Obama To Workers: Enjoy Bankruptcy

As I've documented in prior posts on Obamacare, while it's nearly impossible to catalogue all of the things that are wrong with this plan, the particular outrage that ought to be getting everybody's dander up is the sky-high Deductibles and OOP (Out Of Pocket).

As you may recall, the Bronze and Silver Plans advertise OOP up to $6,350 for a Single and $12,700 for families.  That was already twice as high as comparable private sector policies, but even this advertisement is false.  Drilling down into the specific plans, you find that the plans most likely to allow you to keep your doctors, hospitals and specialists have Deductible/OOP of $12,700 for a Single and $25,400 for a family.

We've already documented what a gift this is to the insurance companies: in essence, they don't need to pay out a dime until you have met those obscene OOP levels, so the OOP does insure something: it insures the profits of Barack Obama's new best friends.

Obamites will tell you that the increases are all necessary in order to build into the system enough money to a) cover some portion of the 41 Million uninsured, and b) cover people with pre-existing conditions so they won't go bankrupt. 

Remember, though, that only the Silver Plan - which has high premiums and high deductibles - is eligible for OOP subsidies.  That means that taxpayers will pick up much of the tab for the tens of millions of low income folks enrolling for the first time, while Middle class wage earners will qualify for essentially nothing.  But if you drill down on different income scenarios you find that virtually everybody is on the hook for OOP that will essentially bankrupt them.

And all so that the insurance companies can turn 90% of their income into pure profit.

But what of pre-existing conditions, you say?  How many times did Obamites repeat as a mantra their statistics about health care costs causing 75% of personal bankruptcies in America.  Surely Obamacare protects against that?

Well, no.  No it doesn't.

Pre-existing conditions routinely lead to the huge outlays that insurance is supposed to cover, but Obamacare does not.  Let me offer an example:

Betty Lou is 40 and has the beginnings of heart disease that requires continuing care including frequent doctors' visits, consultations with specialists, regular use of CAT scan or other big ticket diagnostic tools, and a comprehensive regimen of drugs.  Her health care expenses average $10,000 per year.

$10,000, by the way, is wayyyy low as the norm for this kind of patient, but bear with me.  Betty Lou and her husband have a household income of $50,000 per year, and have enrolled in the Silver Plan so as to qualify for OOP subsidies paid for by the taxpayers.   they also qualify for premium subsidies because of their income level.  Their yearly premiums are $6,000 for the typical Silver Plan, and their OOP is $12,700.  The Kaiser Foundation calculator incorrectly estimates their premiums at $5,070 when the reality is $6,000, but that's irrelevant because of the subsidy, which shows that they qualify to pay no more than 9.5% of the gross income for premiums, or $4,750.  So, on the surface, they appear to get about a 20% discount on their premiums:

Because they enrolled in the Silver Plan, they also qualify for OOP subsidies.  This is a little trickier.  Neither healthcare.gov or Kaiser Foundation will tell you what OOP subsidies are until you completely enroll online and subscribe to a plan.  As we've documented in the past, this bit of subterfuge is necessary in order for Obamites to get you into the system and ahold of you by the short hairs.  That said, anecdotal evidence suggests that OOP subsidies are comparable to premium subsidies.  That would mean that Betty Lou and her husband would be on the hook for 80% of the $10,700 OOP, or $8,560, bringing their total yearly outlay for health insurance to $13,310 per year.

After FICA and income taxes, Betty Lou and her husband have a disposable income of $42,500 per year.  Obamacare has doubled their health insurance costs compared to their private policy, siphoning an extra $6,655 out of their pockets yearly.

Betty Lou and her husband qualify for no further benefits because they have equity in a house, a savings account and an IRA worth $150,000.  Thanks for effing nothing, Barack. 

This scenario was as forgiving towards Obamacare as circumstances possibly could be.  Despite that, Obamacare Hoovers up every last dime and essentially puts this family on the path to bankruptcy.  Only when they have disposed of all of their assets and become poor will they qualify for better subsidies under Medicaid.

It's not any better for a low income family.  Say you're making only $35,000 as a couple, you still only qualify for subsidies of 50% on premiums.  Comparable OOP subsidies means that this couple would pay $3,000 premiums + $6,300 OOP = $9,300 before the insurance companies had to pay a dime.  That also means bankruptcy for these folks, who would be confronted with these outlays year after year after year.

And let us not forget that under both these scenarios this couple would fork over another $1,000 per year for dental and comprehensive optical.  There is also zero likelihood that their doctors and specialists would be on their plan unless they picked a plan with OOP double of this example.

So, what to do?  Get yourself on Medicaid.

Medicaid outlays average well over $8,000 per patient, almost 40% more than the $5,000 average for the health care industry as a whole.  So, if you've got a pre-existing condition and you want to qualify for comprehensive health care with no worries and somebody else picking up 98% of the tab, you need to quit your job, sell your house, dispose of your assets and go on Medicaid.

Under Obamacare, your only other option is bankruptcy.