A (non)success story about the Affordable Care Act

[Brent]

and other people were previously uninsurable for pre-existing things. but screw the people this helps, because its costing me something, right?

also the OP has come here to moan before he's even tried looking for a more affordable plan. priorities.

Hopefully you can understand why it might be frustrating.

I am finding out I have to change my coverage, that similar coverage offered is much more expensive, and I cannot pay it. I cannot keep the previous coverage and plan I had before, despite Obama telling me I could. I didn't ask for my coverage or premiums to change.

I will naturally do thorough research, hopefully I can find an alternative that provides good coverage at an affordable cost for me.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

True universal healthcare or a single-payer option would be far superior

I'm totally on board with this. And I say this *as* the kind of Republican who should, by what little logic is left in politics these days, be against the ACA.

Not only would it be superior, it would simply be more efficient. Think about it - nothing to sign up for, or wonder if you qualify. You'd automatically be taken care of, with negligible impact on your own personal finances. Why is this even being debated?

 

[Brent]

The ACA is not really the same kind of national health care system like Canada or Brittian has. This thing is very different, and I hope people of other countries with working national healthcare can differentiate what the ACA really is.

I wish we had what you guys have. ACA isn't it.

I don't mind the US having it, but it needs to be fixed and major changes made. Obama also said we'd be able to keep our coverage and plans, and that was obviously not true. We were lied to up front. How can that be a good thing.

 

[BillJ]

I will start of by stating I am self employed and pay for my own insurance.

My insurance allowed me to have co-pay at the doctor office, and a great prescription cost. My premium was $86.88 a month.

These don't pass the smell test. Even with heavily subsidized coverage from her employer, my wife would be paying this much as her portion of her insurance coverage every two weeks if she were single.

 

[Saito S]

I didn't notice the self-employed/pay for own insurance part before - thanks for the catch, Bill.

But assuming I do still take Brent at his word about the coverage he had, then I would have to amend my statement from my previous post, from "you were quite lucky" to "you were extraordinarily lucky, I mean holy &$%#."

Brent, it's a good thing because it's still helping far more people than it is hurting and has already quite literally saved lives.Is the current situation ideal? Hell no. Is it far FAR better than what we had before? Hell yes.

I'm sorry, but that's reality. A good plan being snatched away from you sucks, yeah. No one is questioning the simple fact THAT it sucks and no one is saying it's somehow good that it happened. But insurance companies have been pulling the rug out from under people and ripping people off and screwing over those with serious medical conditions for decades. This is nothing new, they're just using the ACA as the latest scapegoat for more of the same.

It's highly unlikely that Obama willfully, intentionally lied. It's far more likely that this was a combination of bad word choice and internal crossed wires about how the ACA would impact existing plans. Which isn't good - the rollout and implementation of the law have seen pitfalls, to be sure. But he didn't go up there intending to mislead people.

No, the ACA is not universal healthcare. It is not what they have in Canada or Europe. Given the political reality that exists in this country and the attitudes that many on the right have toward anything perceived as "socialism", moving ALL THE WAY from our pre-ACA system straight to true universal, not-for-profit healthcare in one fell swoop was completely impossible. It's going to take miles upon miles of steps to reach anything even approaching that kind of end goal. Something like the ACA, with its compromises and flaws and lack of punch when it comes to regulating insurance companies, is necessary as a first step in that long road. It was, quite literally, "pass something flawed like the ACA" or "never reform healthcare at all."

And, what state are you in? You still haven't provided that info (unless I missed it). That could greatly impact your options.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I agree, $86 a month for a self-bought individual plan that covered pre-existing conditions is crazy. Very few people had access to plans like that at prices that low.

Something the ACA has done that I imagine some don't agree with is essentially "normalizing" plan designs so you can't pick and choose what things you want to cover and what things you don't. This makes sense, considering you never really know what might happen to you, medically, and a big part of the ACA's purpose is to help stop people from being bankrupted by unexpected medical bills.

