Article Review: ‘Affordable’ Care: $1 Pay Hike Costs Middle-Class Family $9,355 Hike in Premiums

I know there are a lot of confusing articles out there right now and this was written with a shock factor to get you to read the article, and for my client….it worked!   He read it, and he contacted me to be his “BS Meter” as he put it.

Here is an example to further explain why this article is saying what it is say:

Ok, so let’s say it is a family of 4.

400% of the federal poverty level is around $95,000 for a family of four in 2014.  If they are making $95,000, then with their subsidy aka discount they will get in the Exchange / Marketplace they cannot spend more than 9.5% of $95,000 on healthcare.  Which translates to $9025 annually = $752 per month (just as a barometer, most family coverage in NY starts at around $1200 per month for a very watered down plan).

If the person makes $95,001, then they won’t get that discount and they’d be paying the full premium, so in my example $1200 x 12 = $14,400 annually, which translates into $5375 more annually if you make $1 more.

I’m not sure where they came up with that magic number of $9035 but it’s really not that far off if you start looking at richer benefit plans!