For many Californians, the Affordable Care Act isn’t exactly affordable. googleoff: all
You’re not alone if you can’t afford your health insurance obligations, whether you’re struggling to pay your monthly premium or facing thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.googleoff: all
“There are days when I can’t sleep, thinking ‘How am I going to do this?’” says Maria Chavez, a Whittier resident who pays $625 a month for a subsidized Covered California plan that covers herself, her husband and one of her children.googleoff: all
Chavez is an example of how the cost of health insurance can still be ruinous despite the advent of the “Affordable” Care Act. Today, I’ll address the strain of front-end costs: premiums. googleoff: all
In my next column I’ll tackle the back end, including those intimidating deductibles that must be paid before insurance actually kicks in. googleoff: all
Q. I have cut my family budget, canceled cable and only buy shoes for my kids when they really need them. But I still can’t afford my premium. What should I do?googleoff: all
A. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey of 4,555 Californians found that 44 percent of Covered California plan holders say it’s “somewhat” or “very” difficult to pay their share of insurance premiums even though the vast majority of them receive tax credits that subsidize their costs.googleoff: all
Individuals and families that make between 138 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level can qualify for Covered California’s sliding-scale tax credits.googleoff: all
For instance, a family of three making between $27,700 and $80,360 would qualify.googleoff: all
Nicole Carr, a Sacramento-area insurance agent, says 5 to 10 percent of her clients canceled their health plans between last year and this year because they couldn’t afford their premiums. They did so even though Obamacare requires most people to have health insurance or face a tax penalty. googleoff: all
“They realized that the tax penalty was going to be less than paying the premium – even with the subsidy,” she says. googleoff: all
Chavez, 46, says she can’t cancel her plan because her husband is sick. Chavez receives $121 in monthly tax credits, leaving a premium of $625. She’s trying to modify her home loan to make up the difference. googleoff: all
“Just thinking about it, I stress out. I have a mortgage. I have two kids in college,” she says. “This is more expensive than I expected, but I have to find a way to make it work.”googleoff: all
Of the 88 percent of Covered California plan holders who receive tax credits, about three-quarters pay less than $150 per month on their premiums after the credits are applied, says James Scullary of Covered California. googleoff: all
But he acknowledges that “health care costs are still a challenge for many Covered California consumers.”googleoff: all
One problem, Scullary and others note, is that tax credits are based on a federal standard that doesn’t account for “California’s high cost of housing, transportation and food,” he says.