Will Low Income Actually Sign Up?

[Yagents]

Low income and even middle income are just getting by in today's economy. Shelter, food, gas, utilities, education, etc come first and there is rarely any money left over. For someone in this situation, currently uninsured paying $0/mo now, I just don't see them committing to even a subsidized plan for $50-100/mo. (especially, the young and healthy)

Who agrees?

Will New Health Insurance Be Too Expensive for America's Lowest-Paid? - WSJ.com

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

When I sold, the hardest plan to sell was MCHIP. This was free health insurance for children and pregnant women under a certain income.

About 90% of the time, when I took them to the MCHIP site to go over how to apply for their free health insurance, I "caught them at the wrong time."

 

[Ann H]

Arizona has had a tax credit for many years. I have signed up quite a number of small businesses for it. But for individuals, it is based on family income (250% of FPL or less). I have signed up a total of zero families for it. None of them qualified, or else were not interested. To be fair, you had to be uninsured for 6 months to qualify for either the IFP or group credit, so that eliminates some. The credit for IFP is $1000 annually for self-only, $500 annually for each dependent child, or $3,000 annually for families. For groups it's the same except it's just self-only or family tiers. Quite a few businesses sign up. Like I said, I have signed up a whopping zero number of families, even though the credit has been around for years.
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I just called the head of the department that processes these AZ health insurance premium tax credits, and she said that the participation of individuals and families is extremely low compared to groups. She also said she is not sure why low-income families tend to not sign up, but she wonders if it's the fact that the net premium is still too high for them, and if they have gone uninsured for 6 months due to cost, then they will continue to go uninsured...

 

[russelltw]

Simply put, you can not legislate personal responsibility. I think many will not be able to "afford" the rate even with the subsidy. Now, if they cancel their $100 cable/sat bill, $60 smart phone bill, $50 internet bill, get rid of that $500 car payment...they could afford it, but whose counting.

SIDE NOTE: An example I was given in a carrier presentation was $28k income, single, 250% FPL, premium after subsidy is still estimated at $200/month. That's almost 10% of the gross monthly income...Have a hard time seeing that happen. Add in family coverage???

 

[DS4]

Will Low Income Actually Sign Up?

Probably not.
Obama's entire house of cards is built on the foundation that the young & healthy will enroll. Not just the sick.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Most won't (the youngins), especially here in Ohio. It's too easy to go to the hospital and get rated and get whatever healthcare you need than sign up for a plan. Its a type of mentality, half of the youngins would do fine in Europe.
I just wonder about states like Ohio who have passed amendment legislation that forbids the coercion of having to get health insurance or pay a tax...nullification sure is gaining steam with other issues (marijuana, hemp, gun control etc).

 

[AllenChicago]

Most won't (the youngins), especially here in Ohio. It's too easy to go to the hospital and get rated and get whatever healthcare you need than sign up for a plan. Its a type of mentality, half of the youngins would do fine in Europe.

And it's not just the youngin's. The something-for-nothing mentality is rampant amongst the lowest income workers. Last year, and just 3 months ago, seperate health insurance clients told me that their uninsured employees from Mexico received operations (1 Gallbladder / 1 Broke His Hip) without having to pay one red cent. The home-cleaning lady with the Gallbladder removal isn't here legally, so she couldn't qualify for Obamacare insurance..or any other. But she still has free lifetime medical care. Something's not right with that picture. What to do about it???

 

[RayNY]

I see the big hurdle being that unless they are Medicaid eligible, they have to pay something. In order to pay, you need a bank account. People who live on the bottom end of the income scale just plain don't have one. They aren't going to open one, start using it, and face the associated fees, penalties, and charges just to get health insurance they don't see the value of. Those $5 ATM fees and $35 overdraft/ISF fees hurt a lot when you only make $500 a week, especially when it's in addition to your new insurance premium.

 

[leevena]

Simply put, you can not legislate personal responsibility. I think many will not be able to "afford" the rate even with the subsidy. Now, if they cancel their $100 cable/sat bill, $60 smart phone bill, $50 internet bill, get rid of that $500 car payment...they could afford it, but whose counting.

SIDE NOTE: An example I was given in a carrier presentation was $28k income, single, 250% FPL, premium after subsidy is still estimated at $200/month. That's almost 10% of the gross monthly income...Have a hard time seeing that happen. Add in family coverage???

I used to believe the key to this question was the actual cost, but as I think about it, I am not so sure anymore. In this example above the penalty is $23 per month. Why in the world would a person without insurance now go ahead and pay $200 (or some similar cost) per month? I doubt it very much.

Even if the costs of insurance was closer to the $23 per month penalty, I doubt the person would buy it. Since the penalty is factored into the year end tax bill and not physicially paid each month, most people would not see the pain and as such would just pass up the insurance.

 

[VolAgent]

I used to believe the key to this question was the actual cost, but as I think about it, I am not so sure anymore. In this example above the penalty is $23 per month. Why in the world would a person without insurance now go ahead and pay $200 (or some similar cost) per month? I doubt it very much.

Even if the costs of insurance was closer to the $23 per month penalty, I doubt the person would buy it. Since the penalty is factored into the year end tax bill and not physicially paid each month, most people would not see the pain and as such would just pass up the insurance.

Yep, just a smaller tax refund next year. And don't worry, I'm sure Congress will shortly take the teeth out of the penalty for the EITC crowd.