How Obamacare is Affecting Our Family

Millions of Americans have lost their health insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.  Since October 1, 2013, over four (4) million have lost coverage.  This does not include employers that are part of the large group insurance pools or self-insured employers.  Most of these have yet to decide how they will handle the ACA’s ever-widening stranglehold on the insurance industry.

 

Like many Americans, our family is insured through an employer, particularly my wife Lisa’s company.  This week, we received a letter (email) from Lisa’s corporate headquarters informing us that they will continue to provide insurance to employees through the year 2014.  They explicitly state that they have made no decision regarding future employee health insurance coverage beyond the next year or two. 

 

In fact, Lisa’s employer clearly states:  “[I]t is your obligation to purchase health insurance. . . .  Contrary to popular belief, employers are not required to provide healthcare insurance. . . .  Further, no employer is required to provide insurance to spouses or pay for coverage for dependents.”  The letter goes on to explain that Americans have three paths to obtaining health insurance:  Employer-Sponsored plans, Healthcare Insurance Market Exchanges (ACA controlled), and Government-Sponsored plans like Medicare or Medicaid.  In this discussion, the email further emphasizes that “employers may offer new ways to enroll in healthcare coverage, for example, through the private Healthcare Insurance Marketplace Exchange.  Also, more and more employers are holding employees more accountable for their lifestyle choices.” 

 

The not-so-subtle threats do not stop there.  “Although the Company has made a concerted effort to control our medical benefits costs, we continue to face rising costs and need to address them.”  They note that changes in the healthcare market, costs have risen significantly in 2013 alone.  The company’s projected estimates for 2013 healthcare expenses fell short by $8 million, a 13% shortfall.  In addition, 2014 healthcare costs will add another $8 million to the costs.  This means that for Lisa’s company alone, healthcare costs will have increased over $20 million since the beginning of 2012.  That’s a 36%+ increase in just two years.  From what I can gather, employers across the country are facing the same problem.

 

But how does the ACA affect my family directly?  The letter from Lisa’s company gives us some clues.  First, our insurance premiums are going up nearly $400.  The only reason it is not going up further is because Lisa’s company has chosen to help offset some of the increased premium costs by covering a portion of the increase.  Part of the $400 is the $63 “re-insurance fee” imposed on all insurers by Obamacare.  The rest is due to the effect the ACA is having upon the insurance market. 

 

In order to keep our monthly insurance premiums from going up too drastically, Lisa’s employer has elected to increase our “Out of Pocket” (OP) maximum by $3,000.  Because of Lisa’s cancer, we reach our Out of Pocket maximum every year. Even with the increased OP maximum, next year we will meet the new OP maximum as well.  That means, for us, our healthcare costs will increase next year by nearly $4,000. 

 

These figures do not include the myriad of new taxes that we will pay next year due to the Affordable Care Act.  Fortunately, we do not plan to sell our home in 2014.  That would increase our taxes by over $15,000.  So, think about it.  We are just one family.  Obamacare will cost us thousands of dollars next year alone.  There are millions of Americans who, like us, will be paying thousands more next year because of the ACA.  Millions are losing their healthcare coverage already, forcing many of them into more expensive, government controlled plans.  I expect that millions more in the next few years will also be dumped by their employers and private insurers.  And as a result, they will likewise be forced into insurance plans controlled by the federal government.  If we had to move today from Lisa’s company sponsored plan into a comparable insurance policy through the federal government’s ACA-controlled “Healthcare Insurance Market Exchange,” our premiums would increase 400%.   The ACA may help many poor, uninsured and underinsured Americans, but it is also financially crippling many other Americans.  Is it right to harm millions of Americans, even if it means other Americans benefit?  We could have accomplished the same goal without this devastating, poorly conceived law.  It certainly isn’t fair to us.