Bradford Pearson has many more details over on D Healthcare Daily, but here’s the gist about the numbers, which were released by the Department of Health and Human Services last night:
The HHS report found that the average premium nationally for the second lowest cost silver plan will be $328 before tax credits, or 16 percent below projections based off of Congressional Budget Office estimates. About 95 percent of uninsured people eligible for the Marketplace live in a state where their average premium is lower than projections.
A 27-year old living in Dallas who makes $25,000 per year will pay $74 per month for the lowest cost bronze plan and $139 per month for the lowest cost silver plan, taking into account tax credits. And he or she will be able to choose from among 43 qualified health plans. For a family of four in Dallas with an income of $50,000 per year, the lowest bronze plan would cost only $26 per month, taking into account tax credits.
All of this information was released as Cruz stood on the Senate floor, arguing that healthcare premiums were expected to rise, and that the Affordable Care Act would kill the working class.
“You could not design a law to do more damage to young people than Obamacare if you sat down and tried,” he said at one point, echoing sentiments he expressed during a “Defund Obamacare” rally in Dallas last month.
And if you somehow still don’t know what this Affordable Care Act thing is that everybody’s been shouting about lately, or what it means for you, see the new issue of D Magazine.
