by Greg Broyles
I am a one percenter. A Texas non-subsidized Affordable Care Act marketplace-insured one percenter. Why would I not be happy?
The Republican Party has hacked away pieces of the ACA in an attempt to kill it with one thousand cuts. Premium increases and insurer pullouts are the results of Republican commitment to destroying health insurance for folks like me. They do this to save taxes for the rich.
Average people should not die so that billionaires can get tax cuts. Trust me, my only objective here is to insure myself and my children.
I am first and foremost, a Texas 4 percenter. That’s the approximate percentage of the 27.5 million Texans who are covered by the ACA. By having an ACA policy without subsidies, I have made it into the 1%! The less than 1% of Texans who are insured with unsubsidized ACA policies… Woohoo!
Too bad there aren’t more like me. If there were, more would fight the Republican agenda. I’m pretty sure the moneyed opponents of ACA know that uncoupling health insurance from employers would result in single-payer insurance.
Too bad for those employers (like the auto industry!) who are at a global competitive disadvantage because they pay part of their employees’ health premiums. Their counterparts in other industrialized nations do not bear this burden.
Could be why so many 50+-year-olds get laid off in this country…
Unlike folks in Washington, I am not paid in any way by the insurance industry. Heck, I now pay almost $8k in premiums each year, and almost all of my health-related expenses have been out of my own pocket.
My situation has worsened since Marco Rubio wiped out “risk corridors” a couple of years ago. Each new attack on ACA by the Republican Party costs me more money. This while overall health care costs have stabilized under ACA!
Before ACA, I could not protect one of my children because of a “pre-existing condition” for that child. I am sure you would declare that as ridiculous.
A number of folks I know oppose ACA because they simply don’t want to pay for insurance. Period.
I choose not to impose my health risks on friends and family who care about me. I’m also fairly healthy for an old guy, and I believe I can contribute to diminishing risk for others. Not trying to be some sort of bleeding-heart or “goody two shoes”: I feel a responsibility to my fellow Americans. They’ve looked out for me in the past.
Many damn ACA for being socialism. Is pooling our tax money for a strong military socialism? Is pooling our money for roads and schools socialism? I’m okay with the term “socialism”, and I think it’s interesting how it’s been entered into the vocabulary of average folks as an evil.
Honestly, I think that was done by wealthy folks who don’t like to pay taxes. Taxes = Socialism.
I’ve become almost an expert on this issue. Contact me directly with any questions. Or to tell me what you think.
Greg Boyles is a proud Houstonian (31 years and counting after never living anywhere for more than three years as an Army brat) and father of two extraordinary daughters. I was briefly an officer in the USMC. That path was cut short by an injury that led to a medical discharge. Since then, I’ve founded and operated two successful small businesses, and the size of my companies has always made health insurance more expensive for myself and my employees. ACA was a first step in changing all that.