A View of Obamacare from Raleigh, NC: Live from **La Farine** The Roasterie LXIII: December 30, 2013
J. Peder Zane: Obamacare makes takers out of the middle class:
The cost of my Obamacare policy cannot be measured in dollars and cents but in dignity. It is transforming me from a contributing member of society into a welfare recipient; its corrosive system of subsidy incentives discourages me from working harder. My familiarity with the law has only bred contempt. Now that I see what’s in it, I don’t just hope but pray that it is overturned, replaced with reforms that actually improve the health care system.
My Obamacare story began in September. I liked my Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy covering the five members of my healthy family. I wasn’t crazy about the $440 monthly premium and $10,000 deductible, but our out-of-pocket expenses were only about $1,200 a year. Because of the tax savings of using a health savings account, we were paying less than when I had employer insurance. We didn’t have “free contraception,” but we made do....
According to the website, I will be paying $452 a month for a policy with a $6,000 deductible and a few favorable co-pay rates. That rate includes a subsidy of $10,140 a year, which far exceeds what I expect to pay in federal income taxes during 2014. Instead of giving money to the government, I am now a taker. This sickens me. Because my subsidy is based on income, I may think twice about earning more because my effective tax rate on each extra dollar will be about 50 percent. This saddens me....
Obamacare replaces a flawed system with one that is far worse. It gouges the affluent and turns the middle-class into wards of the state. This is Obama’s legacy, and it is a tragedy.
