According to the 2011 IRS tables of salary and wage income brackets there are 44 million people that earn under $25,000 a year. Out of that there are 15 million that earn under $15,000. There are only 16 million out of 97 million that earn between $50,000 and $75,000 a year. Most of them are married in this group. There are 14 million that earn between $30,000 and $40,000 a year and there are 11 million that earn $40,000 to $50,000 a year in income. The number of tax returns reported by age bracket for 2011 were: Under 18 - 2 million - most earned under $5,000 in income Ages 18-26 - 22 million 7 million in this group were able to stay on parents insurance Ages 26-35 - 25 million 3.3 million in this group earned between 50,000 and 75,000 Ages 35-45 - 25 million 3.9 million in this group earned between 50,000 and 75,000 Ages 45-55 - 26 million - 4.1 million in this group earned between 50,000 and 75,000 Ages 55-65 - 21 million 3.7 million in this group earned between 50,000 and 75,000 65 and older 21 million 3.0 million in this group earned between 50,000 and 75,000 The majority in every age group earned under 50,000 while the numbers in higher income brackets were well below the million mark in the numbers that earn more. If you review the number of babies born each year which is between 3 and 4 million, the ten year age brackets are between 30 and 40 million people that should be in the workforce. This does not include all of immigrants that gain citizenship and are employed in the number of tax returns. There are a lot people and there are not enough jobs to employ them. This should be the major concern for our government officials. However, the ACA does not include people that do not have jobs in the mandate. You cant qualify for Medicaid if you have no income unless you have a medical condition that is costly. Without subsidies with the average single premium is between 5,000 and 8,000 a year is not affordable based on the income of the general population. Even with subsidies, it still not affordable for those that earn under 50,000 a year. Considering the fact that people in higher income brackets already have coverage through their employer that earn 50,000 or more in income, there is a substantial number left in each age bracket that earn well under 50,000 a year. So based on this information, can American taxpayers afford the new mandate?
However, the ACA does not include people that do not have jobs in the mandate. You can’t qualify for Medicaid if you have no income unless you have a medical condition that is costly. Income of $0 is below the income levels why wouldn't they qualify for Medicaid, do you have proof to back this up?
To answer the question of whether Americans can afford insurance premiums under the "AFFORDABLE CARE ACT" here is my response. If you already have insurance through your Employer you are either going to lose that coverage entirely and be forced to bear 100% of the cost, be required to pay more toward the premium cost, or lose other benefits you currently receive such sick days, vacation days or contributions to your retirement plan. Both small and large employers are going to see their premiums increase by up to 50%(more than they ever have in a short period of time) and they will have little plan option that afford them the same coverage, deductible and out-of-pocket costs their current insurance plan has without seeing the premium rise to a point that it becomes unaffordable. Since all must carry coverage for benefits they will never need, Maternity, newborn, pediatric dental and others(all which dramatically increase premiums); many individuals, family, small groups, large groups; will not be able to afford premiums. So then what? If you are at the "poverty level" defined by the IRS, you MAY qualify for some amount of premium assistance but if you are not; you will have to "charge" your premiums, take out a loan to pay your premiums, go without insurance(since your "affordable insurance" was cancelled) and pay the "fine"/"tax" or possibly if you have a catastrophic illness, go bankrupt. I posted that Obamacare would raise premiums, destroy the "health care" system and increase revenue for Insurance Companies, BEFORE, the law was passed; now it is coming true.
