Try not to have a stroke as you read about the latest Obamacare disaster… Tucked away, deep inside the voluminous monstrosity that is the Affordable Care Act (ACA), is a provision that is estimated to leave more than 1.93 million Americans unable to afford healthcare insurance. Known as the “family glitch,” this glaring example of the inefficiencies of the new healthcare bill affects families where one individual is offered healthcare by his employer, but the rest of his family is not. Because of the way in which the IRS interprets the law, other family members are automatically ineligible to receive subsidies for insurance… even when the family’s income is below the federal mandated poverty line. How’s that for a seamless switch? According to the American Action Forum, this makes it “practically impossible” for families in this situation to obtain affordable health care coverage. Oh, let your ears harken back to the timeless admonishments of Nancy Pelosi who said, “We must pass the bill so we can see what’s inside it.” Well, now we’re finding out. In a newly released report, AAF says, “The ‘Family Glitch,’ as it has become known, is an odd and particularly problematic side-effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Since several provisions of the law are rather ambiguous, they unfortunately combine to create a perfect storm where obtaining affordable health insurance is practically impossible.” While any move away from government funded healthcare is a good move, the fact that such a gaping hole could be left in the federally mandated healthcare act signals why the Obama administration has been anything but good to the average American. Obamacare has provisions set in place so those who earn below 138 percent of the poverty line qualify for Medicaid coverage and Americans who make up to 400 percent more than the poverty line can receive subsidies to help support their efforts to obtain health coverage. But that provision does not apply to families who are offered employer-sponsored insurance (ESI). That’s right, even if it’s only offered to one member of the family. As the AAF mentions: This provision of the law lacks clarity on the point of whether or not the coverage offered must be family coverage, or whether individual coverage is sufficient… The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), through rule making, has interpreted the statute as only requiring an employer to offer individual coverage, and pegged affordability at 9.5 percent of the employee’s household income. The glitch occurs when one (or both) spouses are offered affordable individual ESI under the IRS definition, but family coverage is either not offered or is unaffordable. Spouses and children of an employee offered ESI could be unable to afford the employer plan, but because it is offered to one family member, the rest are made ineligible for subsidies in the Exchanges. Even worse is this glitch could end up leaving 2.28 million children without coverage if a contemporary program Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) isn’t renewed. The AAF notes that the oversight in the ACA might cause families to turn down higher-paying jobs, or even separate or divorce just to keep their current coverage. Thanks for nothing, President Obama.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 04:56:51 +0000
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