Will Republican Health Care Plan Kill Poor People?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Individuals with income below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL)

1

are at the highest risk of being uninsured

(Appendix Table B). In total, more than eight in ten (82.6%) of uninsured people were in families with incomes below 400% of poverty in 2019 (Figure 4). Most (85.4%) of the uninsured are nonelderly adults.

Do poor people pay more for healthcare?

We find that

people in lower-income families with employer coverage spend a greater share of their income on health costs than those with higher incomes

, and that the health status of family members is associated with higher health-related expenses.

How does the Affordable Care Act affect the poor?

For those in these lowest-income percentiles, gaining Medicaid coverage virtually eliminated out-of-pocket health care spending; thus, the ACA increased average income as a percentage of the federal poverty level by 18.8 percent, 13.0 percent, 8.4 percent, and 8.4 percent among those in the tenth, twentieth, thirtieth, …

Which population is less likely to be covered by a health care plan?

As of 2019, nonelderly

AIAN, Hispanic, NHOPI, and Black people

remained more likely to lack than their White counterparts (Figure 2).

Who is most affected by not having health insurance?

Age. Three-quarters of the uninsured are adults (ages 18–64 years), while one-quarter of the uninsured are children. Compared with other age groups,

young adults

are the most likely to go without coverage.

What are the consequences of not having health insurance?

The penalty for not having coverage the entire year will be

at least $800 per adult and $400 per dependent child under 18 in the household

when you file your 2021 state income tax return in 2022. A family of four that goes uninsured for the whole year would face a penalty of at least $2,400.

Who pays the most for health insurance coverage?


Employers pay 83% of health insurance for single coverage

On average, employers paid 83% of the premium, or $6,200 a year. Employees paid the remaining 17%, or $1,270 a year.

Who pays the most for healthcare services?

The study found that payments to finance health care were $9,393 per person, or 18.7% of average household income. Examining benefits by type of insurance, researchers found that

Americans with Medicare

receive the greatest dollar value of health care, a result of older people generally using more health care services.

Is healthcare affordable in the US?

While the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has made health insurance more affordable for the uninsured,

premiums and cost-sharing are still too high for many Americans

. And cost-sharing has been edging ever higher for the majority of Americans who have coverage through employer-based plans.

Is it better not to have health insurance?

Without health insurance coverage,

a serious accident or a health issue that results in emergency care and/or an expensive treatment plan can result in poor credit or even bankruptcy.

How many Americans have no health insurance?

According to the CBO, the number of American citizens who are uninsured in 2020 is around

31 million

.

Why health insurance is so expensive?


The price of medical care is the single biggest factor behind U.S. healthcare costs

, accounting for 90% of spending. These expenditures reflect the cost of caring for those with chronic or long-term medical conditions, an aging population and the increased cost of new medicines, procedures and technologies.

What population is most uninsured?

While

White individuals

make up the largest share of the U.S. uninsured population at 47 percent, Black and Hispanic individuals account for disproportionately high shares of this remaining uninsured population.

What age group is least likely to have health insurance?

Being uninsured is largely a problem of the young, with 59% of uninsured persons

under the age of 35

. Most at risk are adults aged 18 to 34 years; almost 3 out of every 10 persons in this age group lack health insurance.

What age group is the most uninsured?

Characteristic Uninsured percentage Uninsured rate
0-18 years

15.7% 5.6%
19-25 years 15.4% 14.4% 26-34 years 21.2% 14.2% 35-44 years 19.1% 12.4%

What type of people don't have health insurance?

Highlights. In 2020,

8.6 percent

of people, or 28.0 million, did not have health insurance at any point during the year. The percentage of people with health insurance coverage for all or part of 2020 was 91.4.

Who is likely to be uninsured?

Age Of The Uninsured

Working-age adults made up a much larger share of the uninsured population than any other age group. In fact, most uninsured people (84.6 percent) were

19- to 64-year-olds

. The two largest groups in that age range are 26- to 34-year-olds and 35- to 44-year-olds.

Who are the underinsured in America?

A person is considered underinsured

if out-of-pocket health care costs exceed ten percent of their income

(five percent when income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $22,980 for an individual and $47,100 for a family of four), or if one's insurance deductible is more than five percent of …

What happens in America if you can't afford healthcare?

If you don't have health insurance for 3-month period or more,

you may have to pay penalties to the government called “individual shared responsibility payment”, which is the ACA penalty

. You may qualify for an exemption. Keep in mind that inability to pay doesn't automatically mean that you will avoid penalties.

Will there be a penalty for no health insurance in 2021?

Unlike in past tax years, if you didn't have coverage during 2021,

the fee no longer applies

. This means you don't need an exemption in order to avoid the penalty.

Why do people not have health insurance?

uninsurance has been attributed to a number of factors, including

rising health care costs, the economic downturn, an erosion of employer-based insurance, and public program cutbacks

. Developing effective strategies for reducing uninsurance requires understanding why people lack insurance coverage.

What does poor healthcare cost?

Poor worker health costs U.S. employers

$575 billion a year

from everything from lost productivity due to worker absence and chronic conditions to injuries leading to workers compensation, according to a new analysis.

How much is health insurance on average?

Average Employee Premiums in 2020 Employee Share Family Individual
Per Year


$5,588


$1,243

Per Month


$466


$104

How much does the average American spend on healthcare 2020?

Health spending per person in the U.S. was

$11,945

in 2020, which was over $4,000 more expensive than any other high-income nation. The average amount spent on health per person in comparable countries ($5,736) is roughly half that of the U.S.

Which country has free healthcare?

Countries with universal healthcare include Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Isle of Man, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

Does the US have the most expensive health care?


The United States spends the most on healthcare per person every year

. With a per person cost of $10,586, the United States spends more than $3,000 more per person than the second-highest country Switzerland.

Who actually pays for healthcare?

Who pays for health care in the United States? There are three main funding sources for health care in the United States:

the government, private health insurers and individuals

. Between Medicaid, Medicare and the other health care programs it runs, the federal government covers just about half of all medical spending.

Ahmed Ali
Author
Ahmed Ali
Ahmed Ali is a financial analyst with over 15 years of experience in the finance industry. He has worked for major banks and investment firms, and has a wealth of knowledge on investing, real estate, and tax planning. Ahmed is also an advocate for financial literacy and education.