Selling X-pensive Insurance to People Who Just Took a 3.6% Pay Cut. [Amended]
That queasy feeling you get when you reach for your wallet to buy that big ticket item, that you really need, but are not quite sure you can afford? It's not just your financial prudence angels whispering in your ear. The US Census Bureau just announced that that real median household income in the United States fell 3.6 percent between 2007 and 2008, from $52,163 to $50,303. That press release also noted that
The number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 45.7 million in 2007 to 46.3 million in 2008.I'm curious how much this drop in income will affect the middle class's desire to underwrite a healthcare 'reform' bill that is beginning to look very much like a windfall for the insurance and healthcare industries. As many as 60% of Americans are predicted to receive healthcare subsidies should the bill pass, with the amount of the subsidy tapering off as the income level ascends. That still leaves a lot of middle income Americans being asked to foot the bill for a reform that at this point does not seem to have any active mechanisms for controlling, let alone lowering our healthcare costs.
