Obamacare Helping or Hurting?

[Endlessnameless]

Was curious if anybody here has insurance through the marketplace and not through employment? Is the insurance good? Does it fit in your budget?


Not a political thread, just genuinely curious how it is. I have employer sponsored healthcare.

 

[fake]

I was able to quit my day job and go 100% freelance by buying insurance through the marketplace. I was able to keep my PCP and specialists. My only complaints are that the offices seemed to have trouble confirming my insurance information. They all had to call my provider directly to confirm rather than the auto confirmation through the computer. Also, I have been trying to find another specialist - I made a list of the ones that are top rated in my area and called them all. None took my insurance. So I'm onto the list of middle-of-the-road specialists.

 

[skate323k137]

Both.

It's helped more people get insurance.

It's hurt many people in the pocket who already had insurance.

The goal of increasing how many people had health insurance was successful, but the goal of reigning in costs was a miserable failure.

For me, my employer plan is/was fine both before and after. My GF who could never afford insurance before actually has nice coverage for cheap because as a waitress her yearly income is low enough to get her a nice plan for next to nothing through the marketplace.

This guy says how I feel about health care lot better than I can:

 

[fake]

Yoshitomo Nara cut-outs on his wall...

 

[smokehouse]

I guess I'll comment on this all from a more broad viewpoint. Let's go back decades, shall we?

-Healthcare is affordable.

-Government/Colleges step in. Gov passes laws helping certain aspects of healthcare industry do what they like. Colleges slowly begin to increase the cost of medical schooling.

Schooling, lawsuits, insurance, materials for health care providers, all of these things skyrocket.

Healthcare is no longer affordable.

Many people can no longer afford health insurance, so they don't have it.

People getting services but not being able to pay for it leaves providers in the lurch. Prices go up even more.

Even more people can no longer afford health insurance, so they don't have it.

Government steps in again, makes health ins mandatory, starts subsidizing insurance, thus making the issue worse.

This entire thing is a fucking disaster...the "affordable health care act" is not what we needed to fix it.


My insurance in 2000 was $40/week for a family plan. Now, just 16 yeas later, it is $220/week. My deductibles we $500/person, $1000/family. Now, $1500/person, $5000/family.

All of this in just 16 years.

Obama care is a band-aid slapped on a gushing artery.

 

[statix138]

This hodge podge private/government subsidized healthcare is a fucking disaster. Either say fuck you to the private insurance companies and go fully single payer or step back and get rid of these crazy rules like requiring people to carry health insurance or they get fined. Then you have other states refusing to expand medicare coverage so people end up in this weird limbo where they cant afford insurance but make to much to qualify for a subsidy. Again, it is a mess.

 

[fake]

They very concept of insurance is bullshit - it inherently leads to costs increasing perpetually. If they were able to foresee how it would turn out, I'd like to think people back in the day would have said "fuck that".

 

[StevenK]

Government steps in again, makes health ins mandatory, starts subsidizing insurance, thus making the issue worse.

Health insurance mandatory? Is that true? Why not just make it a tax then and stop paying private companies, makes no sense to me. Dirty fingers in dirty pies no doubt.

To the original point though, I'm amazed at how few people have complained about obamacare in this thread, when this was all getting set up you were all saying how fucked up it would be. Can I surmise from this that it hasn't been quite as bad as most thought it would be?

Would the whole thing be reversed if a republican was to get into the white house next do you think?

 

[smokehouse]

Health insurance mandatory? Is that true? Why not just make it a tax then and stop paying private companies, makes no sense to me. Dirty fingers in dirty pies no doubt.

To the original point though, I'm amazed at how few people have complained about obamacare in this thread, when this was all getting set up you were all saying how fucked up it would be. Can I surmise from this that it hasn't been quite as bad as most thought it would be?

Would the whole thing be reversed if a republican was to get into the white house next do you think?

I haven't read out too far, but I know this was the first year for "mandatory" health insurance. I had to answer a simple "yes-no" on my tax return this year. I believe that soon, it will be finable if you do not have it (LOL-"too broke for health insurance? Here, let us fine you $$ for not having it." Pure gov logic right there).

