• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Let’s finish the job.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickle?”

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

You cannot shame the shameless.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

T R E 4 5 O N

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Everybody saw this coming.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

Mobile Menu

  • Winnable House Races
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Balloon Juice 2023 Pet Calendar (coming soon)
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • War in Ukraine
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • 2021-22 Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Anderson On Health Insurance / AHCA impact in North Carolina

AHCA impact in North Carolina

by David Anderson|  March 8, 20176:39 am| 20 Comments

This post is in: Anderson On Health Insurance, Nobody could have predicted

FacebookTweetEmail

North Carolina is a high cost state for health insurance.  Under the Affordable Care Act, people who receive subsidies on Healthcare.gov are shielded from price increases because the subsidy is tied to the cost of the second least expensive Silver plan on Exchange and the individual pays a fixed amount dependent on their income.  The personal contribution amount is fixed based on the person’s income defined by the Federal Poverty Level.  That means a 21 year old who is subsidized will pay the same post-subsidy premium to the insurer as a 64 year old with the same income.

The American Health Care Act (AHCA) bill that was released on Monday night changes the subsidy formula.  Subsidies are no longer tied to the cost of insurance or the individual’s income.  Instead any qualified individual who makes less than $75,000 per year receives a fixed subsidy amount determined by age.  A 21 year old receives a $2,000 subsidy.  A 64 year old receives a $4,000 subsidy.  In the ACA premiums are allowed to be three times higher for a 64 year old compared to a 21 year old.  In the proposed AHCA, premiums are allowed to be five times as high for a 64 year old than for a 21 year old.

Since the subsidy grows far slower than the premium, this means the 64 year old, for a given deductible, will pay far more for their coverage.  I’ve used the 2017 Exchange data to see how much a 60 year old in each county in North Carolina would have to pay after their subsidy every month to buy the least expensive Bronze plan currently offered.  Bronze plans tend to have deductibles of at least $6,500 with out of pocket maximums of $7,150. The circles are larger for counties with more enrollment as of 1/31/17.
NC least expensive Bronze 2017

60 year old residents in Nash County are the best off.  They would only pay $439 per month after the newly revised subsidy is applied. Currently, someone earning $20,000 a year in Nash County would pay nothing for the least expensive Bronze plan and only $31 a month for a low deductible Silver plan.

60 year old residents in Bladen, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Richmond, Robeson and Scotland counties are the worst off by this change.  They would pay $754 for a Bronze plan under the AHCA fixed age based subsidies.  Under the ACA, someone earning $20,000 a year would pay the same as a Nash county resident.  Someone who is age 60 and earning $40,000 a year would pay $110 a month for a Bronze plan and $283 per month for a Silver plan under the current ACA income and plan cost based subsidies.

High cost states with a large number of older residents will be significantly worse off under fixed age based subsidies.

There is one caveat. I’ve intentionally underestimated the costs for all counties.  I used the current 3:1 age band for premiums instead of the 5:1 premiums as that change is unlikely to survive in the Senate under current legislative rules.  If 5:1 premiums are used, all figures should increase by approximately 20 to 30%

Data: Enrollment data from Charles Gaba  sourced by Kaiser Family Foundation

Pricing data from CMS

Subsidy data from the legislative text

 

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « A Day Without Women?
Next Post: Trumpcare / Republicare and the Olds »

Reader Interactions

20Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    March 8, 2017 at 7:06 am

    I take it that, because there would no longer be minimum health benefits, the ban on discrimination for preexisting conditions doesn’t mean much.

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    March 8, 2017 at 7:12 am

    Shorter Anderson: WASF.

  3. 3.

    PaulW

    March 8, 2017 at 7:23 am

    I live in Florida. Elderly Central. How bad would this get here?

  4. 4.

    rikyrah

    March 8, 2017 at 7:30 am

    Keep bringing it.
    Must shine the light on this horror.
    Thanks Mayhew.

  5. 5.

    debbie

    March 8, 2017 at 7:34 am

    Does the act indicate who will pay when uninsured people seek care? Will it revert to the old system where hospitals/doctors jack up everyone else’s costs to pay for the people without insurance?

