The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation has a new health care calculator on their website that breaks down how much the new “Obamacare” system will cost you. This calculator has been mentioned by the Obama administration as a great tool to help people understand the new reform.
What’s interesting however is that some articles are being written suggesting that by playing around with this calculator you can realize that by being unmarried you could save $7,000 – $11,000 under the new healthcare system. Or in the reverse you could be charged $7k-$11k extra for being married. The difference of course being in the amount of taxpayer subsidies you lose by being married and filing jointly.
Whether this incentive to be single that comes from the reform was conscious or not remains to be seen. The other uncertainty is whether or not these articles are simply more political bantering by both sides trying to mischaracterize the program and shed different shades of light on it but its still an interesting issue to consider and may be the straw that broke the camels back for some feuding couples in their decision to get divorced.
