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Obamacare is facing a backlash. 6M Americans, or roughly 2% of the current population, are going...

  • Wednesday, September 19, 2012, 7:06 PM ET
    Obamacare is facing a backlash. 6M Americans, or roughly 2% of the current population, are going to wind up paying a penalty for failing to have health insurance when the impact of the 2010 health-care overhaul law is felt in 2016. That's more than previously projected, according to the CBO. 85% of the increase stems from changes in baseline projections since April 2010. The other 15% is due to the recent Supreme Court decision that upholds the law, but tells states they won’t be required to beef up their Medicaid programs.
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This news story has 54 comments:

  • Obamacare is right for 98% of all Americans.
    19 Sep 2012, 07:17 PM Reply Like
  • Even though over 70% don't want it.... nice of you to make that assessment.
    19 Sep 2012, 08:12 PM Reply Like
  • and our current system was great for 85%. Should we screw over 85% to get coverage for 98% while making the other 2% pay a penalty for something they can't afford?
    19 Sep 2012, 09:07 PM Reply Like
  • are you sure they are Americans or claim to be one???
    19 Sep 2012, 07:19 PM Reply Like
  • all we need to do is check how it actually worked out for Mitt in Mass.
    19 Sep 2012, 07:20 PM Reply Like
  • The public in Mass. seems to like it. How did it work out for Mitt?
    19 Sep 2012, 07:23 PM Reply Like
  • @Hender...good point
    19 Sep 2012, 07:27 PM Reply Like
  • Why does this matter ?
    20 Sep 2012, 09:03 AM Reply Like
  • Mitt's proudest accomplishment as governor was health care reform...the model for Affordable Healthcare Act.
    20 Sep 2012, 10:18 AM Reply Like
  • How many of you actually know what Obamacare actually means ? Its a 200 page document.
    19 Sep 2012, 07:32 PM Reply Like
  • Assume you meant to say 2000....actually it was 961 page, but we get your drift
    19 Sep 2012, 07:51 PM Reply Like
  • How do you expect us to know that 200 page document when half the democrats who voted for this pile probably didn't get to page 50
    19 Sep 2012, 09:08 PM Reply Like
  • Ithought it was 1200 pages?
    20 Sep 2012, 02:51 AM Reply Like
  • Actually HSS has 31,000 new pages and there coordinating thousands more pages from other agencies. The original pages were an outline.. Your all clueless ! All of your on the left and right.

    Folks with money will still get great care. Now 85% of the everyday people will suffer in 3 to 5 years ..

    There are non political surveys of doctors .. doctors and 90% of them are sick and worried about HCA. Many who have private offices must close for the safety of the Hospitals malpractice insurance.. 60% of private doctors will not take Medicaid/ Medicare patients and soon the extra surge will make hospital emergency rooms look like Greek street protests. Oh yeah !

    Why don't you older folks just ask your doctors. They will set you straight ! Fast ! 961 pages..You must be the Jim Carry guy in liar liar.. 962 pages ha ha ha ha ha ha
    20 Sep 2012, 04:42 PM Reply Like
  • You do understand "states rights" - right?
    21 Sep 2012, 04:56 PM Reply Like
  • My Obamacare true story. Since 2009 my health care costs have increased 140% for a family of four in good health. Insurance carrier, after first 35% increase, said it was due to future health care changes. After second increase it was due to increased health care costs. Obama care hasn't even taken hold and I'm already paying thousands for a few trips to the Dr. every year. Not a good system and it won't be successful as long as for profit insurance carriers with no maximum profit limits are allowed to bill govt whatever they feel the price should be. In the meantime the uninsured have no penalty or cost for using the emergency room for every scratch and runny nose.
    19 Sep 2012, 08:42 PM Reply Like
  • Reform is not going to be easy...the affordable health care act tried to reduce cost by imposing 80/20 rule for cost attributed directly to healthcare vs overhead. Rebate checks mailed out got some news coverage, but the actions of insurance companies has responded by allowing more tests and increased charges from doctors in order to meet the 80/20 stipulation...oh those unintended consequences!
    20 Sep 2012, 07:21 AM Reply Like
  • Exact same thing is going on with my insurance costs.....The insured get to pay for the uninsured thru higher premiums....Many really stupid americans these days!
    20 Sep 2012, 09:37 AM Reply Like
  • ...and that's why the Affordable Healthcare Act requires health insurance or you are penalized. don't understand why people are OK with required car insurance but get all in a lather when we address uninsured in the emergency room
    20 Sep 2012, 10:22 AM Reply Like
  • because you don't need a car to get around?
    20 Sep 2012, 10:27 AM Reply Like
  • Driving a car is an option, as Chop said. No one is "forcing" you to buy a car - like health insurance.
    21 Sep 2012, 04:58 PM Reply Like
  • Because you need a license to drive a car on roads. Nobody needs a license to live. At least not yet.

