People With Insurance To Pay Per Year For Those With Preexisting Problems

Starting in 2014, everyone with insurance coverage through a company will have to fork over $63 per year to cover the price of getting insurance for people with preexisting conditions. It's a part of the Affordable Care Act, one of the many expenses that law will impose.

Giving every person insurance

It is certainly true that people with preexisting problems, or preexisting medical conditions, probably should be able get insurance coverage. If they're willing to pay premiums, why shouldn't they be allowed to have it?

It is not affordable to add someone with preexisting problems to insurance though. In fact, it is really expensive because it is known a lot of medical treatment and coverage will be needed. The money has to come from somewhere now that the Affordable Care Act needs insurance agencies give coverage to those with preexisting conditions, as a result of the Obama administration.

People who already have insurance and companies buying it are now going to end up paying the extra costs, according to CBS. Between 2014 and 2017, $25 billion needs to be raised somehow, though the requirement does not start until 2014.

Cost not very high

Everyone presently insured will have to pay a fee, according to ACA's text, to be able to pay for the preexisting conditions. Every business that gives insurance to workers will have to pay the fee, and about 190 million people who get insurance through companies will end up having to pay the fee.

The fee will differ by the business; large firms will get the largest bills, smaller businesses will get smaller bills from Uncle Sam. The fee is $63 per insured person, which according to Salon.com is assessed annually. Assuming all of it is passed on to employees, that's an extra $5.25 per month. Not exactly the difference between the lifestyle of Croesus and starving in the street and taking payday loans just to pay the rent, but still a dent.

In 2017, the fee will phase out entirely, and it will drop each year starting at $63 per person in 2014 to $50 the next year. The fee keeps going down.

To pay for Paul means taking from Peter

The ACA also claims that $700 billion needs to be elevated over ten years on top of the $25 billion to cover preexisting condition expenses. Lots of people end up losing money when they have to pay for others to get health insurance, no matter how nice of an idea it is.

As a result of the health care law, premiums have been starting to slowly go up. For instance, According to the Washington Post, HR consultancy Mercer found in a recent survey this year that 12 percent of employers with at least 500 workers have raised premiums on health insurance, compared to 10 percent last year. Any person with insurance can probably expect to pay more in coming years, for everyone else.