Ya think? Obamacare losers could pack political punch – POLITICO.com.
One person who answered Glenn Beck’s call for submissions was Tom Fodi, a 30-year-old pastor at an inner-city church on the north side of Pittsburgh. Fodi told POLITICO he needs individual health insurance for his family because there’s no group coverage available through the church. But his insurer, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, told him the price of his health coverage will climb next year under Obamacare – and advised him to sign up by Nov. 30 so he can get pre-Obamacare prices.
So for now, Fodi says he’ll be able to insure himself, his wife, and his 9-month-old daughter for $338 a month, with a $2,500 deductible. Next year, to keep an equivalent amount of coverage through the Obamacare health exchange, Highmark says he’d have to pay $551 a month, and the deductible would climb to $5,000.
In Obamacare terms, that would be considered a “silver” plan – the second-cheapest kind. Fodi could downgrade to a “bronze” plan and get a cheaper price, but if he does that, Highmark told him the deductible would shoot up to $12,700 – far more than he could ever pay for a medical emergency on a church salary.
Fodi, who has also served as a chaplain in the Air Force Reserve, says he might qualify for an Obamacare subsidy, but he doesn’t want to take that unless he absolutely has to – because he doesn’t want to be “one of the millions of Americans to become more dependent on government.” He teaches self-reliance to the members of his church, he says, and “it behooves me to do the same thing.”
Keep up the good work Tom. Let’s take a listen to “Nothing is Free (Government Cheese)”
