What is "Affordable" ?

     March 23, 2010...a day that will live in infamy.  No, it wasn’t a second bombing of Pearl Harbor, it was the bombing of the American health care system with the 20 mega ton bomb known as the Affordable Health Care Act.  Let me say from the outset that I am no fan of this monolith, but I am learning like you, so I promise to only criticize, analyze, and  regurgitize (?) the facts.  When possible I will draw them straight from the document itself (http://housedocs.house.gov/energycommerce/ppacacon.pdf) or other reliable sources like The Enquirer and late night TV.  Seriously, I do take this journey with a healthy dose of reality as this is the law of the land and will affect all of us for decades to come.  It is possibly the most sweeping social reform to come out of Washington in years, and like it or not, parts, if not all, are here for the long haul.  So let’s take a tumble in the health hay and learn together what in the heck we are dealing with.

First things first, the name “Affordable Care Act” has yet to ring true.  According to AON Hewitt,
     “While health care costs are projected to increase at a lower rate in 2012 compared to 2011, the average cost per employee will surpass the $10,000 mark for the first time next year, according to Aon Hewitt, the global human resource consulting and outsourcing business of Aon Corporation.
     According to Aon Hewitt 's analysis, the 2012 average health care premium rate increase will be 7.0 percent.  However, the average total health care premium per employee for large companies is projected to be $10,475 in 2012, up from $9,792 in 2011, and $9,111 in 2010.  The amount employees will be asked to contribute toward this premium cost in 2012 is $2,306 (or 22 percent of the total health care premium).  Meanwhile, average employee out-of-pocket costs, such as copayments, coinsurance and deductibles, are expected to be $2,275 in 2012, compared to $2,007 in 2011, and $1,691 in 2010.” (http://www.prnewswire.coml)

To summarize: “According to a study by the independent Kaiser Family Foundation, health insurance premiums rose 9% for families in 2011 to a level that now exceeds  $15,000 on average per year— the biggest annual spike upward since 2004.”
(Tate, Nick. Obama Care Survival Guide)

So, I think we can agree that for you and me (a small business owner) costs are going up...not down.  Our company premiums for employes have increased as well as necessitating an increase in the deductibles.  Some will say that the costs won’t go down until all the provisions are in place (2015 or so).  That is theory; all I have to go on now is more out of my pocket.  I suggest asking your employer to give you a total premium cost and your out of pocket costs for insurance over the past year, then keep a running tally.  We will discover the truth together.