I know "Cadillac tax" kicks in soon. "Have an expensive plan? Congrats, now it will be taxable as income." So...my fucking expensive Union health insurance, that I cannot opt out of, will soon be a "Cadillac plan". Fucking great, the outrageous $880/mo I'm forced to pay will now count as income. Brilliant.

 

[GhostSeed]

I believe that soon, it will be finable if you do not have it (LOL-"too broke for health insurance? Here, let us fine you $$ for not having it." Pure gov logic right there).

They started doing this last year. Personally I just paid the fine these past two years because it was cheaper than having health insurance.

 

[smokehouse]

They started doing this last year. Personally I just paid the fine these past two years because it was cheaper than having health insurance.

If you do not mind me asking, how much is the fine?

...and it's so amazingly stupid how all of this is happening...

 

[skate323k137]

Health insurance mandatory? Is that true? Why not just make it a tax then and stop paying private companies, makes no sense to me. Dirty fingers in dirty pies no doubt.

Part corruption, part the fact that many americans are so scared of "government run" health care that they'd rather take it in the ass instead. If you call it a "public option" instead of using the word government, then far more people are open to it.

To the original point though, I'm amazed at how few people have complained about obamacare in this thread, when this was all getting set up you were all saying how fucked up it would be. Can I surmise from this that it hasn't been quite as bad as most thought it would be?

In some aspects it hasn't been that bad. My girlfriend has health coverage for the first time in her adult life. On the other hand, people stuck between being too poor to qualify for Medicaid, and making enough money to easily afford insurance coverage, are getting screwed.

Would the whole thing be reversed if a republican was to get into the white house next do you think?

They'll probably try. The prices will stay insane and less people will be covered again.

 

[HDRchampion]

If you do not mind me asking, how much is the fine?

...and it's so amazingly stupid how all of this is happening...

It was 2% of your income, this year is 2.5%.

 

[lolifoxgirl]

I can't wait to get off medicaid. I'm not a leech, I barely get any healthcare that isn't going to the doctor for bad colds. Will be nice when I can get a better job that offers more though.

 

[smokehouse]

It was 2% of your income, this year is 2.5%.

Serious horse shit.

 

[LoneSage]

Paying a thousand bucks a month for insurance. What a fuckin joke.

 

[BanishingFlatsAC]

I guess I'll comment on this all from a more broad viewpoint. Let's go back decades, shall we?

-Healthcare is affordable.

-Government/Colleges step in. Gov passes laws helping certain aspects of healthcare industry do what they like. Colleges slowly begin to increase the cost of medical schooling.

Schooling, lawsuits, insurance, materials for health care providers, all of these things skyrocket.

Healthcare is no longer affordable.

Many people can no longer afford health insurance, so they don't have it.

People getting services but not being able to pay for it leaves providers in the lurch. Prices go up even more.

Even more people can no longer afford health insurance, so they don't have it.

Government steps in again, makes health ins mandatory, starts subsidizing insurance, thus making the issue worse.

This entire thing is a fucking disaster...the "affordable health care act" is not what we needed to fix it.


My insurance in 2000 was $40/week for a family plan. Now, just 16 yeas later, it is $220/week. My deductibles we $500/person, $1000/family. Now, $1500/person, $5000/family.

All of this in just 16 years.

Obama care is a band-aid slapped on a gushing artery.

$220 a week. Good fucking Lord. That better be the best family plan ever. Mines $70 a week pre taxed.

 

[wyo]

The employee portions are kind of meaningless to compare because some employers are far more generous than others in terms of the percentage of the total insurance premium they pay on behalf of employees.

Obamacare made some positive changes but it didn't go far enough. It has made healthcare more affordable and accessible for some, and increased the burden for others. It's hilarious that relatively well off people in the US expect a free ride or reduced premiums. That's not how this shit works. You pay more, poor people pay less, like fucking income tax. There should be a basic 100% tax payer funded "free" option available to anyone in the US. When the insurance companies have to compete with free, premiums will fall by 50-75% overnight. Most people would end up paying less under this option. So much bloat and waste would be eliminated from the system. People outside the industry have no fucking clue about how many pigs are feeding at the healthcare trough in this country.

