Affordable Care Act Expert Consultant Minda Wilson Esq. Raising Minimum Wage Plus Obamacare Equals Disaster

In this audio interview with Minda Wilson, she explains how raising the minimum wage will have disastrous effects on the people it helps the most; the working poor.

I got a chance to speak to an Obamacare expert Minda Wilson who is the founder of the Affordable Healthcare Review.

This educational organization was founded to provide individuals and businesses with information about how the Affordable Care Act will impact their lives. The goal is to allow corporations as well as individuals to make informed choices about their healthcare options.

Minda believes that by increasing the minimum wage, the working poor that are making minimum wage will make a yearly wage above the amount that allows them to get Medicade, thus making them have to purchase health care themselves. So in essence they will either make less or pay penalties.

If this is true it could cause a major problem with everyone making the new minimum wage. What do you think? – JW

Minda Wilson

An attorney by training, Wilson was the owner of a healthcare business when the legislation passed.

“I wanted to do what was best for my customers and my employees. I needed to know what to do to comply with regulations imposed under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

There was a lot of speculation, but no one had answers. What answers people did provide seemed to be self-serving.

I began to read the regulations and do research. I read the PPACA cover to cover. What I found was that the unintended consequences of the PPACA could be devastating to my business, to my family, to the people in my community and to the average American.

It was entirely possible that people could be stripped of their ability to provide healthcare for themselves and their family. At first, I was frightened. Then I became angry.

When all was said and done I realized that sometimes you can’t let things go. Sometimes you have to speak up and sound the alarm. And, even more importantly, you have to be part of the solution. If the solution does not exist you have to create one,” she recalls.

Then she formed the Affordable Healthcare Review.

The Affordable Healthcare Review

Minda Wilson founded the Affordable Healthcare Review to educate Americans by presenting unbiased consumer-based, balanced information without cost.

Raising the Minimum Wage will Decrease Eligibility for Obamacare Benefits

People earning the current minimum wage have significantly benefited from the expansion of “Obamacare.” A large number of those low income wage earners are single women with children. Because of the Affordable Care Acts’ expansion of Medicaid eligibility, these women have been able to get healthcare for themselves and their families.

The President is now pressing to increase the minimum wage and he is moving to expand eligibility for overtime. By expanding the minimum wage and increasing overtime payments, the President may actually be hurting those people who were formerly helped by the Affordable Care Act.

The unintended consequence of raising wages for people who have obtained health services through an exchange is that those very people may no longer be eligible for the subsidies or the benefits they received. If their wages increase too much, they may be put over the threshold for Medicaid eligibility and lose their benefits. If the wage increase goes into effect after the sign up deadline passes, those people will not be able to get health insurance coverage to replace their Medicaid coverage until 2015.

By expanding the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, if a person works 40 hours per week, their annual income would be $21,008. Previously, at $7.25 per hour, the federal minimum wage, the same person working 40 hours per week would earn $15,080. Under the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid, any person earning $7.25 per hour and the family members they were financially responsible for would be eligible for Medicaid. By raising the wage to $10.10, a single person would no longer be eligible for Medicaid. If a single mother of one makes more than $21,707, she and her family is no longer eligible for Medicaid. (Note: In some states, like California, the Medicaid threshold was increased to 138% of the poverty level vs. the federal standard of 135%; but, in this care, the effect would be no different.)

Increasing wages for people who have already sought subsidized coverage based on current wages has another unintended consequence. If their actual income exceeds the estimated income their subsidies were based on, they will be responsible for repaying the difference between the lower subsidy they would get at their new higher wage and what they actually got. The IRS is responsible for enforcement. Failure to return the money can lead to garnishment of wages, attachment of bank accounts; the penalties are quite severe.

The registration deadline could be extended to accommodate those whose increased wages make them ineligible for Medicaid. However, moving people from Medicaid to an exchange policy significantly increases their cost of care. Not only do they have to pay for their coverage, but they are now responsible for co-pays, etc. Increasing income also impacts one’s eligibility for subsidies and out of pocket costs they will be responsible for.

Now that healthcare is directly tied to wages, we must be thoughtful about the interconnectedness. – Minda Wilson

CLICK PICTURE to Watch Minda Wilson on KTLA Los Angeles Explaining Obamacare

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