  6. 6.

    Sab

    March 8, 2017 at 7:58 am

    Thanks for the post. I am going to call my supposedly moderate senator when his office opens at nine.

  7. 7.

    Chris

    March 8, 2017 at 8:22 am

    I am in one of those super high cost counties…50 y.o. male…860/month for a silver from those nice people at bcbs. Mighty white of em I gotta say….

  8. 8.

    bupalos

    March 8, 2017 at 8:23 am

    Am I right in thinking that the income levels mentioned are per individual or are they per household?

  9. 9.

    WereBear

    March 8, 2017 at 8:28 am

    Is this the Age Tax AARP is talking about?

  10. 10.

    bupalos

    March 8, 2017 at 8:39 am

    Just so I don’t seem like such an idiot, I can see it says “an individual earning” but I guess the question would be how it works for a household filing jointly. Is the total income just divided by the number of people? If so, this thing just looks immoral on a bunch of levels. There could be couples with a couple low-earning young adult children on their plan making 250k getting $10,000 in subsidies while people making 25k are getting kicked off medicaid and sent back to the ER?

  11. 11.

    dr. bloor

    March 8, 2017 at 8:42 am

    @Chris: In a just universe, you’d be able to forward your premium bill to Phillip Morris.

  12. 12.

    David Anderson

    March 8, 2017 at 8:52 am

    @PaulW: Ranges from 184 to $721 post subsidy at 3:1 age band so add 20% depending on the county. This is the ultimate in county level inequities.

  13. 13.

    David Anderson

    March 8, 2017 at 8:52 am

    @bupalos: Household/tax filing unit

  14. 14.

    David Anderson

    March 8, 2017 at 8:54 am

    @WereBear: Yes, this is the age tax that the AARP is complaining about with the talking squirrel and lumber jack.

    @bupalos: Income limit for a married couple filing jointly is doubled for the subsidy before it phases out.

    However premiums will also double so 2 60 year olds in Sullivan County would be paying 17,000+ a year for a policy with a $14,000 annual deductible

  15. 15.

    Peale

    March 8, 2017 at 8:57 am

    @David Anderson: so 34,000 a year with the subsidy?

  16. 16.

    guachi

    March 8, 2017 at 9:03 am

    That $754 amount is crazy.That amounts to 45% of the individual’s income.At a 5:1 ratio that would increase to 59% of income.

  17. 17.

    MomSense

    March 8, 2017 at 9:08 am

    This is madness.

  18. 18.

    David Anderson

    March 8, 2017 at 9:38 am

    @MomSense: and this is why we can win this fight.

  19. 19.

    StringOnAStick

    March 8, 2017 at 12:06 pm

    The mango Moron is trying the keep the stink off himself by not being too closely involved, which means it will be even easier to hang this on the rethug MOC’s necks. This hideous thing is all theirs, every last bit. Make them own it.

  20. 20.

    Juju

    March 8, 2017 at 1:12 pm

    @Chris: Holy cow!! I’m in a high cost county as well, but your policy is more expensive than mine, and you’re younger than I am. My silver policy is $725 a month and I’m in my mid 50s.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • Spanky on Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Exotic Orchids (Sep 24, 2023 @ 6:42am)
  • lowtechcyclist on Open Thread: Exciting News — Andy Kim Is Contesting Menedez’s Seat (Sep 24, 2023 @ 6:24am)
  • satby on Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Exotic Orchids (Sep 24, 2023 @ 6:16am)
  • Betty Cracker on Open Thread: Exciting News — Andy Kim Is Contesting Menedez’s Seat (Sep 24, 2023 @ 6:11am)
  • satby on Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Exotic Orchids (Sep 24, 2023 @ 6:09am)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
We All Need A Little Kindness
What Has Biden Done for You Lately?

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
TaMara
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Join the Fight!

Join the Fight Signup Form
All Join the Fight Posts

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Cole & Friends Learn Español

Introductory Post
Cole & Friends Learn Español

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!