Is This Fair?
Health reform on Capitol Hill:
Focus on Jane, a primary breadwinner making $48,000 (in 2016) to support her family of four. If Jane is offered insurance by her employer that meets the test, she must accept it or pay a fine. That means Jane ends up paying for the entire cost of, say, a $14,100 policy, according to some economists. They say she pays the premiums out of pocket and the remainder indirectly because employers offer reduced paychecks to offset the cost of their share of health insurance.
Now, meet Julie, who also makes $48,000 and is not offered insurance at her job. Julie heads to the newly created exchange to purchase the same policy. But it costs her only $5,300. The rest – about $9,000 – comes from federal subsidies.
Fair?
Full editorial by Douglas Holtz-Eakin in The Boston Globe.
Answer to the question: NO. It’s not fair.
This is why the whole thing is going to fall apart. People will find a way to reorganize their lives so that they qualify for the subsidies. How they are going to do it has been explained in several of John Goodman’s Health Alerts.
I assume the question is rhetorical. Facism is never fair.
It’s absurd.
Fair health reform is an oxymoron.