National Republican Congressional Committee » families-under-obamacare

Not So Affordable: Under ObamaCare, Frank From Massachusetts Is Struggling To Care For His Family

Danielle Varallo — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:17:23 +0000

Frank K. is a father of two from Massachusetts whose family is struggling under the newly imposed Flex Spending Account regulations thanks to ObamaCare.

The FSA accounts, which previously allowed for up to a $5,000 maximum contribution, are now capped at $2,500 per family. For families who have ongoing medical struggles, this is a tremendous burden.

Not only are their medical expenses and insurance premiums on the rise, but their ability to sufficiently plan for and afford medical care for themselves or their families is in jeopardy.

“As a father of two kids who have chronic on-going issues (one with GI issues and one with Autism), and a wife who is unable to work due to back problems, we have a LOT of medical bills every year. So being able to use a $5,000 FSA account every year was a win for us.

We don’t really have a choice to treat or not treat our children.

So when he FSA limit went down to $2500 thanks to ACA we lost quite a chunk of money. As a result of this, and since ObamaCare never put in any support for kids with Autism or actually addressed the underlying cost issues, we as a family have been forced to make painful cutbacks; picking and choosing which therapies to apply for our autistic son, delaying my wife’s back surgery and ultimately forcing us to go from two cars to one to save on costs.

Even so we put most costs onto a Credit Card and payoff what we can when we can. For us ObamaCare solved nothing and if anything my employer will likely force us onto an Exchange because they are self-funded and our care costs so much.”

- Frank K.

Citing revenue increases as the reason why the accounts were slashed in half, the administration has not provided any suggestion or type of recommendation for people who are dependent on their FSA for medical equipment, treatment and care.

“The actual amount of revenue that is generated by the ACA’s changes to FSAs will be determined by budget analysts. However, it may be more important to assess whether the benefits of the FSA change outweigh the cost that will be borne by those employees with substantial medical expenses who had relied on the larger FSA contribution limits.”

- J. Nicole Martin, J.D.

It’s clear that these types of policy changes under ObamaCare are hurting Americans and their ability to care for their families.

Do you have a story about how ObamaCare is affecting you? Share it with us here.

(“Your Health Flexible Spending Account just got a little less flexible.” J. Nicole Martin, Philly.com. 1/3/13)

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Help Repeal Obamacare: Contribute Now

Jonathan McKinstry — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 20:59:59 +0000

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Frank’s Struggles With ObamaCare’s Treatment of His Family

NRCC — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:50:18 +0000

“As a father of two kids who have chronic on-going issues (one with GI issues and one with Autism) and a wife who is unable to work, we have a LOT of medical bills every year. So being able to use a $5000 FSA account every year was a win for us. But when the FSA limit went down to $2500 thanks to ObamaCare, we lost quite a chunk of money. For us, ObamaCare solved nothing.”

-Frank P.

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“The Family Glitch”: Another Major Flaw Found in ObamaCare

NRCC — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 22:06:06 +0000

This week Families USA, a liberal healthcare advocacy group, announced that there’s yet ANOTHER serious flaw in Obama’s health care plan.

Middle-to-low income families who are unable to receive insurance through their employer are eligible for a $4,000 tax credit to help pay for the insurance costs – except the method for determining eligibility is on an individual basis, not a multi-person family basis.

So what happens if the family’s income exceed the imposed limits due to higher insurance premiums and employer costs?
They’re ineligible to receive the credit and are effectively “priced out” of receiving the credit, which means they’re unable to buy insurance for their spouses or their children.

That’s right – President Obama has ensured that this law will make healthcare “more secure and more affordable” for millions of Americans, and yet families across the country are unable to receive the very credits he has championed. Even this Democratic group admits that this is a flawed law with major issues.

“It’s an issue. It needs to be fixed,” Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.

Do you have a story about how ObamaCare’s high taxes and costs has affected your family?

Share it with us here.

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Mary’s Concerns About ObamaCare

NRCC — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:37:37 +0000

“What if stay-at-home Moms are dumped from Spousal Health Insurance Coverage? What if stay-at-home Moms like their current insurance and don’t want ObamaCare? What if stay-at-home Moms have no choice, but ObamaCare? These scenarios seems pretty real to me.”
-Mary B.

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Fred’s Frustrations with ObamaCare’s Costs at Work

NRCC — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:36:31 +0000

“My company insurance went up in January! The coverage for my wife & I went from $194.00 every two weeks to $290.00 every two weeks.”

– Fred M.

The post Fred’s Frustrations with ObamaCare’s Costs at Work appeared first on National Republican Congressional Committee.

Washington Examiner: “Five Guys: Obamacare will boost burger prices”

NRCC — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:01:16 +0000

Paul Bedard | March 11, 2013 | 4:22 pm

“Any added costs are going to have to be passed on,” said Mike Ruffer, a Five Guys franchise holder with eight of the popular restaurants in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C. area. He will need all the profits from at least one of his eight outlets just to cover his estimated added $60,000-a year in new Obamacare costs.

