The New York Times is reporting that the Senate bill will result in much higher premiums.
One example is a family of 4 earning $54,000 in 2016. They would be elligible for a $10,100 subsidy under the new system, but if they buy into the most popular federal plan then the monthly premiums would be more than $20,000 a year. After the subsidy that would leave the family paying $825 a month for coverage.
In another example, the NYT looks at the Medicare buy in. They are reporting that it will cost about $7,600 a year for a single person, or $633 a month.
If these numbers are true then this healthcare bill needs to fail, because that’s exactly what it is – a failure. If it doesn’t then Congress must look at doing a drastic raise of the minimum wage as well as a big increase in the federal poverty levels.
The one thing I have noticed lacking from information coming out is the issue of cost containment. What is in the new bill to reduce the extremely high costs Americans suffer for health care? That’s something I would really like to see.