    When we do we will be Nazi Germany. That is where centralized authoritarianism eventually goes.
    21 Sep 2012, 06:20 PM Reply Like
  • And we are sliding down the slope of which the gradient seems to be increasing.
    21 Sep 2012, 07:05 PM Reply Like
  • Yep, best healthcare in the world.
    19 Sep 2012, 09:48 PM Reply Like
  • hender - it WAS the best healthcare in the world... now its ObamaCare
    19 Sep 2012, 10:07 PM Reply Like
  • Maybe just the most expensive health care in the world. Factually the most expensive of all the OECD nations and no where near the best outcome as measured by lifespans or infant mortality.
    19 Sep 2012, 10:28 PM Reply Like
  • Here’s a rundown of seven ObamaCare tax hikes that affects anyone earning BELOW $250k (I meant for upper middle class and lower).

    No. 1. The Individual Mandate Excise Tax. Starting in 2014, anyone not buying “qualifying” health insurance must pay an income tax surtax. It goes up each year until 2016 and beyond when a couple would pay a tax of the higher of $1,360 or 2.5% of adjusted gross income.

    No. 2. The Over-The-Counter Drugs Trap. Since Jan. 1, 2011, employees with health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts or health reimbursement accounts have no longer been able to use pre-tax funds stashed in these accounts to buy over-the-counter medicines for allergy relief and the like without a doctor’s prescription (there’s an exception for insulin).

    No. 3. The Healthcare Flexible Spending Account Cap. Starting Jan. 1, 2013, employees will face a $2,500 cap on the amount of pre-tax salary deferrals they can make into a healthcare flexible spending account. There is no cap under current law. In light of the new cap, employee benefits groups are lobbying for Congress to modify the use-it-or-lose-it rule that means employees forfeit unused funds in their accounts at the end of the plan year


    No. 4. The Medical Itemized Deduction Hurdle. Starting Jan. 1, 2013, taxpayers who face high medical expenses will only be allowed a deduction for expenses to the extent they exceed 10% of adjusted gross income, up from 7.5% now. Taxpayers 65 and older can still use the old 7.5% threshold through 2016. For how to score the medical expense deduction before 2013, click here.

    No. 5. The Health Savings Account Withdrawal Penalty. Since Jan. 1, 2011, taxpayers who withdraw money from health savings accounts for non-medical expenses before age 65 face a 20% penalty, up from 10% before.

    No. 6. The Indoor Tanning Services Tax. Since July 1, 2010, folks using indoor tanning salons face a new 10% excise tax. This one hasn’t been bringing in as much revenue as anticipated.

    No. 7. The Cadillac Health Insurance Plan Tax. Starting in 2018, there will be a new 40% excise tax on taxpayers who are covered by high-cost health insurance plans (with premiums at or above $10,200 for a single or $27,500 for a family). Insurers or employers who are self-insured will pay the tax, but it is expected to trickle down to mean higher costs for consumers.
    19 Sep 2012, 10:18 PM Reply Like
  • Obamacare contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses.
    Arranged by their respective effective dates, below is the total list of all $500 billion-plus in tax hikes (over the next ten years) in Obamacare, where to find them in the bill, and how much your taxes are scheduled to go up as of today:
    Taxes that took effect in 2010:
    1. Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals (Min$/immediate): $50,000 per hospital if they fail to meet new "community health assessment needs," "financial assistance," and "billing and collection" rules set by HHS. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,961-1,971
    2. Codification of the “economic substance doctrine” (Tax hike of $4.5 billion). This provision allows the IRS to disallow completely-legal tax deductions and other legal tax-minimizing plans just because the IRS deems that the action lacks “substance” and is merely intended to reduce taxes owed. Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 108-113
    3. “Black liquor” tax hike (Tax hike of $23.6 billion). This is a tax increase on a type of bio-fuel. Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 105
    4. Tax on Innovator Drug Companies ($22.2 bil/Jan 2010): $2.3 billion annual tax on the industry imposed relative to share of sales made that year. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,971-1,980
    5. Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tax Hike ($0.4 bil/Jan 2010): The special tax deduction in current law for Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies would only be allowed if 85 percent or more of premium revenues are spent on clinical services. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,004
    6. Tax on Indoor Tanning Services ($2.7 billion/July 1, 2010): New 10 percent excise tax on Americans using indoor tanning salons. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,397-2,399
    Taxes that took effect in 2011:
    7. Medicine Cabinet Tax ($5 bil/Jan 2011): Americans no longer able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin). Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,957-1,959
    8. HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike ($1.4 bil/Jan 2011): Increases additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,959
    Tax that took effect in 2012:
    9. Employer Reporting of Insurance on W-2 (Min$/Jan 2012): Preamble to taxing health benefits on individual tax returns. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,957
    Taxes that take effect in 2013:
    10. Surtax on Investment Income ($123 billion/Jan. 2013): Creation of a new, 3.8 percent surtax on investment income earned in households making at least $250,000 ($200,000 single). This would result in the following top tax rates on investment income: Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 87-93