What’s more, he’s iced plans to build another three restaurants until after the administration explains the exact rules and penalties employers will face. The law’s plan to have those available March 1 has been pushed back to October.

“I’m kind of in a holding pattern,” said Ruffer, a former Marriott executive who added that many franchise owners are in a similar situation.

Ruffer was the star witness at a Monday Heritage Foundation seminar on the impact Obamacare will have on small businesses. He is typical of many: Because he has enough full time employees to activate the law, he faces either coughing up the money to provide health insurance or paying a fine of up to $3,000 per worker.

Ruffer initially thought he would escape the law because he created each restaurant as its own company. But the law doesn’t recognize that distinction, so now he’s trying to determine if he can fire enough workers, or cut enough hours, to slide out of the grasp of Obamacare.

He said that “scorched earth plan,” however, would hurt his restaurants, so Ruffer is likely to either pay the fine or buy insurance. But spreading the costs over his basic menu of fries, drinks, burgers and hot dogs, could scare off customers, he worries. He said that the recent spike in gas prices cut into his profits since fewer people were stopping at his restaurants.

And the health care law isn’t only going to hit Ruffer. He’s quizzed his workers to ask if they understand that they will be fined if they don’t get health insurance. Just one of 20 workers were aware of the $95 tax penalty that rises to $695 by 2016.

Accessed 3/19/13, Washington Examiner

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Politico: “Papa John’s: ‘Obamacare’ will raise pizza prices”

Jonathan McKinstry — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:56:42 +0000

Byron Tau | 8/7/12 | 12:05 PM
Pizza chain Papa John’s told shareholders that President Obama’s health care law will cost consumers more on their pizza.

On a conference call last week, CEO and founder John Schnatter (a Mitt Romney supporter and fundraiser) said the health care law’s changes — set to go into effect in 2014 — will result in higher costs for the company — which they vowed to pass onto consumers.

“Our best estimate is that the Obamacare will cost 11 to 14 cents per pizza, or 15 to 20 cents per order from a corporate basis,” Schnatter said.

“We’re not supportive of Obamacare, like most businesses in our industry. But our business model and unit economics are about as ideal as you can get for a food company to absorb Obamacare,” he said.

“If Obamacare is in fact not repealed, we will find tactics to shallow out any Obamacare costs and core strategies to pass that cost onto consumers in order to protect our shareholders best interests,” Schnatter vowed.

Schnatter is not the first pizza magnate to bemoan proposed or actual changes to federal health care. In 1993, future presidential candidate Herman Cain charged that Bill Clinton’s proposed health care reform law would cost his company Godfather’s Pizza money and jobs.

“For many many businesses like mine, the cost of your plan is simply a cost that will cause us to eliminate jobs,” Cain told Clinton in a famous exchange.

Accessed 3/19/13, Politico

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Families Living Under Obamacare

Jonathan McKinstry — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:52:42 +0000

“The impact this price increase is going to have on any of those families I think will be pretty devastating.”

- Carol Smock (speaking about the medical device tax increase), Founder of the Brown Dog Foundation, CBS Miami

ObamaCare taxes are increasing the cost of caring for your family pet. The taxes on medical devices under ObamaCare even apply to many medical devices used by veterinarians, and vets are now warning their customers that those taxes will have to be passed on to families.

(Eliott Rodriguez, “Obamacare May Bite You At The Vet’s Office,” WFOR-TV, 3/11/2013)

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 7 million people will be pushed out of their job-based insurance coverage under ObamaCare.

(Stephen Dinan, “Seven Million Will Lose Insurance Under Obama Health Law,” The Washington Times, 2/05/2013)

Under ObamaCare, health insurance premiums for families are now about $3,000 higher, instead of $2,500 lower as President Obama promised.

(Merrill Matthews and Mark E. Litow op-ed, “ObamaCare’s Health-Insurance Sticker Shock,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/13/2013)

The owner of franchises of a popular fast food restaurant said that he expects the added costs of healthcare for his employees under ObamaCare will have to be passed on to his customers through higher prices.

(Paul Bedard, “Five Guys: Obamacare Will Boost Burger Prices,” The Washington Examiner, 3/11/2013)

Under ObamaCare, fewer Americans now have employer-provided healthcare coverage than they did in 2008.

(Sam Baker, “Employer-Based Health Coverage Hits New Low,” The Hill, 2/22/2013)

Under ObamaCare, employers are now beginning to drop their workers’ spouses from their healthcare plans.

(Jen Wieczner, “Why Your Boss is Dumping Your Wife,” MarketWatch, 2/22/2013)

Many young, healthy Americans could soon see a jump in their healthcare costs as a result of the rules and regulations under ObamaCare.

(NC Aizenman, “Will Young Adults Face ‘Rate Shock’ Because of the Health-Care Law?,” The Washington Post, 2/15/2013)

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