As reported, the House of Republicans has approved the budget for ACA (Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare) for six months. The legislation passed through the Senate by an 81-18 vote, and the House followed suit with a tally of 285-144. It favored with 87 Republican votes and unanimously among the Democrats, despite sporadic funding cuts.
Usually young adults are apathetic to the cares of Washington. Realistically that’s just the first disclaimer for lack of awareness and insight on politics. One of the first groups of people affected most by the ACA is the young adults between 18 and 22.
“Beginning in 2014, college students, like others, will have to abide by the ‘individual mandate’ in the ACA, which requires most people to obtain insurance or pay a tax penalty. That’s where the exchanges could come in for students who aren’t on their parents’ plan and don’t want to purchase insurance through their school,” said Katherine Jacobsen in the Contributor.
At first, these penalties are not much.
“In 2014, the fine to remain uninsured is $95 per person (up to a family maximum of $285, or 1 percent of family income, whichever is greater). But the penalty will increase more than seven-fold in the next two years, with the fine running as much as $695 per person by 2016. The family maximum would be as high as $2,085 (or 2.5 percent of family income, whichever is greater),” Jacobsen said.
The penalty is meant to balance medical care for individuals who do not have health insurance. You can be exempt from the new required health care bill by few and limited means: living illegally in the US, being incarcerated, being a member of a recognized Indian tribe, having an income that is deemed too low and a few others. The new federal requirement overrides state provisions, which means that any exemptions not listed under the Affordable Care Act are not included.
Another way that college students will be affected is that their premiums will go up due to a provision in Obamacare that says that a senior citizen’s premium can’t be more than two and a half times a young person’s. In other words, young adults (under 26) will provide the foundation for this bill in order to support the rest of health-insured citizens.
Take premiums for example, the difference between a 24-year-old premium and a 64-year-old premium is about eight times. So if the 24-year-old is paying $50, the 64-year-old is paying about $400. A provision in Obamacare now demands the difference between them can only be two and a half times, as opposed to eight times. The 64-year-old premium won’t go down; instead the 24-year-old premium will rise.
“Essentially, the youth of the nation will be footing the health care bill of the senior population since senior citizens use health care so much more than young people. This provision, which the government knew would be viewed negatively, doesn’t kick in until 2014, after the election,” said a guest writer on the MediBid blog.
At this point in time, Americans can only accept the lesson learned; be aware of the representatives in office and informed of their future intentions to either enforce or repeal this legislation. This basic grasp on matters in Washington will be necessary for the upcoming elections in 2014.
I suspect that many of the young who have signed up are getting Medicaid, or have an expensive, chronic health problem and could not get health coverage previously. In otherwords, they are not off-setting the costs of others, but rather driving up the costs for everyone.
Those who find it easy, altruistic, and morally responsible to give away other people’s money usually feel quite differently about giving away their own.