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Obamacare Pledges Hollow for Many

For years, President Barack Obama and other promoters of a federal takeover of the health care system have promised it would make insurance affordable. Well, the numbers are out, so you can judge for yourself.

On Wednesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius touted health insurance premiums that will be charged millions of Americans who have to buy their own coverage because it is not provided by employers or government programs such as Medicaid.

Sebelius also noted many people will get government help paying for their insurance. But what about those who don’t qualify for assistance?

Many will not. If you are married, your household income may well be higher than $50,000 a year. That means you will receive no government help paying for insurance you buy privately through one of the state exchanges.

According to the DHHS, a “bronze” level health insurance policy through West Virginia’s exchange will cost a 30-year-old man or woman about $2,600 a year. For husband and wife, that’s $5,200.

But wait. Catastrophic care insurance isn’t included. It costs another $2,400 per person each year.

And the “bronze” coverage only pays for 60 percent of health care costs. Families can be required to cover as much as $12,700 a year out of their own pockets.

So, for our hypothetical 30-year-old married couple, the cost of insurance and out-of-pocket payments could total as much as $17,900 a year. Not many families can afford that.

All of this assumes the government is not low-balling its figures, of course.

Millions of families who expected relief from health care costs are about to be disappointed. But it’s too late for buyer’s remorse. Obamacare is the law of the land.

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