According to the latest reports from Congress, President Obama’s health care reform proposal will require all Americans to carry up to date health insurance policies. While the insurance can be obtained from an employer, through a private company, or from the soon-to-be created government-run program, many middle class Americans are worried about how these new demands will impact their overall costs. Specifically, as lower income families will be provided with reduced cost benefits, as well as potential tax credits towards health care, individuals earning slightly above the low income range are growing apprehensive about whether or not the changes to health care will actually benefit their loved one’s well being.
The Reform in Progress: How the Middle Class May Be Impacted
While the health insurance reform is still a working progress, as changes are being made and revisions are added each day, investigators have found out basic information about where the reform currently stands. In examining the current rough draft of the proposal, critics are specifically concerned about the potential challenges that reform could pose on the average middle class families:
- An average family of 4 with an annual income of at least $63,000 per year is considered to be middle class
- Some estimate that this average family would pay over an estimated $7,000 to purchase private health insurance
- The estimated $7,000 does not take into account doctor co-pays and medical care costs
- The estimated $7,000 does not take into account rare but not uncommon expensive medical procedures (such as surgery, emergency care, etc)
In examining these estimates, some members of Congress predict that the current health care reform plans would force middle class families to spend an average of 20 percent of their annual incomes on health insurance / health costs within the next 5 to 6 years! Yet, in light of recent debates and concerns, experts are striving to remind all citizens, regardless of their “class,” that the reform is being carefully evaluated and altered continuously; optimistically, these potential detriments to the reform will be taken into account and altered before any bill is passed into law.