EDIT: Stricter limits need to be placed on lawsuits as well. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

 

[norton9478]

I haven't read out too far, but I know this was the first year for "mandatory" health insurance. I had to answer a simple "yes-no" on my tax return this year. I believe that soon, it will be finable if you do not have it (LOL-"too broke for health insurance? Here, let us fine you $$ for not having it." Pure gov logic right there).
.

Actually, 2014 was the first year.

I know "Cadillac tax" kicks in soon. "Have an expensive plan? Congrats, now it will be taxable as income." So...my fucking expensive Union health insurance, that I cannot opt out of, will soon be a "Cadillac plan". Fucking great, the outrageous $880/mo I'm forced to pay will now count as income. Brilliant.

What is the actuarial value of your plan and does it get an exemption due to high retiree costs?

And you don't pay said fine, the employer does.

 

[smokehouse]

$220 a week. Good fucking Lord. That better be the best family plan ever. Mines $70 a week pre taxed.

Being Union, it comes out of my "package"...so it's basically funny money. I get my salary, which doesn't include what they call "health and welfare". I believe that at the moment, it is $5.60/hr...so technically $224/week if I work 40 hrs a week.

My Union package is a giant pile of shit. $.30/hr here for this "fund", $.19/hr there for that "program". $50/month union dues + 3% "working dues".

But, my retirement is one of the best I know of, currently $6.25/hr rolls into it, and my hourly pay is also great. So it's fuck-you on one hand, fuck-me on the other.

I hate/love being Union...

 

[Endlessnameless]

very interesting to read all the comments. I pay $75 biweekly for a family plan and my employer kicks in $1200 a year to our HSA and I contribute $200 a month to it.

 

[BanishingFlatsAC]

Being Union, it comes out of my "package"...so it's basically funny money. I get my salary, which doesn't include what they call "health and welfare". I believe that at the moment, it is $5.60/hr...so technically $224/week if I work 40 hrs a week.

My Union package is a giant pile of shit. $.30/hr here for this "fund", $.19/hr there for that "program". $50/month union dues + 3% "working dues".

But, my retirement is one of the best I know of, currently $6.25/hr rolls into it, and my hourly pay is also great. So it's fuck-you on one hand, fuck-me on the other.

I hate/love being Union...

I bitch about $5.00 a week Union dues....lol. I however won't be complaining when I retire. The only thing I've noticed with health insurance is that there are now data entry fees for labwork. In MA we've been required to have health care long before Obamacare was a thing. I don't know if this lead to an increased workload or what, but I recently had blood test for an underlying strep and this was the breakdown:

Test: $750
Insurance covererage: $750
Out of pocket fee for lab work done at doctors office: $25.00
Out of pocket fee for outside lab to add the results to their database : $20.

So yes, even though the third party lab had zero to do with the test, I still had to pay them money to add it to their records. This isn't the first time this has happened and I'm noticing it more and more.

 

[smokehouse]

I bitch about $5.00 a week Union dues....lol. I however won't be complaining when I retire. The only thing I've noticed with health insurance is that there are now data entry fees for labwork. In MA we've been required to have health care long before Obamacare was a thing. I don't know if this lead to an increased workload or what, but I recently had blood test for an underlying strep and this was the breakdown:

Test: $750
Insurance covererage: $750
Out of pocket fee for lab work done at doctors office: $25.00
Out of pocket fee for outside lab to add the results to their database : $20.

So yes, even though the third party lab had zero to do with the test, I still had to pay them money to add it to their records. This isn't the first time this has happened and I'm noticing it more and more.

Man...medical bills are just flat out confusing and I'm sure it's no accident.

I really hate to admit such a thing, but I've really given up trying to figure it all out.

