Woo Hoo! Baby Boomers Make Out Best Under Obamacare

There's a lot of stuff going around about Obamacare, but guess who's going to benefit most, experts say?  Of course.  The Baby Boomers (full disclosure: I'm one).

The Wall Street Journal reports that "the Affordable Care Act could deliver a major windfall to some boomers who are self-employed or unemployed, and to early retirees, by sharply cutting the costs of their health insurance. And a new report this week by Christopher Weaver and Louise Radnofsky of The Wall Street Journal shows just how big a price break some of those older consumers could get."

Woo hoo!  That's me.  For over 15 years I've been paying for my own health insurance, pricey from the beginning but outrageous when I hit both the 50-year mark and was diagnosed with cancer at the same time. I now pay over $800 a month just for me (at one point, it was over $1,000).

And that's with a $5,000 deductible, so basically I'm paying my insurance company to go to the doctor.

The Journal notes that, "In some cases, older workers’ share of their insurance premiums could plummet, leaving them paying less than younger, healthier people with similar incomes."

Woo hoo again!

WSJ quotes MarketWatch's Elizabeth O’Brien, who's said in her coverage this year, "The ACA’s health-insurance exchanges and subsidies are designed to lower prices for this older crowd—people who are too young to qualify for Medicare but often find it prohibitively expensive to buy coverage in the private sector."

Under the law, WSJ says that "Insurers are still allowed to charge older people more than younger people, but the extent to which they can do so is limited, and they can’t increase premiums or exclude people from coverage based on pre-existing health conditions."  And if your income falls below $46,000 for an individual or $62,000 for a couple, you're eligible for subsidies.  That's me, too!

I have to admit, I'll believe it when I see it.  What will I really be getting for this great new price?  What will I have to forego?  Will I still get to keep my doctors or be relegated to someone operating out of a shack?

I guess we'll see.  October, when all this begins, is right around the corner.  Can't wait.


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