Obamacare is simply an extension of the government health care system that already controls our medical lives. It may be not technically be a single payer system but it is totally controlled (and politicized) by the government.
There is no choice.
Rough Numbers*:
- Employer Based: 170 million people covered by employer based health care at any given time during a year. Coverage is limited to what the particular employer offers. 7 million people currently having employer based health care are expected to be forced to buy an Obamacare policy or pay tax in 2015. There is no other choice if your employer offers health insurance.
- Medicare: 50 million people covered by Medicare. There is no other choice if you are over 64 years of age.
- Medicaid: 66 million people covered by Medicaid at any given time during a year. There is no other choice if you are poor.
- Private Individual Insurance: 20 million people covered by private individual health care insurance at any given time during a year. Must now buy Obamacare policy or pay a tax. There is no other choice if you work for yourself.
- Uninsured: 45 million people not insured at any given time during a year including about 10 million illegal aliens. Must now buy Obamacare policy, pay tax, or enroll in Medicaid. There is no other choice if you are uninsured.
* numbers exceed total population primarily because people move between categories during any given year and the data sources don’t reconcile the totals.
If we had market based health care rather than government based healthcare everyone would have real choices, real competition, and we could still subsidize those in need with direct tax deductions and tax credits.
Our children deserve leadership and common sense on health care.
See the links below for source information.
Regards, Pete Weldon
americanstance.org
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Note and Sources:
Read the February 4, 2014 CBO report for information on the 7 million expected to lose employer based coverage in 2015, and other implications of Obamacare.
People who work for employers who offer health care coverage get the least expensive health care. More than half of the U.S. population (about 170 million people) had employment-based health insurance coverage at some time during 2011. The cost of such care is a tax deductible expense to the employer resulting in a 35% subsidy all taxpayers together must pay for. Obamacare mandates certain coverages and implements an “excess coverage” tax for employer based coverage.
People with individual health coverage can only deduct health care costs for tax purposes to the extent they exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income.
At age 65 the only choice available is government run Medicare. About 50 million people were enrolled in Medicare at some time during 2010. While you are free to purchase a “private” Obamacare policy when you reach age 65 there is no reason to do so given the costs and limitations of such policies relative to Medicare. If you do elect not to enroll in Medicare you have to pay a penalty of 10% of the premium for both Part B and Part D cumulative for every month you do not enroll after reaching age 65.
If you are of modest means the only choice available is government run Medicaid. About 66 million people were enrolled in Medicaid at some time during 2010.
If you do not have employer based coverage, are not age 65, or are not eligible for Medicaid you can purchase individual health insurance. Prior to implementation of Obamacare there were about 20 million people covered by private individual health insurance.
About 45 million people did not have health insurance at some time in 2012. Many of these people could not afford insurance and did not qualify for Medicaid. Many also elected to make an economic tradeoff, allocating dollars to other uses (for example, young people not worried about their health). These totals include about 10 illegal aliens and don’t reflect a lower number of people who actually go uninsured for the full year.