A startling USA Today analysis released on Thursday finds that over half of all counties in the 34 states on the federal Obamacare exchange “lack even a bronze plan that’s affordable by the government’s own definition.”
“The analysis clearly shows how the sticker shock hitting many in the middle class, including the self-employed and early retirees, isn’t just a perception problem,” wrote USA Today‘s Jayne O’Donnell and Paul Overberg. “The lack of counties with affordable plans means many middle-class people will either opt out of insurance or pay too much to buy it.”
USA Today says it examined whether premiums for the cheapest Obamacare offerings–bronze plans–exceeded the federal government’s 8% of household income affordability test for health insurance for a hypothetical 40-year-old couples who make “a little too much for financial assistance.” The paper says that while several of the counties with unaffordable health care are rural, “many others are heavily populated.”
USA Today‘s analysis further confirms the sticker shock numerous media outlets are now reporting and creates a painful irony for the program officially known as the “Affordable Care Act” (ACA). However, former government and insurance official Kip Piper says the fact that Obamacare is proving unaffordable should hardly come as a surprise.
“The ACA was not designed to reduce costs or, the law’s name notwithstanding, to make health insurance coverage affordable for the vast majority of Americans,” Piper told USA Today. “The law uses taxpayer dollars to lower costs for the low-income uninsured but it also increases costs overall and shifts costs within the marketplace.”
Support for the already unpopular Obamacare scheme continues to crater. CNN’s latest poll finds that 62% of Americans now oppose Obamacare and that a record low 35% support President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement.
Obamacare will costs American taxpayers $2.6 trillion over the next 10 years.
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