NY Times: Many See I.R.S. Fines as More Affordable Than Insurance
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/04/us/many-see-irs-fines-as-more-affordable-than-insurance.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&_r=0snip
WASHINGTON — Clint Murphy let the deadline for getting health insurance by the new year pass without a second thought.
Mr. Murphy, an engineer in Sulphur Springs, Tex., estimates that under the Affordable Care Act, he will face a fine of $1,800 for going uninsured in 2016. But in his view, paying that penalty is worth it if he can avoid buying an insurance policy that costs $2,900 or more. All he has to do is stay healthy.
“I don’t see the logic behind that, and I’m just not going to do it,” said Mr. Murphy, 45, who became uninsured in April after leaving a job with health benefits to pursue contract work. “The fine is still going to be cheaper.”
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Really, who can be surprised with this clusterf**k when it was the brainchild of conservative Republicans.
= new reply since forum marked as read
sites are over there.
You might find that you fit in better there.
So my SO who makes just enough to not qualify for any rate reductions including getting on Medicaid made the choice to accept the penalty. She would have paid a thousand plus a month for a Bronze plan that had such high deductibles that given her income are ludicrous.
Instead she pays the fine and then pays out of pocket for services, vaccinations, etc. at Planned Parenthood and the SWNM center here with student NMD's.
Is she a 'selfish fuckstain'? So she should have no relief lifetime bankruptcy and garnishment?
You know I would love to see you offline come say that shit to her face. You know why? Because she would knock your sorry selfish libertarian ass in to next week.
people that cannot afford the 900.00 for the insurance.
No, he would be essentially paying 900 for the right to pay another 2-2500 for the deductible, and then, just maybe, if he had any more medical needs that year, use the policy. Oh, and let's not forget that in many cases, even with the subsidy, a person has to pay $160+ each month for the policy. And even after that, there are, in some instances, co-pays!
I figured it out when ACA first came out and thought I must be crazy or that I misunderstood it. Another friend of mine, a lawyer, read his options over carefully and came to the same conclusion that I came to.
But oh no, not at DU. Everyone was raving about how wonderful ACA was. I really could not understand the disconnect.
Fortunately, I lucked into a way to get a reasonable policy through another source. My lawyer friend got a job for NY State that pays his insurance. We're both OK, but no thanks to the ACA.
Cher
I can't afford the premiums... which if I am to pay the fine, it would be essentially the same as one month of the premium for the cheapest plan available. The premium for the cheapest plan I can get is 15% greater than my monthly living expenses and being unemployed for up to 6 months a year, since there is usually only work in the summer, would mean that I can have health ins. as long as I become homeless and don't eat or anything... including maintain interweb connection to look for work.
For those not impoverished constantly, you have no idea what choices we working poor have, insurance or food, shelter and bare necessities... hell of a choice just to keep the self righteous from getting all in a tizzy about how we have to survive. I had to have medical attention a couple months ago, I paid out of pocket so... who paid for my medical needs? I did, without insurance which would have cost a minimum of 6 times what I paid out of pocket.
I know a healthy person who chose to chance it and went without health insurance for around 20 years. This person just qualified for Medicare, having turned 65. Prior to getting Medicare, the most he ever spent for medical bills in one year was around $1000.
Here's what he told me: he figured out what he would have paid in for health insurance for that 20 years, as he regularly priced out policies. It would have cost him $248,400.
So that is $248,400 that went into savings and investments, and because he invested it instead of spending it on health insurance, he will now have quite a bit more than the $248,400 for his retirement. I know he did spend some of it on a long-term care insurance policy, which will at least insure he has care in his old age.
One thing that has to be factored into this situation is that in NJ, the hospitals can't turn you away, as is the case in the rest of the states. NJ is the only state in the union that says they have to give you care. The program in NJ is called "charity care" and I don't know much more than that about it. Public radio did a show on it, and that's how I learned it's the only state in the union with this type of program.
So you can call a person like this a scumbag for not paying into the system and raising everyone's rates, but on the other hand, is he really? He took a chance and used the money for his possible needs in old age. Had he not done that, the state might have to take care of his long-term care needs.
Cher
