News Supreme Court upholds health care reform

[chemisttree]

You do know that what you are referring to is "medicaid" which is handled differently by each state. Under the ACA, many more people will be eligible for medicaid than before. And yes, if they work, but can't afford premiums, they will get subsidies.

That's not quite true. The bolded items you quoted...

•Also by 2014, the "working poor" — many of whom are eligible for employer-sponsored health care but can't afford the monthly premiums — will be eligible for subsidies to help them pay for their health insurance, said Mary Grealy, president of the Healthcare Leadership Council.

refers to the "Working Poor". The "Working Poor" is defined as someone who works at least 27 weeks per year and who's income falls below the official poverty level (US Department of Labor). If they earn greater than 133 percent of poverty level, they are not the "working poor" and are not eligible for the "subsidies" mentioned by Mary Grealy. They certainly aren't eligible for the subsidies if their state opts out of the program as Texas has indicated it will.

Could you please find where in the ACA someone earning a dollar more than 133 percent of poverty level wages is elegible for these "subsidies"?

It IS a tax increase for those folks that Windowmaker referred to.

 

[chemisttree]

back this up ... please ... it would be a good point.

Here you go...

It is not surprising that affordability is the most significant of the various barriers to having health coverage. A recent analysis commissioned by HLC shows that 16 percent of those in families with incomes under the federal poverty level with an offer of insurance are uninsured, compared to six percent of those in families with incomes over three times the poverty level.

Cost is a barrier to insurance enrollment for low-income workers and their dependents, in part because their share of premiums consumes a higher percentage of their income than is the case for workers with higher incomes. Also, workers in middle and upper-income brackets tend to work for employers who subsidize a larger portion of their health insurance premiums, whereas low-wage firms offer a smaller subsidy to their employees.

from testimony given by Mary Grealy to the Subcomittee on Health, Feb. 2002.

and

Large firms pay higher wages than small firms. In 2005, the average
hourly wage in establishments with less than 100 workers was $15.69
and increased consistently with establishment size. Wages increased to
$27.05 (a 72 percent premium) for establishments with 2,500 or more
workers (Chart 2). Smaller businesses are also much more likely to
employ low-wage workers. In 2004, establishments with less than 100
workers paid nearly a fourth of their workers less than $8 per hour.
Establishments with 2,500 or more workers paid only 3 percent of their
workers less than $8 per hour (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2004). Again,
the percentage of workers earning low wages declines consistently as
establishment size increases. The gap does not appear to be narrowing,
as research finds wage growth at large firms equals or exceeds that at
small firms (Hu).⁷

7. The firm size-wage effect persists across other countries as well. Similar
results have been found, for example, in Canada (Morisette), Germany (Schmidt
and Zimmermann), Austria (Winter-Ember), the United Kingdom (Belfield and
Wei), and Switzerland (Winter-Ember and Zweimüller), among others.

Hu, L. 2003. “The Hiring Decisions and Compensation Structures of Large
Firms,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol. 56, no. 4, pp. 663-81.

from http://www.kc.frb.org/publicat/econrev/PDF/2q07edmi.pdf

 

[rolerbe]

I'll step in for Russ. This is wrong on two points. First, the federal govt does not require insurance for vehicle drivers, only states do. Second, the states do not require you to own a vehicle and hence, they do not require you to have insurance.

and you can self-insure, which is not a provision in the health-care law.

 

[mheslep]

and you can self-insure, which is not a provision in the health-care law.

Eh no, one can choose to self insure for collision, i.e. damage to your own vehicle and/or health, and many do, but some minimum liability insurance is a requirement in all fifty. Note the minimum varies substantially from state to state (wisely IMO).

http://personalinsure.about.com/cs/vehicleratings/a/blautominimum.htm

 

[ThinkToday]

Under the ACA, many more people will be eligible for medicaid than before.

I'm not so sure that's still accurate. Medicaid is a State program, and several states have already said they weren't going to go along with the expansion, since the SCOTUS said Congress can't force them to. So, will that still be the case?

 

[Evo]

I'm not so sure that's still accurate. Medicaid is a State program, and several states have already said they weren't going to go along with the expansion, since the SCOTUS said Congress can't force them to. So, will that still be the case?

In participating states, Medicaid eligibility is expanded; all individuals with income up to 133% of the poverty line qualify for coverage, including adults without dependent children.[19][81] As written, the PPACA withheld all Medicaid funding from states declining to participate in the expansion. However, the Supreme Court ruled, in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, that this withdrawal of funding was unconstitutionally coercive, and that individual states had the right to opt out of the Medicaid expansion without losing pre-existing Medicaid funding from the federal government. As of July 10, 2012, the governors of five states: Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina, had announced that they would decline to participate in the Medicaid expansion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patien...dable_Care_Act#Effective_by_January_1.2C_2014

So, the vast majority of states are opting in.

 

[chemisttree]

You've got it a bit backwards. The private insurance subsidies are primarily for folks over 133% of the poverty line (and below 400% of it) who don't have an offer of employer-sponsored coverage, or who do have an offer that's unaffordable for them. That's Section 1401 of the ACA, or if you prefer to cut the chase and go right to the page of the U.S. Code that's available here.

If their state takes up the option, folks below 133% become eligible for Medicaid (though technically those between 100% and 133% of the poverty line can get access to the private insurance subsidies--that will become important in states that don't immediately decide to proceed with the Medicaid expansion).

No, I didn't have it backwards... I didn't have it at all. So, if I read the section correctly, a family of 4 with income just over 133% of poverty will receive a subsidy equal to the lesser of the full price of the monthly premium of a 'silver' program (only if they are enrolled in a 'silver' program) or the excess cost above around 2% of their annual income/12. That limits that family's cost to about $55 per month for health coverage if they choose a 'silver' plan.

Evo is right again.

 

[Evo]

Evo is right again.

What?? What??

Occasionally something I google is correct, shear luck.

*sticks GOOBF cards into chem's computer*

 

[chemisttree]

Please don't crash my computer with some GOOBF virus! It's getting harder and harder to keep this Windows 3.0 system working.

 

[Evo]

Please don't crash my computer with some GOOBF virus! It's getting harder and harder to keep this Windows 3.0 system working.

 

[jim hardy]

Eh no, one can choose to self insure for collision, i.e. damage to your own vehicle and/or health, and many do, but some minimum liability insurance is a requirement in all fifty. Note the minimum varies substantially from state to state (wisely IMO).

http://personalinsure.about.com/cs/vehicleratings/a/blautominimum.htm

it's a fine point, but some states do allow people of means to self insure.

But i don't see why anybody who's sane would.

http://www.flhsmv.gov/ddl/frfaqself_person.html#method1

METHOD III - FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CERTIFICATE (BASED ON SURETY BOND)

Persons posting with the department a satisfactory bond of a surety company authorized to do business in this state, conditioned for payment of the amount specified in section 324.021(7), Florida Statutes. Bond forms are available upon request.

Individual - Filing Requirements


Surety Bond from a surety company authorized to do business in this state, conditioned for payment with the amounts of: $10,000 of bodily injury to, or death of, one person in anyone crash; $20,000 bodily injury to, or death of, two or more persons in anyone crash; and $10,000 injury to, or destruction of, property of others in anyone crash ($10,000/20,000/10,000).