Okay, so I know that my first is a doozy, but it's something that has been on my mind for awhile.
So, I would like to kick this off by putting my two cents in as a low- income worker. I won't call myself in poverty, because I friggin' live in America, and even though I make "below the poverty line," I still have a roof, food, a car I paid for, insurance for said car, and two part time jobs.
With that being said, I'd like to talk a bit about "low wage income."
I work two part time jobs, and on good weeks, that averages out to fifty hours a two week period. On shitty weeks, that averages to thirty hours a period. I'm talking combined bewteen the two jobs. Now, I make about $7.75 an hour, if you average between the two jobs that I work. I don't get overtime at either, and this means, on a good pay period (not counting bonuses I MAY get at one job), roughly $600 a paycheck. On an average one, it means I get roughly $400 a paycheck. For the past month, due to an injury, it means I get $300. Total. So, let's average it out. Average, I'll bump it to $1000 a month. Now, it's time for some math, kiddies.
Out of $1,000, the average person in my position must pay $500 in rent, $175 in utilities, $90 in liability car insurance, $240 in food, $80 in gas, $100 in phone bills. These are frugal estimates. So, this means, for a single person, they have to pay $1085 in living expenses. Yikes! So, this means I'll be eating a lot more ramen, and other processed, packaged foods, in order to save.
Out of these calculations, there is something glaringly missing: health insurance. That's right. For people like me, busting their asses, trying to make it by, health insurance is an impossibility, something that we mere mortals can't possess, at least, not without major sacrifices. I mean MAJOR. Case in point, myself.
I rent out a room from a friend's house for $140 a month, and no utilities need to be paid on my end. Pretty sweet deal, yes? Means I save a theoretical $435 a month. That is epic, right? Maybe, just maybe, enough to save for health insurance, right?
Wrong. In all actuality, life likes to shit on you, even if you think you're making progress. So, since the beginning of the year, I've used my federal tax return ($750) on back bills, because you don't get hours in retail until about March 15th or so. Before then, it's the slow time of the year, when people are recovering from over-spending on the holidays. It's a harsh blow to only make 12hrs per week at each job cause they just don't have the money to go around. So, hours start to pick up, then in April, I'm hit with car plating, which was a blessing this year, because I moved to a cheaper county. However, I still have current bills to pay, and am only up to 20hr weeks. May hits, and woah, there's hours and hours to be had as people go on vacation, schools let out, and general wanderlust grips the folk who have money. Which is great, except you work customer service, and you get sick, you have to pay those bills off, your glasses break, and you hurt yourself on the job, because Murphy's Law haunts you like the Casper on coke. So, you're back down to pre-spring hours, struggling to get by, as other people (understandably so) pick over your corporate corpse, so to speak.
Why am I relating this to you? Well, because health clinics aren't as cheap as they need to be, at least, not in my neck of the woods. Glasses are never cheap for anybody, and while workman's comp is healing you, what meager savings you'd had are being swept away by $4.00 a gallon gasoline and higher food prices. Meaning, in the end, you're just breaking even. Now, I went to price insurance. For an overweight almost thirty year old female, single, renting out of a friend's room, I have to pay $567.34 every THREE months to keep health insurance. That is with the least amount paid in. I have no extra funds, and as stated before, Murphy's Law hates my internal organs with a passion that can only be called legendary.
"Wait!" you say, with an Eureeka! expression. "Surely the state aid funds can help someone like you out!"
Not so fast, cowboy. You see, in order to receive help from the state, you have to make a steady $400 or less a month. Furthermore, you are told, by the representative, that you are automatically turned down at least ONCE by the system, just to make sure you're serious about needing help.
"Well, how can Anyone live on only $400 a month?" you ask? Well, you can't. Not without being hooked to the system.
"Well, isn't Obamacare supposed to fix the system?" you supply hopefully. In a perfect world, with gumdrops and rainbows and candy cane unicorns that fart eternal youth bubbles, yes. However, the original bill was processed and reprocessed quite a bit by the House and Sentate, leaving the mangled, zombified wreckage that was signed into being a laughable mockery of what it should have been.
"Ummm, oook, so what does that mean?" You ask warily.
It means that, because of special interest groups, lobbying, and the general partisan nuking that's going on in congress, there is a huge loophole that almost all companies who don't already offer insurance are jumping through with tremendous speed. They are also laughing hysterically as they flip off the working class as a whole.
You see, the fines they have to pay in reparations for violating the policies are CHEAPER than providing full time employees with benefits. So, they are doing a combination of two things; they are cutting back all hours, except bare bones, and taking the hit from the fine, thus saving large sums of money.
"But, isn't a federal requirement for you to have health insurance in 2014?" you ponder confusedly.
Why, yes. Since, however, you are screwed at the state, federal, and corporate levels, it once again falls to people like me to pay their own insurance. There's a catch now, though. It's against the law for me NOT to have the insurance that I can't afford.
"What in the everlasting hell are you supposed to do, then?" you cry out, bewildered.
Why, give up my tax return. Each time you fail to get insurance, you are fined incrementally. The first year, is fifty dollars, the next 200 dollars, and then it evens out at around $500. As you saw previously, my average federal income is $750, so.... enough to plate my car and go see a movie after paying the fine, perhaps. Still, though, I won't afford the insurance, because it's cheaper for me, too, to pay the fine.
In the end, all this means is the government is imposing a shitstorm tax, and taking it out of our tender tushies.
I leave any conclusions where the money is going *cough lining pockets cough* to you. I just know I view it as damned unfair, and damned bullshit.
