Fix Health Care Policy

12 Days of Obamacare Surprises: Uninsured Americans

Not all surprises are good. When it comes to Obamacare, the original projections are turning into unfortunately different realities. For the next 8 days, Heritage is going to highlight one of the various changes in Obamacare projections (e.g., cost, enrollment, etc.) from when the law first passed until now.

One of Obamacare’s primary goals was to dramatically reduce the number of uninsured. To achieve this, Obamacare depends on a Medicaid expansion, new government subsidies funneled through exchanges, and an individual mandate to get people covered.

In 2010, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that Obamacare would insure 32 million non-elderly people by 2019, leaving 23 million non-elderly Americans uninsured.

In 2012, the CBO updated its projection to show that Obamacare would provide coverage for 36 million people through Medicaid and subsidized coverage in the government-run exchanges, leaving 30 million Americans uninsured in 2022.

Read the rest on The Foundry…

Tags: CBO, government-run exchange, Medicaid, ObamaCare, subsidized coverage, surprises, uninsured Americans

Side Effects: Stay Single and Save 15 Percent or More on Health Insurance

No, this isn’t a Geico commercial. Come 2013, America’s bachelors may want to think twice before popping the question. Thanks to Obamacare, some couples can save thousands on health insurance just by opting to cohabit rather than marry.

How? The subsidy system erected in the complicated new health law manages to create a brand new “marriage penalty.”

Under the law, individuals who earn between 133 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level and can’t get health coverage through their employers qualify for generous subsidies to buy insurance in the government-run exchanges. These subsidies decrease with need, so the more you make, the less you get. (more…)

Tags: co-habitating, government-run exchange, health insurance, marriage penalty, Side Effects