    Capital Gains
    Dividends
    Other*
    2012
    15%
    15%
    35%
    2013+
    23.8%
    43.4%
    43.4%

    *Other unearned income includes (for surtax purposes) gross income from interest, annuities, royalties, net rents, and passive income in partnerships and Subchapter-S corporations. It does not include municipal bond interest or life insurance proceeds, since those do not add to gross income. It does not include active trade or business income, fair market value sales of ownership in pass-through entities, or distributions from retirement plans. The 3.8% surtax does not apply to non-resident aliens.
    11. Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax ($86.8 bil/Jan 2013): Current law and changes:

    First $200,000
    ($250,000 Married)
    Employer/Employee
    All Remaining Wages
    Employer/Employee
    Current Law
    1.45%/1.45%
    2.9% self-employed
    1.45%/1.45%
    2.9% self-employed
    Obamacare Tax Hike
    1.45%/1.45%
    2.9% self-employed
    1.45%/2.35%
    3.8% self-employed

    Bill: PPACA, Reconciliation Act; Page: 2000-2003; 87-93
    12. Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers ($20 bil/Jan 2013): Medical device manufacturers employ 360,000 people in 6000 plants across the country. This law imposes a new 2.3% excise tax. Exempts items retailing for <$100. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,980-1,986
    13. High Medical Bills Tax ($15.2 bil/Jan 2013): Currently, those facing high medical expenses are allowed a deduction for medical expenses to the extent that those expenses exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI). The new provision imposes a threshold of 10 percent of AGI. Waived for 65+ taxpayers in 2013-2016 only. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,994-1,995
    14. Flexible Spending Account Cap – aka “Special Needs Kids Tax” ($13 bil/Jan 2013): Imposes cap on FSAs of $2500 (now unlimited). Indexed to inflation after 2013. There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,388-2,389
    15. Elimination of tax deduction for employer-provided retirement Rx drug coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D ($4.5 bil/Jan 2013) Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,994
    16. $500,000 Annual Executive Compensation Limit for Health Insurance Executives ($0.6 bil/Jan 2013). Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,995-2,000
    Taxes that take effect in 2014:
    17. Individual Mandate Excise Tax (Jan 2014): Starting in 2014, anyone not buying “qualifying” health insurance must pay an income surtax according to the higher of the following

    1 Adult
    2 Adults
    3+ Adults
    2014
    1% AGI/$95
    1% AGI/$190
    1% AGI/$285
    2015
    2% AGI/$325
    2% AGI/$650
    2% AGI/$975
    2016 +
    2.5% AGI/$695
    2.5% AGI/$1390
    2.5% AGI/$2085

    Exemptions for religious objectors, undocumented immigrants, prisoners, those earning less than the poverty line, members of Indian tribes, and hardship cases (determined by HHS). Bill: PPACA; Page: 317-337
    18. Employer Mandate Tax (Jan 2014): If an employer does not offer health coverage, and at least one employee qualifies for a health tax credit, the employer must pay an additional non-deductible tax of $2000 for all full-time employees. Applies to all employers with 50 or more employees. If any employee actually receives coverage through the exchange, the penalty on the employer for that employee rises to $3000. If the employer requires a waiting period to enroll in coverage of 30-60 days, there is a $400 tax per employee ($600 if the period is 60 days or longer). Bill: PPACA; Page: 345-346
    Combined score of individual and employer mandate tax penalty: $65 billion/10 years
    19. Tax on Health Insurers ($60.1 bil/Jan 2014): Annual tax on the industry imposed relative to health insurance premiums collected that year. Phases in gradually until 2018. Fully-imposed on firms with $50 million in profits. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,986-1,993
    Taxes that take effect in 2018:
    20. Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans ($32 bil/Jan 2018): Starting in 2018, new 40 percent excise tax on “Cadillac” health insurance plans ($10,200 single/$27,500 family). Higher threshold ($11,500 single/$29,450 family) for early retirees and high-risk professions. CPI +1 percentage point indexed. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,941-1,956


