Blog post from Dr. Jack

What’s soaring this summer may not just be the temperature!

As the summer temperature rises, so too are insurance premiums for the GOP proposed health care plans. Proposed changes would reduce requirements on health plans and change the structure of financial subsidies that the current law provides to low and moderate income Americans. According to the Congressional Budget Office, older and lower income Americans would see their insurance premiums rise significantly under the GOP plans.

“For example, under the House bill, a 64-year-old consumer with an annual income of $26,500 would see the cost of an average silver-level plan increase more than ninefold, jumping from $1,700 a year to $16,100 a year, according to the budget office.”

Under the Affordable Care Act, people using the healthcare marketplace and making less than $48,000 receive subsidies to help them buy insurance, the amount is tied to the person’s income and cost of insurance in the person’s area. These subsidies are automatically applied to the person’s monthly insurance bills.

Under the senate bill, subsidies are also tied to a person’s income, though it would stop at 350% of poverty level, compared with 400% under the current law. However, a new formula for setting the amount of subsidies would tie them to the cost of less comprehensive health plans. In other words, provides significant less health services than under the Affordable Care Act.