An upcoming ruling (due in June or July) from the Supreme Court regarding the legality of Obamacare subsidies in states without their own exchanges could potentially rock the world of health insurance in the US. If the Supreme Court deems those subsidies illegal it would affect millions of people in 34 states who used the federal exchange to get their insurance. Suddenly all those premium subsidies wouldn’t be allowed. So what happens?
The timing of this decision is unfortunate for citizens. Insurance carriers are in the process of setting next years premiums during the next few weeks, so if the subsidies aren’t legal, rates will likely have to skyrocket as a huge number of people will drop out of the insurance pool. Even the high rates people have now are kept lower because of mass numbers. Congress will likely step in. Republicans control Congress and they aren’t fans of Obamacare. But despite their hatred of it, I don’t think they’ll leave millions of people flapping in the wind. They will probably set up some kind of temporary bandaid, like they do with most legislation anymore, and keep things humming along until we have a new president and another new congress. Even knowing they will create this bandaid, it will take them weeks if not months to do it, and there is some uncertainty about Obama and whether he vetos anything Congress puts out.
I don’t know about you, but I’m really sick of all the games. We don’t have health insurance, but if we did I’d be very annoyed at being yanked around like a puppet on a string when it comes to my family’s health and finances. Millions of families are stuck in between a rock and a hard place for different reasons.
“We have insurance, but can’t find a doctor who takes it.”
“We have insurance, but can’t afford the premium.”
“We have insurance, but now our premium could double or triple if the subsidy is taken away.”
“We don’t know from year to year if we can afford to keep insurance for our family.”
It shouldn’t be this way. If you’re caught in the middle of insurance companies and government regulations consider dropping the whole thing and joining a health care sharing ministry. By being a member of Samaritan we can still get the health care we need, and the bills are getting paid, and paid faster than most insurance and government plans. We can afford our monthly share, and we get to directly help others at the same time. Samaritan members have the best of all worlds; care, timely payments and affordability.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks, these are uncharted waters and very unstable times. I’m so thankful for Samaritan, with its foundation in Christ, to help us navigate the way.