    Read more: http://bit.ly/OFTRq5
    19 Sep 2012, 10:19 PM Reply Like
  • Now, vote for Obama who is ruining American society for his vote bank.
    19 Sep 2012, 10:20 PM Reply Like
  • Largest tax increase ever leveled on the middle class, despite what the democrats say. I'm happy the Supreme Court didn't say the government had the power to regulate no activity under the commerce clause, but letting the law hold up as a tax was a bit of a stretch, imo.

    And the religious/over zealous/hateful speech doesn't make anyone sound intelligent, it makes you sound like children.
    19 Sep 2012, 11:20 PM Reply Like
  • Nope, the SCOTUS got it right and truly showed Obama's true colors in trying to hide what this really was
    19 Sep 2012, 11:22 PM Reply Like
  • http://bit.ly/Uz3JBM

    It isn't his lies you need to worry about. It is the truths he tells. He has been clear from his younger days ! A single payer system and private companies can't remain viable. They will all fall! BD
    21 Sep 2012, 03:56 PM Reply Like
  • Middle class and poor are naive people. Obama is exploiting it to fullest by distorting facts and diverting attention away from facts.
    19 Sep 2012, 11:58 PM Reply Like
  • I left the USA in April ! I can pay for the best doctors anywhere in the galaxy ! I ecently needed a transplant ! Went to the best doctors in Israel and am doing great !

    But, I can't in good conscience live is a morally and financially bankrupt country. And, the HCA is going into full steam by a series of Executive Orders by the lunatic who has supporters like troll terry330. Yes, the election is over and yes the half the country who loses will have to feed the winners. ha ha ha ha

    The good news is all private insurers will start going out of business in only 5 years and the best of breed youngsters will not choose medicine. You'll all see years of waiting for medical care if you can't pay !

    Pssst, 140 million of Obama's voters won't have money and will not receive care. Maybe after a decade or so will expire an things might get better ! cool DL
    20 Sep 2012, 02:49 AM Reply Like
  • well said.
    20 Sep 2012, 03:40 AM Reply Like
  • pretty interesting you bring up Israel. Compulsory universal healthcare.. 8% GDP vs 18% in US. Romney applauded Israel for their system. And Romneycare was basis for Obamacare
    20 Sep 2012, 10:31 AM Reply Like
  • DL does not live in Israel from what I understand. He is just cherry picking systems worldwide. He has choice and is using it. He is more free than the people living in the US.

    Israel is a speck next to the size of the US. Centralized programs of any sort in the US and other like size countries have proven to be expensive and inefficient and full of fraud. Large scale government programs eventually collapse but not before abusing the people within their borders by taking away freedoms and choice. Freedoms must be given up to run a welfare state. To fund a welfare state and then want to run the operations of it is massively intrusive into peoples' lives. Look at the latest brouha with the Catholic Church as one example.
    20 Sep 2012, 12:43 PM Reply Like
  • I also believe if the US were well off and we had full employment, controlled our spending priorities, etc - people wouldn't give two hoots about healthcare for the less fortunate. But our systems are broke, our "hope & change" leader set up this class warfare rhetoric that just makes people mad.... it is hard to have a discussion when people are parsing words.
    20 Sep 2012, 01:43 PM Reply Like
  • it is more fundamental than that. FDR fought it to get Soc.Sec; LBJ fought it for Medicare; Hilary fought for healthcare and lost; your grandkids will be up in arms if anybody tries to take away their Affordable Healthcare
    20 Sep 2012, 02:35 PM Reply Like
  • FDR stabbed the Constitution and LBJ turned the dagger. BHO is nailing what's left into the mat. " Affordable Health Care " Is an oxymoron ! Healthcare will ALWAYS be available for those who can pay.. I needed a liver and was 87 ! I got a liver because I had $ 700K.

    I went to the Rabin Medical Center because I could and wanted those doctors.. I have a homes in Costa Rica and as a condition of my citizenship I've been on the national system for 66 years.. It is full coverage now and you just show your card.Just pay a monthly bill...
    I've paid for 66 years and never set foot in a public place !
    I use a Cuban doctor there and he is fantastic.

