RickWhite
Well-Known Member
Bill Summary: Affordable Health Care for America Act
House Democrats on Thursday unveiled the Affordable Health Care for America Act. The 1,990-page legislation is a combination of bills passed by three House committees earlier this year. Key tenets include:
New insurance industry regulations would prohibit insurers from rejecting customers based on pre-existing conditions.
How this will work is a mystery - clearly, we can't have people not buying insurance until the get cancer. That would bankrupt the insurance companies.
The regulations would also prohibit annual or lifetime caps on benefits.
· Insurance exchange | The bill would set up a new national health insurance exchange, a marketplace where individuals who do not have employer-sponsored insurance would be able to shop for plans. The exchange would also be open to small businesses, and more would be able to join each year. Companies with 25 or fewer employees would be able to join in 2013, companies with 50 or fewer employees could join in 2014, and companies with fewer than 100 employees could join by 2015.
Now this I agree with. All that group vs individual rate stuff is a scam.
· Public insurance option | The health insurance exchange would include a government-run public plan. Federal officials would negotiate payment rates with doctors and hospitals that accept the plan.
· Employer mandate | Employers with annual payrolls greater than $500,000 would be required to either provide health insurance for their employees, or contribute 8 percent of their payroll to a federal fund to help subsidize employees who purchase coverage through the exchange.
WTF! So teeny tiny business' with a $500k (gross?) annual payroll would either have to offer insurance or pay an additional $40k in taxes. Guess who's paycheck that is coming out of - not mine!
Time to kick some people off the payroll!
Employers with payrolls less than $500,000 would be exempt from the mandate.
Well that's nice.
· Individual mandate | Individuals will be required to purchase health insurance, or pay a penalty fee.
I doubt the courts will allow this.
Some people would be eligible to apply for a hardship waiver.
What, no debtor's prisons?
· Medicaid expansion | Medicaid would be expanded to cover everyone whose income is below 150 percent of the poverty line, or about $33,000 per year for a family of four.
Everyone who makes under $16,245 will be covered courtesy of the tax payer.
· Affordability subsidies | People who earn between 150 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level would be eligible for subsidies on a sliding scale to purchase insurance through the exchange. Those subsidies would ensure that people who make 150 percent of the poverty level would not have to pay more than 3 percent of their income in premiums, while those who make 400 percent of the poverty level could pay up to 12 percent of their income in premiums.
The poverty line for a single person is $10,830. 400% of that is $43k. 12% is just under $5,200 per year or around $99 a week.
The guy who makes $16,245 pays a maximum of $9.37 per week. But if he makes $1 less he is covered by Medicade.
· Out-of-pocket expenses caps | New regulations would cap yearly out-of-pocket medical expenses for individuals at $5,000 and families at $10,000. Those who earn less than 400 percent of the poverty level would have lower caps, on a sliding scale.
A $5k out of pocket exposure is crap insurance.
· Tax surcharge | The bill would help pay for itself by imposing a 5.4 percent tax surcharge on individuals earning more than $500,000 per year and families earning more than $1 million.
That comes to $27k per year stolen from a guy who makes $500K in addition to the $35% they already pay. That comes to over $200K in taxes. Wow!
Shouldn't a guy who pays $200,000 in taxes get special privileges like special parking spaces and have a VIP card that puts him to the front of the line everywhere he goes? Maybe we all ought to wear badges so we know who is who. If I pay for your health care, shouldn't you carry my groceries or something?
Now there is a plan. We can have a rank like in the military - it's only fair. Call it the symbiotic tax plan.
· End-of-life counseling | The bill retains a controversial provision that allows Medicare to pay for voluntary end-of-life counseling.
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How this will work is a mystery - clearly, we can't have people not buying insurance until the get cancer. That would bankrupt the insurance companies.
The regulations would also prohibit annual or lifetime caps on benefits.
· Insurance exchange | The bill would set up a new national health insurance exchange, a marketplace where individuals who do not have employer-sponsored insurance would be able to shop for plans. The exchange would also be open to small businesses, and more would be able to join each year. Companies with 25 or fewer employees would be able to join in 2013, companies with 50 or fewer employees could join in 2014, and companies with fewer than 100 employees could join by 2015.
Now this I agree with. All that group vs individual rate stuff is a scam.
· Public insurance option | The health insurance exchange would include a government-run public plan. Federal officials would negotiate payment rates with doctors and hospitals that accept the plan.
· Employer mandate | Employers with annual payrolls greater than $500,000 would be required to either provide health insurance for their employees, or contribute 8 percent of their payroll to a federal fund to help subsidize employees who purchase coverage through the exchange.
WTF! So teeny tiny business' with a $500k (gross?) annual payroll would either have to offer insurance or pay an additional $40k in taxes. Guess who's paycheck that is coming out of - not mine!
Time to kick some people off the payroll!
Employers with payrolls less than $500,000 would be exempt from the mandate.
Well that's nice.
· Individual mandate | Individuals will be required to purchase health insurance, or pay a penalty fee.
I doubt the courts will allow this.
Some people would be eligible to apply for a hardship waiver.
What, no debtor's prisons?
· Medicaid expansion | Medicaid would be expanded to cover everyone whose income is below 150 percent of the poverty line, or about $33,000 per year for a family of four.
Everyone who makes under $16,245 will be covered courtesy of the tax payer.
· Affordability subsidies | People who earn between 150 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level would be eligible for subsidies on a sliding scale to purchase insurance through the exchange. Those subsidies would ensure that people who make 150 percent of the poverty level would not have to pay more than 3 percent of their income in premiums, while those who make 400 percent of the poverty level could pay up to 12 percent of their income in premiums.
The poverty line for a single person is $10,830. 400% of that is $43k. 12% is just under $5,200 per year or around $99 a week.
The guy who makes $16,245 pays a maximum of $9.37 per week. But if he makes $1 less he is covered by Medicade.
· Out-of-pocket expenses caps | New regulations would cap yearly out-of-pocket medical expenses for individuals at $5,000 and families at $10,000. Those who earn less than 400 percent of the poverty level would have lower caps, on a sliding scale.
A $5k out of pocket exposure is crap insurance.
· Tax surcharge | The bill would help pay for itself by imposing a 5.4 percent tax surcharge on individuals earning more than $500,000 per year and families earning more than $1 million.
That comes to $27k per year stolen from a guy who makes $500K in addition to the $35% they already pay. That comes to over $200K in taxes. Wow!
Shouldn't a guy who pays $200,000 in taxes get special privileges like special parking spaces and have a VIP card that puts him to the front of the line everywhere he goes? Maybe we all ought to wear badges so we know who is who. If I pay for your health care, shouldn't you carry my groceries or something?
Now there is a plan. We can have a rank like in the military - it's only fair. Call it the symbiotic tax plan.
· End-of-life counseling | The bill retains a controversial provision that allows Medicare to pay for voluntary end-of-life counseling.
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We'll see what happens next. 
