Southern Brooklyn Republican Congressman Dan Donovan yesterday blasted President Obama’s Affordable Care Act after touring a small, family-owned business and learning the family of four’s health insurance premiums have increased $25,000 per year.
Donovan made his comments following a tour of the Frank J. Silvestri Insurance, Inc. storefront, that has served Dyker Heights and South Brooklyn for more than 50 years. He said the insurance premiums is not only putting a bigger dent on the family’s budget, but also consuming resources that would otherwise go to growing their business and paying their employees.
“Obamacare is squeezing the middle class. The very wealthy have been able to afford higher insurance premiums and the poor receive generous subsidies, but those in the middle, like the Silvestris, are paying higher premiums for worse coverage they can barely afford. The ‘Un-Affordable Care Act’ would be more a more apt title,” said Donovan.
Nicole Silvestri, who runs the business with her husband, Robert Silvestri, said she thought Obamacare would make coverage better and more affordable, but her family has been dropped by two carriers and our premiums have doubled in six years.”
Donovan said the Silvestris is a textbook example how like families and small business owners around the country, find it ever more challenging to make ends meet as part of today’s middle class. He noted that New York State ranks 49th in the country in business tax climate.
The Affordable Care Act is not just making life difficult for private individuals and family-owned businesses. Today, Health Republic – the largest Consumer Oriented and Operated Plan (CO-OP) in the country – will terminate all of its policies, forcing 215,000 New Yorkers to find alternate coverage, including the Silvestris, said Donovan.
Donovan noted that UnitedHealth – the largest insurance provider in the country – threatened to pull out of the Obamacare marketplace by 2017. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company has stopped advertising and no longer pays commissions to its brokers – “It literally doesn’t want consumers to buy its products,”said Donavan.
Donovan said adding insult to injury, a McKinsey report predicts premiums for silver-rated plans in New York State – the middle-of-the-road option – will increase by up to 49 percent in 2016.
“Health Republic is a victim of the foolish logic that is crumbling in front of our eyes. To sustain itself, Obamacare requires young, healthy Americans to pay higher insurance premiums to cover the sick and poor. But young, healthy Americans are already burdened with student loans, rising rents, cell phone bills, and living expenses,” said Donovan. “Even if they purchase the cheapest coverage possible, the sky-high deductibles keep them out of the doctor’s office anyway, undermining the concept of ‘preventive care’ that is supposed to drive costs down.”