    Costa Rica is the model Obama wants.....He said it and you can find it on youtube ! With Obama.. it's not the lies he tells you need to worry about.It's the occasional truth !

    The wait times for tico/ticas can be 3 to 5 years for basic elective surgery and transplants .. Ha !

    However, Costa Rica exists manily as a tourist designation. 70% + is medical tourism ! Great doctors and plane loads of American and Canadians an tons from the EU come for all sorts of procedures from teeth to titties ! They get fantastic prices an great care. The catch ! They can pay !

    Be careful what you wish for ! Buena suerte !

    I got the f out ! And, glad I did ! You want him ! Your gonna get him ! 4 more might be all you have.Get up to 22 trillion and prey the bonds don't sell off ! At a 5% yield the world will drop the reserve ! ha ha ha ha DL
    20 Sep 2012, 05:36 PM Reply Like
  • That's because that will be their only option for healthcare..... just like SS and Medicare, and pretty soon for Food Stamps and Welfare and disability....

    The government is massive all private sector options become moot, and we know people need competition / motivation or they stop working. Everyone who actually takes SA seriously knows that.... if you don't think competition / capitalism drives the world why are you on SA - an investment website.
    20 Sep 2012, 08:24 PM Reply Like
  • mike

    You make a very good point. The HCA is really a band aid to a bigger problem. That is we have a lot of people of working age that are not working so are not under an employer program and want the government to step up. Furthermore our large corporations are not competitive globally so they have shrunk their workforces dramatically. And finally small businesses don't have enough money to pay for health care.

    Net of all this is that we as a country are not all that competitive any longer and our standard of living is dropping as a result.
    20 Sep 2012, 08:29 PM Reply Like
  • Yea.....but who will pay for your grandkids healthcare?
    21 Sep 2012, 04:59 PM Reply Like
  • At this rate their great great great great grankids
    21 Sep 2012, 07:24 PM Reply Like
  • I think we are going to have a Waterloo event at some point as the center of gravity of the world economy shifts from the US and moves to Asia most likely. Then we will not be able to hog debt capital because there will be better options.
    22 Sep 2012, 12:10 AM Reply Like
  • The real brouha with Cath Church is that birth control position is from old men that 95% of women don't comply with. It's time we revisit tax exempt status of organized religion.
    22 Sep 2012, 06:26 AM Reply Like
  • Women can go to any church they want. They can form their own. You are an authoritarian. Whether you agree with the CC or not is not the issue. Freedom is the issue.

    Idiots like you will embrace authority from the left but not from the right as if there is a difference. It all ends in the same place.
    22 Sep 2012, 08:31 AM Reply Like
  • a lot of moaning and groaning...how come you guys can't field credible spokesman. W got us in this mess after Clinton got us on good footing. BB was W's guy and kept for continuity. Haven't heard anybody Regret McC/Palin not in Whitehouse. And we have Mitt's train wreck Are better off than four years ago?
    ...of course...look at any chart; they were all going in wrong udirection
    22 Sep 2012, 06:17 AM Reply Like
  • Debt and unemployment. Ugly.

    Next.
    22 Sep 2012, 08:32 AM Reply Like
  • who is you guys ?
    22 Sep 2012, 09:52 AM Reply Like
  • unemployment: 2008 getting worse quickly; now getting better, but too slowly
    debt: let's use Romney term; leverage; but must be addressed just like a family. Get another job (more revenue) and cut unnecessary expenditure

    next
    22 Sep 2012, 02:48 PM Reply Like
  • .,.guys dissin' every word from President and Fed Chair
    22 Sep 2012, 02:51 PM Reply Like
  • I'm not dissin' every word - I'm just saying the strategy for the last 3.5 years has been a failure and when people simply double down on the same policies that never show improvement they need to be fired..... easy peasy.

    BTW We were heading into a recession at the end of Clinton's term - Greenspan was raising rates as energy costs were going up - bonehead move..... The Bush tax cuts in 2001 were used to dampen the effects and they worked... the recession was minimal... no one even talks about it.
    22 Sep 2012, 03:15 PM Reply Like
  • UE is incredibly bad as people have dropped out of the workforce suppressing the real UE rate. If we size the workforce back to prior levels then the UE is double digits. Some estimate up to 18%. Obama is incompetent and people who cannot see it are idiots and the only question is whether it is willful or no.

    Debt is beyond your abilities it appears.

    Beyond next.
    22 Sep 2012, 10:27 PM Reply Like
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