I don't know how much you make, Brent, but when you look into the marketplace, also check to see whether you qualify for any of the federal subsidies. If you do, those will help reduce your premium costs.

I will say that paying less than $300 a month for your own individual plan is still a great deal compared to what most Americans get. I suspect your $86 plan didn't cover all that much--in fact, it's a virtual guarantee, since your insurer discontinued it due to it not conforming to ACA rules. You could argue that it was covering the things you wanted it to cover, but then I would ask what it didn't cover. Did it lack catastrophic coverage? What did it not pay for?

 

[HIjol]

You all have raised good and balanced points regarding the ACA. What I have not read in this thread is a discussion of Deductibles. From my understanding of co-pays, they are only half of the story. Maybe the OP has a very high decuctible. Or, maybe I did not read carefully enough.

 

[Squiggy]

The American public was lied to, period.

Like Benghazi?

 

[HIjol]

Hmm...searched the database for The Affordable Healthcare Act and did not find a "Benghazi" plan...perhaps this is the one that covers (up) kidnaping, burns, explosions, murder, assassination and otherwise nefarious political intrigue? Wonder what the premium is on that baby. Plenty, I bet.

On the other hand, Squiggy I know you to be a knowledgable man, and not afraid to put it all out there. You know none of the relationships and agreements and partnerships any country/region in the world has with any other country/region in the world is anything but filled with lies and dissemble-ment and obfuscation and Tom Clancy. Straight Forward? No. Hold back. Of course. Full Discosure? Please...

It is the world we live in, and it really is that (horrifying) simple.

Would that we were closer to the ideal strived for in Star Trek. Would that we could trust and be rational with " both sides" having the Truth. And, shit, now there are sometimes 4,5 and even six sides.

But we also manage some good...

...from time to time...

“You're an interesting species. An interesting mix. You're capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you're not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other.”

Carl Sagan, Contact

Squiggy, think a bit before you answer, if you are planning on answering...I really do want to fear your considered, heartfelt response.

 

[ichab]

So, your insurance company fucks you over, and it's the fault of the ACA?

You really need to stop watching Faux Noise so much...

ACA was the catalyst. The plan wasn't an ACA approved plan, and they had to drop it.

If ACA did not exist, my plan wouldn't be changing, and I'd still be paying the same for the same coverage.

Sorry for what happened to you Brent but all you'll get here is a bunch of obama fan boys telling you how great ACA is and that the millions of people whose plans were dropped weren't really good plans to begin with. The insurance where I work also had to raise their rates due to ACA and now no one uses it.

There were some good things that came with ACA but let's not pretend that everything was sunshine and rainbows and that this president didn't lie when he told the american people that if they liked their plan they could keep it.

 

[LordMudd]

Personally, since it was Obama's bill, he is responsible for the difference. I would send him a bill and a notation that because he willingly submitted the bill, his consent to pay is automatic, as opposed to him actually having a case for the defense if a bunch of no name politicians had put his name on it without his knowing.

Everyone should be responsible for their actions, like the ID10T who causes the car wreck that makes me an hour late for work. Time is money, so where is the app that lets me bill him for my time? Really surprised that, with the way people keep cranking out apps, that nobody has done that one yet.

CCC.

 

[ichab]

Personally, since it was Obama's bill, he is responsible for the difference. I would send him a bill and a notation that because he willingly submitted the bill, his consent to pay is automatic, as opposed to him actually having a case for the defense if a bunch of no name politicians had put his name on it without his knowing.

Everyone should be responsible for their actions, like the ID10T who causes the car wreck that makes me an hour late for work. Time is money, so where is the app that lets me bill him for my time? Really surprised that, with the way people keep cranking out apps, that nobody has done that one yet.

CCC.

I'd settle for politicians to be put under the same rules as the rest of us. If ACA is such a great plan then every politician from the President down should be subject to it. Let them deal with losing their government funded plans and being put on private insurance like everyone else. Then they can finally be telling the truth when they say "I feel your pain."