My daughter had her tonsils/adnoids taken out late 2014. Feb 2015 my wife had a partial hysterectomy. Nov 2015 I had an appendectomy. Those 3 things alone were close to $200K if I remember correctly. Each one was an ocean of paperwork...piece after peice. Invoices from the hospital, each group that worked on us (that actual surgeon, the anesthesiologist, the labs, etc), then came the breakdowns from the insurance company. All of these stacked figures. Covered, not covered, individual deductible, family deductible...then there's the fucking "out of pocket" shit. I literally couldn't wrap my head around all of it.

In the end, it was easily $7K or better. We're still on payment plans with the hospital.

The problem is, you used to get one bill from the hospital that you could pay off. Now, You have final bills coming from the hospital, the Dr. group, and all other groups...all wanting their $$ right fucking now. It's a total cluster.

 

[BanishingFlatsAC]

Man...medical bills are just flat out confusing and I'm sure it's no accident.

I really hate to admit such a thing, but I've really given up trying to figure it all out.

My daughter had her tonsils/adnoids taken out late 2014. Feb 2015 my wife had a partial hysterectomy. Nov 2015 I had an appendectomy. Those 3 things alone were close to $200K if I remember correctly. Each one was an ocean of paperwork...piece after peice. Invoices from the hospital, each group that worked on us (that actual surgeon, the anesthesiologist, the labs, etc), then came the breakdowns from the insurance company. All of these stacked figures. Covered, not covered, individual deductible, family deductible...then there's the fucking "out of pocket" shit. I literally couldn't wrap my head around all of it.

In the end, it was easily $7K or better. We're still on payment plans with the hospital.

The problem is, you used to get one bill from the hospital that you could pay off. Now, You have final bills coming from the hospital, the Dr. group, and all other groups...all wanting their $$ right fucking now. It's a total cluster.

My daughter had a string of colds coupled with Conjunctivitis and a double ear infection. She wasn't taking much of her bottle and she we were worried she was getting dehydrated. My PCP was off so they directed me to the on call doc and he instructed us to go to the ER. They ran a slew of tests, and after being in the ER for 6 hours they got some formula in her and sent us home. From exposure my wife and I both got sick, and I somehow got Scarlet Fever which prompted an ER visit, an urgent care visit, and several follow ups to my PCP. All in all I'm at over a G in copays alone. The worst part is as you mentioned, the first "bill" you receive is never the right one. You don't pay the hospital bill, but you pay the bill from your health insurance.which is the corrected one. They will pay the hospital for you after they received your deductible payment. However the corrected bill doesn't come out until a month later and by that point the hospital has you in "pre collections" and that's when the phone calls start. If you were to wait till the due date to pay the corrected bill, the hospital will have sent your original bill to a full fledged collection agency at that point.

It's a gigantic cluster fuck. I feel awful that you're dealing with this BS too, though it seems on a much grander scale. Hope everyone is feeling better at this point.

 

[HDRchampion]

Man...medical bills are just flat out confusing and I'm sure it's no accident.

I really hate to admit such a thing, but I've really given up trying to figure it all out.

My daughter had her tonsils/adnoids taken out late 2014. Feb 2015 my wife had a partial hysterectomy. Nov 2015 I had an appendectomy. Those 3 things alone were close to $200K if I remember correctly. Each one was an ocean of paperwork...piece after peice. Invoices from the hospital, each group that worked on us (that actual surgeon, the anesthesiologist, the labs, etc), then came the breakdowns from the insurance company. All of these stacked figures. Covered, not covered, individual deductible, family deductible...then there's the fucking "out of pocket" shit. I literally couldn't wrap my head around all of it.

In the end, it was easily $7K or better. We're still on payment plans with the hospital.

The problem is, you used to get one bill from the hospital that you could pay off. Now, You have final bills coming from the hospital, the Dr. group, and all other groups...all wanting their $$ right fucking now. It's a total cluster.

Man that sucks, but at least you are using your insurance...I haven't been to the doctor in 7+years & i have to continue to pay this "mandatory" health insurance...I think by the time i get to medicare age, i would have contributed way over $100K.

With medical bills, its always best to save for emergency, so when you actually have a medical bill that's above $500 after insurance, the hospital at times will work with you because they would rather not go to collections. If paid in full, you can at minimum get 10% off.