Healthcare plan enrollment surges in some states after rocky rollout Healthcare insurance enrollment increases in some states that run their own exchanges, boosting hopes of Obamacare backers. http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obamacare-increase-20131119,0,6410053,full.story#axzz2lILVz3zZ WASHINGTON Despite the disastrous rollout of the federal government's healthcare website, enrollment is surging in many states as tens of thousands of consumers sign up for insurance plans made available by President Obama's health law. A number of states that use their own systems, including California, are on track to hit enrollment targets for 2014 because of a sharp increase in November, according to state officials. "What we are seeing is incredible momentum," said Peter Lee, director of Covered California, the nation's largest state insurance marketplace, which accounted for a third of all enrollments nationally in October. California which enrolled about 31,000 people in health plans last month nearly doubled that in the first two weeks of this month. Several other states, including Connecticut and Kentucky, are outpacing their enrollment estimates, even as states that depend on the federal website lag far behind. In Minnesota, enrollment in the second half of October ran at triple the rate of the first half, officials said. Washington state is also on track to easily exceed its October enrollment figure, officials said. PHOTOS: 2013's memorable political moments The growing enrollment in those states is a rare bit of good news for backers of the Affordable Care Act and suggests that the serious problems with the law's rollout may not be fatal, despite critics' renewed calls for repeal. But the trend also emphasizes how widely experience with the new law varies by location. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia, covering about one-third of the nation's population, are operating their own Obamacare marketplaces and have their own enrollment websites. The others, including most states with Republican-led governments, have declined to do so, making their residents dependent on the malfunctioning federal site. In addition to better-functioning websites, many states that are running their own marketplaces also have significantly more resources to help consumers sign up for coverage. Many of the states that have declined to run their own websites have also refused to expand the joint federal-state Medicaid program, as the new law allows. Overall enrollment totals in states using the federal site were dismal in October, according to figures released last week by the Health and Human Services Department. For example, just 2,991 people successfully enrolled in health plans in Texas in October. That was fewer enrollees than in Kentucky, which has a sixth as many residents. Altogether, 106,000 people enrolled in health coverage nationwide last month, a figure far below administration projections. Nearly half of those who enrolled in October were in California or New York. Both states have continued to show growth in their numbers. In New York, enrollment has continued at roughly October's rate and stands at 24,509, according to state officials. PHOTOS: The battle over Obamacare Even with the growing consumer interest in health insurance in many states, the new marketplaces created by the health law need millions more enrollees. The Obama administration aims to get 7 million consumers into health insurance plans in 2014 to ensure that the marketplaces have enough people to be sustainable. With fixes still being made to the federal website, it is unclear whether enrollment will catch up everywhere. White House officials repeatedly have said they hope to have the healthcare.gov website working for the "vast majority" of users by the end of this month. But spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that the administration also is working with insurance companies to allow consumers to bypass the troubled site and enroll directly with insurers. In California, Lee said Monday that the federal troubles have made enrollment more difficult even for states that use their own sites. State officials believe enrollment through Covered California has been depressed by media reports of problems with the federal site, Lee told reporters during a call organized by the consumer group Families USA. Covered California has had to change its marketing strategy to remind Californians that the state website is different from healthcare.gov. But while politicians in Washington, D.C., have been fixated on the website problems, many state officials are feeling considerably more optimistic about the law's long-term prospects. "We're going to ride all this stuff out," said Kevin Counihan, chief executive of Access Health CT, Connecticut's marketplace. Counihan, who worked for the marketplace that Massachusetts created after its trailblazing 2006 reforms, said he had been expecting even lower enrollment. Connecticut saw growing enrollment in November: 3,201 people signed up for health plans in the first two weeks of this month, nearing the 4,371 total for all of October. Enrollment has been even stronger in many Medicaid programs. About half the states have agreed to expand their Medicaid programs to most low-income residents in 2014. Under the law, the federal government picks up nearly the entire cost of that expansion for the first several years. Nationwide, nearly 400,000 new people qualified for Medicaid coverage in October, according to federal data. In Oregon, whose marketplace has been one of the few trouble-plagued state sites, the state reported that it had already signed up 70,000 new people for Medicaid. Officials nationwide cautioned that drawing firm conclusions about enrollment patterns was difficult at this early stage. "It's hard to know what normal looks like yet," said Bethany Frey, a spokeswoman for Washington state's marketplace, known as Washington Healthplanfinder. Many state officials say they think the biggest enrollment surge will take place after Thanksgiving. Consumers face a Dec. 15 deadline to sign up if coverage is to be effective Jan. 1. The open enrollment period under the law lasts until March 31, giving consumers an additional three months to select health plans in 2014. Experts also expect more people to sign up for coverage through 2014 as their circumstances change in ways that make them eligible to enroll outside of the regular enrollment period. "We are in the beginning of the first inning of a nine-inning game," Lee said. noam.levey@latimes.com More Americans endorse Obamacare!!!!
