1. People who earn a little more than 400% FPL shouldn't have to choose between spending a quarter of their income on health insurance or having to buy substandard junk coverage.
Congress could eliminate the 400% FPL cap on subsidy eligibility. Bear with me here...
Congress could eliminate the 400% FPL cap on subsidy eligibility. Bear with me here...
2. I'm not talking about giving subsidies to millionaires. Next year, people who earn between 300 & 400% FPL will pay 9.86% of their income for the benchmark plan. But Congress could allow that same % of income to apply to anyone earning 300% FPL or more.
3. A family of 4 earning $105,000 would likely qualify for subsidies under that structure. But a family of 4 earning $500,000 would not. At least not anytime soon.
4. The thing is, back in 2009/2010 it seemed unfathomable that a family of 4 earning $105,000 would be paying much more than 9.86% of their income for the benchmark plan, even though they'd be paying full price.
5. But we know that unsubsidized premiums have increased sharply (thanks, Trump Admin & GOP for all you've done to facilitate that: healthinsurance.org/blog/2017/05/1… )
6. As a result, there are some areas of the country where unsubsidized coverage is completely unaffordable for people who earn a little more than 400% FPL. People who earn 1000% FPL? They're still OK (ie, not spending more than 10% of income on premiums).
7. If you're a little over 400% FPL, there are steps you can take to get yourself into the subsidy-eligible range: healthinsurance.org/faqs/with-my-i…
8. But we need to do more, at the federal level, to address this. It isn't right that a person earning $48k pays less than 10% of her income for the benchmark plan, while a person earning $49k might pay 25% of her income for the same plan.
9. Some corrections and clarifications... In tweet 2, I'm referring to people who are *earning* millions (assets aren't counted).
And as @xpostfactoid pointed out, many older people earning 1000% FPL are already paying more than 10% of their income for the benchmark plan.
And as @xpostfactoid pointed out, many older people earning 1000% FPL are already paying more than 10% of their income for the benchmark plan.
