More Problems with Obamacare

                Problems with the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, continues to surface.  The law was billed as blessing to Americans, especially the needy.  The law is a monster that is destroying America whether or not it was meant to do so.  Instead of being compassionate toward those Americans who had no health insurance and affordable to those of low or modest incomes, Obamacare is proving to be anything but compassionate and affordable.

                Chris Jacobs at The Heritage Foundation suggested two ways that Obamacare traps people in poverty.  Throughout history, Americans have known that there were two very important and well proven ways to become successful in America.  The first way is to work hard for success; the second way is to get married and to stay married. 

                Jacobs claims that Obamacare “includes disincentives for individuals to marry and for Americans of low and modest incomes to work.  Discouraging work and marriage will only perpetuate poverty and income inequality, not alleviate them.”  Here are her explanations.

                “Discouraging Work:  The way Obamacare calculates federal premium subsidies and cost-sharing subsidies includes several `cliffs.’  A person might qualify for a hefty subsidy at his current income, but if he gets a raise and makes a little more, that Obamacare subsidy disappears.  At these cliffs, individuals and families will actually benefit more by working less because additional earnings could cause them to lose thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies.

                “Families facing these kinds of poverty traps may ask the obvious questions:  If I will lose so much in government benefits by earning additional income, why work?

                “Rather than encouraging hard work, initiative, and entrepreneurship.  Obamacare instead undermines these essential American values.

                “Discouraging Marriage:  Obamacare contains not one, but two penalties on marriage – one for families with low and moderate incomes and another for families with higher incomes.  By continuing failed policies that undermine the institution of marriage, Obamacare will accelerate a root cause of income inequality in the United States.

                “Here’s an example.  A 50-year-old non-smoker making $35,000 per year would qualify for a sizable insurance subsidy, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s insurance subsidy calculator.  The individual’s premium would be capped at 9.5 percent of income, resulting in an insurance subsidy of $2,065 paid by the federal government.

                “However, if this 50-year-old is married to another 50-year-old who also makes $35,000 per year, the couple would receive no insurance subsidy at all.  This couple would incur a marriage penalty of $4,130 in one year – equal to the $2,065 that each individual could have received if they were not married.

                “As Urban Institute fellow Gene Steuerle has said:  `Our tax and welfare system thus favors those who consider marriage an option – to be avoided when there are penalties and engaged when there are bonuses.  The losers tend to be those who consider marriage to be sacred.’”

                If our leaders in government were interested in strengthening our nation, they would encourage Americans to continue these traditional values.  The fact that they pass laws that undermine these values says to me that they are not interested in a strong America.  By discouraging “work, initiative, and entrepreneurship,” the government is essentially guaranteeing that those particular Americans will never achieve the American Dream.  By discouraging marriage, the government is destroying stability in families and thus destroying the stability of our society.