is screwed because he can't afford even the 13% of the medical bills, since he has no possible savings from his $252 per week.
The insurance company gets his $6,880 per year, and he is screwed whether he gets sick or not.
It gets worse for people who have lower income, unless they qualify for medicaid, which is the same as before Obamacare. So the extremely poor already have medicaid and they still have it with Obamacare, but the slightly better off will now have to pay for health insurance that they can't afford.
The advertised purpose of the obamacare plan is to help people who can't afford health insurance to get health care they can afford. Obamacare fails to do that.
(... in my opinion because that is not the true purpose.)
If you want, you can check my sources:
health insurance costs and savings calculator
kff.org
Mandated to Get Insurance but Can't Afford It?
webmd.com
How Does ObamaCare Work?
obamacarefacts.com |
