I was late to the
Obamacare debate. I just got an email on January 8th saying that I was no
longer eligible for Medicaid (yes, Medicaid) and that I had to buy my own
health insurance by January 15th in order to be covered by February
1.
I had seven days
to make a decision.
I went to see a
so-called “insurance advisor” at the clinic I generally go to as my primary
care provider (because I usually don’t have health insurance and they offer a
sliding scale fee structure). The insurance advisor plugged in the income for
my temp job into the New York State of Health website and, according to the
website, I was entitled to $287 per month in subsidies.
But that figure
was only based on my income through April. If I earned any income after April
(which I would have to do in order to, you know, continue eating and paying my
bills), I would not be entitled to those subsidies and would, in fact, have to pay
them back.
Unfortunately,
Obamacare only provides subsidies if you make less than $45,960/year1.
Now, $45,960 may
be a large sum of money in East Buttfuck, Arkansas, but if you’re making
$45,960 in New York City, you’re barely paying your bills.
According to a
recent New York Times article, in order
to be considered middle class in Manhattan, one needs to make between $80,000
and $235,0002.
Unfortunately,
the median income in New York City is $50,7113.
In other words,
in order to benefit from Obamacare, you have to be truly poor.
Now, we’re used
to poor people being written off and
treated like shit. What’s new with Obamacare is that middle class people are being written off and treated like
shit.
And, unlike poor
people, middle class people vote.
Ironically, it’s because of Obamacare that I’m in my current predicament.
Since, under Obamacare, companies are only required to offer health insurance
to “full time” (i.e., not temporary) employees, I haven’t been able to find a job
that lasts more than a few months for the last two years! (Some companies have also been reducing their
workforce to under 50 full time employees in order to avoid having to provide
health insurance.)
Companies don’t
care if you have health insurance. Why should they? They’re in business to make
money. As far as they’re concerned, health insurance is your problem. That’s why it should be the government’s
job to provide health insurance (i.e., through a single payer system), like it
is in almost every other country in the civilized world.
So now, not only
do most Republicans want to repeal Obamacare, but many middle class Democrats
like myself want to see it repealed (or, at least, improved).
But, contrary to
what Republicans have been saying, Obamacare is not a “government takeover” of healthcare. It’s a government capitulation to the healthcare industry.
According to a
recent story on 60 Minutes, the health
care industry got everything they wanted in Obamcare.5 And why
shouldn’t they? The insurance industry spent $2 billion on lobbying the
government last year.6 (The pharmaceutical industry spent another $3
billion.)
The only people
who didn’t get what they wanted were the
public.
Obamacare is
creating an entire class of middle class criminals whose only crime is not
having enough money to buy their own health insurance.
They’re either
going to have to get rid of it altogether or increase subsidies for the middle
class.
Otherwise, my
only hope of getting health insurance is finding a “full time” job that
provides it.
But first, I have
to find a “full time” job.
2 comments:
Hey, Gay Curmudgeon! Long time, no see.
Anyway: Unlike you, I was early to the debate. Lost some friends, gained some enemies that didn't even start out as friends. And all because I failed to see the need for such a massive takeover of the health care system/capitulation to the health care industry-- call it what you will, the end result it the same. You and I are screwed. And all because a relatively small group of people had no coverage. (Yes, it was small. They only told you it was large in order to depict it as a "crisis.") For my trouble, I got called a "shut-in," "unhinged" and other things that are far worse. And now our premiums are through the roof (or, to put it another way, we don't have coverage)... great how the ACA has worked out, isn't it?
As for the insurance companies spending so much: If your industry was about to be crushed, destroyed or regulated or all three, I would think you'd spend every last nickel you had to either prevent that from happening or at least have a say in just how you'd be destroyed. (Mind you, I have little sympathy for either them or the greedy fucks who sat across the table from them. But if the dildoes in D.C. had just found other ways to "solve" the "crisis," we wouldn't be in this mess.)
Post a Comment