i’ve come to believe that a lot us, including myself, may not understand the nitty gritty of the affordable care act. we’re scared of change. we don’t know what obamacare is going to do to us. we want to keep our health insurance the way it is. and for those of us without insurance, the price of coverage still seems too expensive.
also, what does up to 400% of the poverty level mean? ‘cause i’d always like to make more money, but i still don’t think i’m living anywhere near that.
to help us all understand why our existing insurance policies are changes, our rates may increase a little in the short run, and what exactly obamacare will do for you and me and every average american, i’ve started collecting a few links from the new york times for your perusal:
here we discover why some people (though only a small fraction of those americans with plans) might see their rates increase. bottomline: your plan wasn’t doing enough for you before. for preventative medicine to provide economic savings in our health system, everyone has to have access to preventative medicine.
a lot of the people who have to choose news plans or whose plans will change will be those people who do not have insurance through their employers. most of these plans and rates reflected the sex, age, and pre-existing conditions of the insured and insurance companies are no longer allowed to take any of this into consideration when issuing coverage. you’ll also find a very simple q & a about health insurance costs and benefits.
finally, there is this nifty little calculator provided by the kaiser family foundation for estimating the subsidy you may be eligible for through obamacare. enter in the state you live in, your zip code, your income, and the number of dependents you have. voila! the calculator will give you an estimate for how much your yearly premium should be, the subsidy you would receive, and what that means you would subsequently pay. for example, a person with an income of about $25,000 in birmingham, alabama, will probably pay about $144 a month.
and remember: “You can have the government pay the insurer directly or receive a credit when you file your taxes.”
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