My 22year old daughter, in college, has finally gotten her first job. She called upset about her first paycheck. Of the $320 she earned the taxes were $50. Welcome to MY world!
But besides that she wanted me to tell her what she should about the 3 page letter attached to her paycheck, informing her of the requirements and options for obtaining health insurance. The letter basically directed her to the site:
https://www.healthcare.gov/So there we are. In looking at the site, I am sadden by what I see. To be sure current system is unfair, those that can pay, are being forced to support those that cannot. Now those that cannot pay will be forced to pay, regardless. Take the position of my daughter, who last year made $3000 working at a church daycare in the summer. Where she not insured by me, then she would be required to purchase ( at the silver level) insurance for $3022. Or to put in in her current terms... she would need to work over 11 weeks just to pay her own insurance.
My daughter is lucky ( I hope) in that she is on my insurance. Though for my 2 kids it costs me just under $4000 per year, plus another $2400 that I choose to put in the Flex plan. $6400 per year.
In reading the site, they do make it sound SOOOO wonderful for a college student to get their own coverage. So many benefits... but the bottom line is... its gonna cost, and with a minimum wage job, its gonna eat a large chunk of their yearly earnings.
So minimum wage is $7.25 times 40 hours per week times 52 weeks per year .. $15,080 max dollars per year.
Most businesses are making sure to cut back to no more than 30 hours so.. $11,310 per year. A $3000 insurance bill would be well over 1/3 of all gross pay.
These days the VAST majority of job holders are minimum wage earners facing just these constraints, and its not just college students, its those that lost their job and have been forced to take what-ever they could get to make ends meet. Hopefully I am missing something. I hope that somehow, we will all be insured and sit around the campfire roasting smores and singing KUMBYA.