Factoid ‘o the week
by digby
I think that overlooking this single fact is at the center of the administration’s failure to properly sell Obamacare:
The study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that people who already have individual coverage, like the Hodges, are less likely to qualify for the tax credits that will make coverage more affordable through the health law’s insurance markets.
According to the findings, 73 percent of potential customers who are uninsured will be eligible for tax credits that limit their premiums to a fixed percentage of their income. However, fewer than 40 percent of those who currently have individual health insurance will qualify.
That means that 60% of people who bought the crappy private insurance we’ve been offered up to now are not qualifying for subsidies and will actually be paying more for insurance. What that adds up to is the fact that those are the people who are subsidizing the uninsured. On some level, I think they instinctively understand this and it’s why they are rebelling against the arguments that are being made.
For instance, I’m watching defenders of the ACA on television news all day using the standard talking point that sacrifice is necessary to cover the uninsured — and scoffing at those who are complaining. But everyone isn’t sacrificing, are they? In fact, most people who work at news networks and newspapers are probably covered by their employers. And those who work for the government certainly are. These sacrifices are not being widely shared among the population at all — they are only being asked of those who are already in the private insurance market. (Yes, tax dollars are being spent for the subsidies, but nobody who isn’t making over $250,000 a year is going to feel that “sacrifice”. And yes, we’ve all been indirectly subsidizing the uninsured’s emergency room use. But it’s not quite the same as having your monthly bills increase is it?)
Obviously, I’m not defending the millionaires who are shedding crocodile tears over their higher premiums, and I’m not saying that everyone who is complaining is justified. (See my previous post.) Clearly, money to cover the uninsured had to come from somewhere. But the administration made a mistake in not anticipating that many of those who are going to be paying more would feel that it’s unfair they are the ones being ostentatiously lectured about how they must sacrifice for the greater good. I’m happy about the ACA and will end up with a better policy for about the same money, so on balance it is a plus for me. And I am a bleeding heart liberal who wants desperately for poor people to have coverage. But even I have to admit that the excessive moralizing about sacrifice from people who have generous employer paid health insurance grates on me a bit.
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