Insurance Required, but Premiums Differ
A check of an open letter to employees clarified that most people will be required to purchase health insurance, but the cost of that insurance may vary widely. Photo by flicker.com/Images_Of_Money.Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
An Austin-based barbecue chain recently told workers that Obamacare will cost them. But was its notice accurate? KUT’s Emily Donahue spoke with Gardner Selby of the Austin American-Statesman’s PolitiFact Texas fact-checking team.
The Austin Chronicle reported that The County Line employees got a health care notice with their paychecks recently. It was an open letter that said as of January 2014, “you will be required to get and pay for health insurance. Your employer may help you but you will be legally required to buy health insurance.”
“How much will I have to pay? The best estimate from the Congressional Budget Office for the minimum level of health insurance coverage when the law takes effect is $4,500 a year or $375 month for individual coverage or $12,000 or $1,000 per month for family coverage.”
We did find such figures in a January 2010 forecast that was sent to a senator by the head of the Congressional Budget Office. But those figures apply to 2016, not 2014, and they came with caveats.
Podcast: Download (3.6MB)