 

[Manticore]

So... the valid points that everyone's made about how there's options available and it's helped a great many people far more than it's hurt others ...and we're replied to with "Obama fanboys" and "There's an app for that"?



Someone, please roll a Discord "Haters gonna hate" macro.

 

[Kemaiku]

So... the valid points that everyone's made about how there's options available and it's helped a great many people far more than it's hurt others ...and we're replied to with "Obama fanboys" and "There's an app for that"?



Someone, please roll a Discord "Haters gonna hate" macro.

I don't have mine to hand anymore but I know what you mean.

ichab does have a long history of attacks on the left and either refusing to properly engage in the discussion or continuing to double down on the baseless comments.

Then again maybe he's still a little sore over being run out of the place that shall not be named for his even more tasteless and frankly racist drivvle there.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

So, your insurance company fucks you over, and it's the fault of the ACA?

You really need to stop watching Faux Noise so much...

ACA was the catalyst. The plan wasn't an ACA approved plan, and they had to drop it.

If ACA did not exist, my plan wouldn't be changing, and I'd still be paying the same for the same coverage.

Sorry for what happened to you Brent but all you'll get here is a bunch of obama fan boys telling you how great ACA is and that the millions of people whose plans were dropped weren't really good plans to begin with. The insurance where I work also had to raise their rates due to ACA and now no one uses it.

There were some good things that came with ACA but let's not pretend that everything was sunshine and rainbows and that this president didn't lie when he told the american people that if they liked their plan they could keep it.

 

[HIjol]

So... the valid points that everyone's made about how there's options available and it's helped a great many people far more than it's hurt others ...and we're replied to with "Obama fanboys" and "There's an app for that"?



Someone, please roll a Discord "Haters gonna hate" macro.

Sadly, it seems to be the case. Seems we are all for the concept of helping our fellow human, especially when in need...

...until we aren't

 

[ichab]

So... the valid points that everyone's made about how there's options available and it's helped a great many people far more than it's hurt others ...and we're replied to with "Obama fanboys" and "There's an app for that"?



Someone, please roll a Discord "Haters gonna hate" macro.

I don't have mine to hand anymore but I know what you mean.

ichab does have a long history of attacks on the left and either refusing to properly engage in the discussion or continuing to double down on the baseless comments.

Then again maybe he's still a little sore over being run out of the place that shall not be named for his even more tasteless and frankly racist drivvle there.

I still post there so nobody ran me out of anything. And I do engage but the trouble is some are so far up their party's butt that they can't have anyone disageeing with them. They'd rather play the race or gender card than actually discuss their differences like normal adults do.

 

[MacLeod]

Any new peice of legislation will affect people in different ways, some will be worse off, some better off and for some it won't make any difference. The ones who are worse off generally don't like it, whilst those who are better off tend to favour it.

 

[ichab]

Any new peice of legislation will affect people in different ways, some will be worse off, some better off and for some it won't make any difference. The ones who are worse off generally don't like it, whilst those who are better off tend to favour it.

This. I really am glad that insurance companies can no longer deny sick people coverage and that many of their deceptive practices will no longer fly. It just sucks that people were lied to in order to sell ACA and that some of its biggest supporters have such a dissmissive attitude towards examples like the OP.

 

[Manticore]

Any new peice of legislation will affect people in different ways, some will be worse off, some better off and for some it won't make any difference. The ones who are worse off generally don't like it, whilst those who are better off tend to favour it.

This. I really am glad that insurance companies can no longer deny sick people coverage and that many of their deceptive practices will no longer fly. It just sucks that people were lied to in order to sell ACA and that some of its biggest supporters have such a dissmissive attitude towards examples like the OP.

Speaking for myself, I'm not dismissive, and neither are several others. We're trying to get information from him about his state and the state of its exchange so that he can explore his options.