Income Groups Who Elected Obama Will Be Hardest Hit by ObamaCare
Grants Pass, OR (PRWEB) December 30, 2013 -- Middle and lower income groups who swung the 2012 Presidential election to Barak Obama, according to author Mark Davis, MD, will likely be the hardest hit when the new Affordable Care Act, also called ACA or ObamaCare, is fully implemented. Dr. Davis is concerned that even with government subsidies, ObamaCare will not be affordable to the very groups that the new law is most intended to assist.
Davis made the comments in a recent interview on the Sharon Kleyne Hour® Power of Water® syndicated radio show on VoiceAmerica and Apple iTunes.
Mark Davis, MD, has been a practicing physician, health facility administrator, health care lobbyist and author of hundreds of articles and several books. His latest book is ObamaCare: Dead on Arrival: Prescription for Disaster (Create Space, 2013),
Sharon Kleyne hosts the globally syndicated Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water® radio show on VoiceAmerica and Apple iTunes. Kleyne also Founded Bio Logic Aqua Research, a fresh water and health research, education and product development center. Nature’s Tears® EyeMist®, the Research Center’s global signature product, provides a pure all-water mist that instantly supplements water in dehydrated eyes caused by dry air and pollution.
Sharon Kleyne confirms that the largest income groups supporting Obama in the 2012 election, was people with incomes below $50,000. This group constituted 42% of the electorate and 60% of them voted for Obama. The $50,000 to $99,000 range, comprising 31% of the electorate, tipped slightly to Romney at 52% to 46%. Higher incomes went more strongly for Romney (Source: published exit polling by Edison Research, Somerville, NJ).
For several reasons, Dr. Davis believes that these same middle and lower income groups will be hit the hardest financially and helped the least medically by ObamaCare.
Most of the higher income people, according to Davis, should be able to absorb the soaring health insurance rates. They can also afford to pay their own way if their ACA approved insurance is unable to authorize payment.
Those with the lowest incomes will be eligible either for Medicaid or for a government subsidy to assist with their insurance premiums. The higher the income the less the subsidy, which maybe taken as a tax credit. People in the middle, especially the lower middle, according to Davis, are most likely to find themselves ineligible for large subsidies but also unable to afford the increased premium rates on their own, without suffering financial hardship.
Also, Dr. Davis predicts, income taxes will go up for everyone to finance the subsidies and hire thousands of new government employees to administer and enforce the new system. Again, this will not hurt the poor, who pay little or no taxes, or the wealthy, who can afford the taxes, but could hit middle income groups extremely hard.
For group coverage, Kleyne foresees similar problems. Group rates to employers will generally increase and employers will require that employees contribute a larger percentage of the cost. Most large, profitable business should be able to absorb the increased costs while smaller and less profitable businesses would be eligible for subsidies on a sliding scale. Businesses with fewer than 50 employees are not required to provide group insurance, leaving employees to purchase individual insurance.
According to Dr. Davis, lower income groups will be hard hit by ObamaCare even though they receive the largest subsidies and pay the least taxes. Employers are already cutting back worker positions and hours because they are not required to purchase group insurance for employees who work less than 30 hours a week or if they employ less than 50 people. Kleyne notes that executives, professionals and salaried workers are least likely to have their hours cut or be laid off. Reduced hours and layoffs are most likely for hourly, unskilled, semi-skilled and non-union workers.
Sharon Kleyne believes that even if ObamaCare is not repealed, it should be delayed until the economy fully recovers. The huge additional cost to the public in premiums and taxes, and the large-scale loss of full-time job hours, will have a definite impact on the nation’s precarious economic recovery.
Sharon Kleyne’s full interview with Dr. Davis, on December 16, 2013, may be heard via podcast at http://www.VoiceAmerica.com or http://www.sharonkleynehour.com.
Mikaylah Roggasch, Bio Logic Aqua Research-Rogue Media, +1 (800) 367-6478, [email protected]
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