Tying a couple themes together, the tax bill will mean enormous increases to health insurance companies’ profits.
I’m sure we’ll see this reflected in lower rates.
I think we’ve jumped the shark a bit on tax bill discussion into healthcare (yes, I know the individual mandate repeal is part of it, but based on past health care discussions, that seems like it may warrant a whole different thread).
Yeah, it probably warrants a number of different threads, particularly since things are going to be changing.
Here’s the CNN summary of some provisions of the bill: http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/15/news/economy/gop-tax-plan-details/index.html
Even though we’ll be in a lower tax bracket, we expect this bill to cost us more. The $24000 standard deduction is less than we had in itemized deductions + exemptions, but we’re not likely to be itemizing with the new plan. Also, we expect our individual health insurance premiums to skyrocket. We’ll already be paying almost $17,000 for the two of us in 2018, with a high deductible.
Then we’ll have to be concerned about what Medicare will be when we’re eligible in 2-3 years.
"Even though we’ll be in a lower tax bracket, we expect this bill to cost us more. The $24000 standard deduction is less than we had in itemized deductions + exemptions, but we’re not likely to be itemizing with the new plan. Also, we expect our individual health insurance premiums to skyrocket. We’ll already be paying almost $17,000 for the two of us in 2018, with a high deductible.
Then we’ll have to be concerned about what Medicare will be when we’re eligible in 2-3 years. "
IDK, seems like you should be more irritated with the ACA which caused everyone to pay more and get less.
As far as Medicare, no need to worry. No changes will effect anyone 2-3 years from eligibility. Changes will only effect future generations.
ACA allowed us to not have to worry about pre-existing conditions. ACA needed reform, not abandonment of the individual mandate.
You’re more confident than I am that there won’t be changes to Medicare that affect us even though we’ll be eligible in only a few years. Any changes that are made to the program may also cause more doctors to stop accepting it.
Hey, why do you think all of us are 2-3 years from using Medicare? I’m 10 years away, and there are younger parents than I am on this site. And…oh… almost all of us have CHILDREN who might be eligible for Medicare some day if this generation doesn’t gut it.
Everyone? You’re forgetting a lot of people who are paying less and getting more. Millions of people get premium subsidies. Millions of people benefit from the Medicaid expansion. Some people above the subsidy level are paying less and getting more because they are now able to buy insurance at all, whereas before they had to fund their expensive health care out of pocket.
If you add up the number of people eligible for Medicaid expansion, plus the number of people who are subsidized, plus the number of people who are above subsidy level but who would have been denied insurance, that’s bigger than the number of people above subsidy level who would otherwise have been able to purchase cheaper insurance.
I urge you to be more accurate in future statements, @yourmomma. (But thank you for paying our tax increase next year.)
I’m also 10 years away from Medicare. Some people are sure cavalier…
I’ll chime in with questioning the “everybody” here, as well.
At least this year, rates went down in my state, and quite significantly so, for coverage that exceeds what people could get before the ACA.
But yeah, sure, insurance rates went up here in previous years under the ACA, unlike before the ACA, when insurance companies never raised rates at faster than the general rate of inflation. Oh, wait… :-?
(Also, I’m not 10 years away from Medicare, but instead nearly 20 years away—and I wasn’t even a terribly young first-time parent, what with being 28 when my oldest was born.)
I am 39 years away from Medicare.
But apparently, young lives don’t matter to those in congress (or to some on this site).
ETA: all the ACA did for me was save my life. Meh.
@dfbdfb, I happened to be working for the company that is the primary insurer in your state while they were doing pricing last year. My understanding is that they made up 2 sets of prices – one if the government subsidies were going to be paid to the insurance companies, and one of they weren’t. When the gov’t announced they were NOT paying those subsidies this year, they rolled out the HIGHER of the two prices a couple of days later. So your prices would have gone down FURTHER if this administration had followed the path of the previous administration and made the payments.
I think the point of interest related to the tax bill is that it is very likely that the next step this administration will take is to try to cut Medicare and Social Security to pay for the tax cut they are passing this week. Those will surely be separate threads themselves once that effort actually starts.
ACA allowed my daughter to have coverage when she aged out of our plan at age 26 as an aspring actor/singer.
ACA allowed my older daughter’s boyfriend to have coverage when he finished grad school for library science and in today’s gig economy was not covered by health insurance as all his jobs were considered consultant positions or academic leave replacements.
As for DH and I living in Nassau County, this initial year may be a wash for us as our property taxes are less than $10,000 now but over the next five years the numbers indicate that this will cost us approximately $12.000 more than we currently pay. I wouldn’t mind paying higher taxes if the additional funds that I pay would go to help those in need, not to subsidize tax breaks for billionaires and those who will most benefit.
I heard one representative as well as Secretary Mnuchin explain that average wage earners should be expecting a salary increase of $4,000… I consider myself average income in the low six figures as salary/commission and haven’t had any increase in my base pay since 2012 so I am wondering how that will work. Is Secretary Mnuchin going to be calling up our CFO and demanding that I receive this increase?
^Why you should just march yourself right in there, bookmama22! If your CFO is one of the 1%ers who will be making big gains, maybe you can guilt him into it.
Seriously? I’m at a loss for words.
Well, DH and I officially will owe a lot more in taxes for 2018 than this year. The loss of the personal exemptions huts way too much, as it means much more of our income is taxable. We lose slightly by being in a high tax state. Even though we will still itemize our substantial medical costs and significant charitable contributions, and 10K worth of SALT, the loss of the personal exemptions hurts too much.
“I heard one representative as well as Secretary Mnuchin explain that average wage earners should be expecting a salary increase of $4,000… I consider myself average income in the low six figures as salary/commission and haven’t had any increase in my base pay since 2012 so I am wondering how that will work. Is Secretary Mnuchin going to be calling up our CFO and demanding that I receive this increase?”
Anyone who believes Mnuchin and R’s who are saying this deserves what they are getting from this bill. Bupkis.
There is a risk, and that is the risk of bankrupting yourself (and maybe your parents, as I think many parents would move heaven and earth to pay medical bills for a seriously ill kid who ended up without insurance). And, of course, other payers (individuals paying full pay and those paying premiums) pay more for the care that an ill or injured person can’t pay for. So hey – just freeload on everyone else around you. But be aware it isn’t just YOUR risk – SOMEONE ELSE will have to pay for the care you don’t purchase insurance for. Selfish, selfish, selfish.
The individual mandate was thought up originally by the conservative Heritage Foundation, to guard against “free loaders” who show up at the ER when they need it and don’t intend to pay for their medical care. They had to sell it to Mitt Romney, and later, to Obama. The numbers prove that more people sign up when they are penalized for not doing so.
I wish people would consider more what their civic duty is - to pay taxes without cheating, buy and keep auto insurance, vote, not throw trash in the street, etc.
In any case, the individual mandate came to be seen more as an anti-American loss of freedom and even the Heritage Foundation, which was trying to protect health insurance companies, turned against it. After several years of the ACA, I wonder how this will play out. It was killed in the tax bill in order to save money for the feds so they could give a bigger tax break to corporations. But if people continue to buy health insurance and use federal subsidies to do so, it won’t save the feds money.