A few friends are sharing this post on social media:
I received the following from a friend in Ohio, a grandmother in her 60s:
“I actually made it through this morning at 8 a.m. I have a pre-existing condition (Type 1 Diabetes) and my income base was 45K-55K annually.
“I chose Tier 2 ‘Silver Plan’ and my monthly insurance premiums came out to $597 with a $13,988 yearly deductible! There is NO POSSIBLE way that I can afford this so I ‘Opt-Out’ and chose to continue along with no insurance.
“I received an email tonight at 5 p.m. informing me that my fine would be $4,037 and could be attached to my yearly income tax return. Then you make it to the ‘REPERCUSSIONS PORTION’ for “non-payment†of yearly fine.
“First, your drivers license will be suspended until paid, and if you go 24 consecutive months with ‘non-payment,’ you will have a federal tax lien placed on your home.
“You can agree to give your bank information so that they can easily ‘Automatically withdraw’ your ‘penalties’ weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly! This by no means is ‘free’ or even ‘affordable.’â€
Apparently the Killeen Daily Herald actually ran it as a letter to the editor on their website.
It’s also been spotted on the Facebook page for Healthcare.gov, chain emails and more.
Reading it sent up all sorts of red flags for me. So I did a quick investigation myself using the Kaiser Family Subsidy Calculator.
And yes, it’s true a single person making $55k a year will not receive any federal subsidy on their insurance. It’s more than 4 times above the national poverty level.
But according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s estimates, a single person in Texas, making $55k a year, would pay an estimated $2,557 per year or $213 a month (which equals 4.65% of your household income and covers 100% of the overall premium).
Their estimate for someone living in Ohio is $2,333.
These premiums are based on the Silver Plans (which was mentioned above).
The Bronze Plan would lower the premiums to an estimated $1749 per year or $145 a month.
So either the Kaiser Family Foundation is WAY off, or perhaps these claims aren’t quite on the up and up.
Luckily, PolitiFact has more information on the claims.
I’ll let you read their report for yourself but to summarize their investigation – this email/letter received a Pants of Fire rating.
The post includes many elements that make no sense or are flat-out wrong — and can be easily debunked by reading the law or reliable summaries of it. We rate it Pants on Fire.
I know lots of folks don’t like the Affordable Care Act – some for very strong reasons – others just because it’s been presented by a Democrat and not a Republican – but PLEASE don’t spread misinformation like this no matter what your feelings are about the law. It does a disservice to us all – and makes me want to unfriend you on social media that much quicker.
