Healthcare

With news around cuts in Medicaid it is time to review just what Obamacare did as compared to original Medicaid. Medicaid was originally for dependent children and their parents, the disabled and the elderly. Obamacare expanded to include single adults without children. Obamacare is free for low-income people and that includes about 5 million individuals. This includes individuals with an income of under $15,000 per year. Higher incomes will get some cost sharing with incomes up to $39,000. For example, the popular silver plan without cost sharing might have an annual deductible of $3,000 but with cost sharing could be as low as $700. This means that most people are paying about $3,000 out of pocket each year and many choose not to enroll. Since there are no preexisting conditions many prefer to wait until they need medical help. There is some risk here because enrollment starts on the first day of the month after applying. There are 7 million able bodied men between the ages of 25 and 54 who are not seeking work. These men would be prime examples of people not signing up until they need help. Obamacare also allows children under the age of 26 to remain on their parents’ health plan. A shift to national healthcare would simplify the system as there would be no monthly cost and no annual deductible. The cost would be paid by the federal government from income tax collections. Since the rich pay most of the income tax they would pay most of the cost of healthcare. The top ten percent of wage earners pay 75% of taxes so they would pay 75% of the healthcare cost. This is one way to reduce the wealth and income gap. It would end the private healthcare system in the US and all consumers would be subject to the rules laid down by the government. This is somewhat the situation today with Medicare.