Jonathan Cohn sums up the how the Senate health care reform bill will do for people. Basically it helps lower your risk if you get sick and need health care. Most people will save money with this bill. Costs would only be higher if you currently don’t buy insurance and don’t get sick.
So what happens if reform does pass? For starters–and this is no small thing–the insurance company will have to sell you a policy, no matter what pre-existing conditions your family brings to the table. And you’ll know from the start that the policy will cover basic services because the government will be defining a basic benefits package. That package is going to include a broader range of services than the typical non-group policy would without reform. So when your doctor recommends a standard test or procedure, you won’t have to panic it falls into some hidden policy loophole.
But what will that coverage cost? The basic premium is roughly the same, according to Gruber’s calculations that he extrapolated from official Congressional Budget Office estimates. But that $50,000 income means you’re also eligible for federal subsidies. Large federal subsidies. In fact, the government will cover about two-thirds of the price, so that you’re left owing just $3,600.
Now, you could end up spending a lot more on medical care if you or someone in your family gets sick. But here, too, the federal government would step in to help. Under the reforms, the government would limit out-of-pocket spending to around $6,000 per year. Combined with the premium, you’re on the hook for around $10,000 total, or about a fifth of your income.
That’s not pocket change, for sure. A family making $50,000 will have to make serious sacrifices to find $10,000. But it’s better–light years better–than finding $25,000 or more. It’s potentially the difference between having to give up your home, get an extra job or declare bankruptcy. Just knowing the bills that could come will be the difference between getting care you need–and skipping it, at grave risk to your health.
Ultimately the bill will be judged on whether it helps people and whether insurance is affordable. My judgment on whether to support the bill was whether more people would be able to get health care. In my judgement that is the ultimate outcome.