More affordable health care?! Oh, yes. That's right. Obamacare is working.
Despite many G-O-TEA attempts to sabotage Obamacare, it's so far succeeding in delivering better care to more people at lower costs. And despite all the G-O-TEA doomsday talk, much of the country (including Nevada!) is on track to implement the insurance exchanges that are the core of the health care reform law this fall. So what's there to be afraid of?
President Obama himself spoke up earlier today.
And now, he has a new federal Health & Human Services report to back him up.
The new report shows that so far, proposed premiums in the health insurance exchanges are coming in lower than expected in HHS's and CBO's projections. So far, data is available for 11 states, and in those state the lowest cost "silver" plan, essentially the median plan, is 18 percent cheaper than HHS predicted. That cost is averaged at $321 for that plan, compared with a current cost of $450 a month for comparable plans. For many, $321 is still going to be a stretch, but that's the cost before the federal tax subsidy is applied. Individuals making about $15,000 to $45,000 and families up to about $94,000 for a family of four, will have that cost offset by the tax subsidy.
The bottom line: It appears that the "rate shock" critics of Obamacare have been counting on to give them ammunition isn't going to materialize for people who are purchasing their insurance through the exchanges.
Well, to be fair, we are seeing "rate shock". It's just that some are shocked to see such low rates materialize! Apparently, this is what happens when laws are made for the public good. The public benefits.
Sure, there are still many more challenges ahead for the Affordable Care Act. But so far, it looks to be working. So why are Congressional Republicans (including Nevada's) so hellbent on wasting even more of the public’s time and money on futile efforts to repeal health care reform?
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