Obamacare attacks the liberty and financial viability of the traditional family, and nothing demonstrates this more clearly than the system of federal subsidies it puts in place starting next year.
This system rewards people who don’t marry, don’t work and don’t take care of their own children. It punishes people who do marry, work hard and take care of their own children.
Under Obamacare, the federal government orders all Americans to have health insurance. Households with adjusted gross incomes of less than 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) will go on government-run Medicaid, and households with adjusted gross incomes between 100 percent and 400 percent of FPL can qualify for a subsidy to help them buy their government-mandated health insurance — provided they do not qualify for Medicaid in their state and their employer does not offer them coverage.
Take the hypothetical twin sisters Lucille and Linda, who live across the street from each other and who will buy health insurance on the same state exchange.
They are 50 years old, and their husbands have abandoned and divorced them and their three children. Each earns $47,100 per year, which is 200 percent of FPL for a family of four.
The Kaiser Family Foundation maintains an online “Subsidy Calculator” that “illustrates health insurance premiums and subsidies for people purchasing insurance on their own” in the exchanges.
This calculator estimates a Silver plan for a family of four headed by a single mom like Lucille or Linda would cost $11,140 in annual premiums. But because their income is just 200 percent of FPL, the government will cap the premiums Lucille or Linda would pay at 6.3 percent of their income. Thus, they would each pay $2,967 per year in premiums, and the government would make up the difference by paying $8,172 directly to their insurance companies.
But then Lucille falls in love with 56-year-old Bill. They decide to marry. Bill’s adjusted gross income is $63,300, which is more than 400 percent of FPL for a single person. Before marrying Lucille, Bill bought a Silver plan on the state exchange for what the Kaiser Family Foundation calculator estimates was $7,041.