The central parts of ObamaCare donât roll out until 2014, but the wheels are already falling off this clunker. The latest news from four federal agencies is that 1) insurance will be a lot less affordable than Americans were led to expect, 2) fewer people than promised will get insurance and 3) millions of people who have coverage through a job now will lose it, thanks to the presidentâs âreforms.â Oh, and children are the biggest victims.
The Affordable Care Act is looking less and less affordable.
Start with the IRSâs new estimate for what the cheapest family plan will cost by 2016: $20,000 a year to cover two adults and three kids. And that will only cover 60 percent of medical bills, so add hefty out-of-pocket costs, too.
The next surprise is for parents who thought their kids would be covered by an employer. Sloppy wording in the law left that unclear until last week, when the IRS ruled that kids wonât be covered.
Starting in 2014, the law will require employers with 50 or more full-time employees to offer coverage or pay a penalty. âAffordableâ coverage, that is â meaning the employee canât be told to contribute more than 9.5 percent of his salary. For example, a worker earning $40,000 a year cannot be required to pay more than $3.800.
But the law doesnât specifically mandate family coverage â and now the administration says that wonât be required.
You can see why: If the lowest-cost family plan (again, two adults and three kids) is to run a whopping $20,000, and if the employeeâs contribution is limited to $3,800, the employerâs tab would be $16,200 â adding about $7.40 an hour to the cost of that employee. Wisely, the IRS announced on Jan. 30 that employers wonât have to pay for dependents.
But the Congressional Budget Officeâs much-cited prediction that ObamaCare would leave only 30 million people uninsured by 2016 was based on the assumption that kids would be covered by employers. At the very least, employers insuring their workers for the first time to avoid the penalty are unlikely to do that.
So how will the kids be covered? They wonât. The IRS shocked the lawâs advocates by announcing that the insurance exchanges wonât provide subsidies for a child whose parent is covered at work.
Nor will these parents be penalized for not insuring their children â the IRS will kindly consider the kids exempt from the mandate.
cont on link..
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/wheels_coming_off_QPojjZX0Bd8BU80hDpcKZP
The Affordable Care Act is looking less and less affordable.
Start with the IRSâs new estimate for what the cheapest family plan will cost by 2016: $20,000 a year to cover two adults and three kids. And that will only cover 60 percent of medical bills, so add hefty out-of-pocket costs, too.
The next surprise is for parents who thought their kids would be covered by an employer. Sloppy wording in the law left that unclear until last week, when the IRS ruled that kids wonât be covered.
Starting in 2014, the law will require employers with 50 or more full-time employees to offer coverage or pay a penalty. âAffordableâ coverage, that is â meaning the employee canât be told to contribute more than 9.5 percent of his salary. For example, a worker earning $40,000 a year cannot be required to pay more than $3.800.
But the law doesnât specifically mandate family coverage â and now the administration says that wonât be required.
You can see why: If the lowest-cost family plan (again, two adults and three kids) is to run a whopping $20,000, and if the employeeâs contribution is limited to $3,800, the employerâs tab would be $16,200 â adding about $7.40 an hour to the cost of that employee. Wisely, the IRS announced on Jan. 30 that employers wonât have to pay for dependents.
But the Congressional Budget Officeâs much-cited prediction that ObamaCare would leave only 30 million people uninsured by 2016 was based on the assumption that kids would be covered by employers. At the very least, employers insuring their workers for the first time to avoid the penalty are unlikely to do that.
So how will the kids be covered? They wonât. The IRS shocked the lawâs advocates by announcing that the insurance exchanges wonât provide subsidies for a child whose parent is covered at work.
Nor will these parents be penalized for not insuring their children â the IRS will kindly consider the kids exempt from the mandate.
cont on link..
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/wheels_coming_off_QPojjZX0Bd8BU80hDpcKZP