Healthcare... America and the rest

[Seth]

Signed up for work 2014 plan. Looks like the "regular" is the gold/latinum of that table. Company pays more than half. Then there is a high deductible plan.

So my rate went up for me a bit, not 20%.
Turns out there is no technical problem signing up for Obamacare. Just avoid the Gubment site. All insurance is now Obamacare. Each site allows applying for subsidies. You have to log into each offering to get rates. Many states have Anthem or Blue Cross.

But you have to tell the Obamanauts everything about your medical and personal history to get a subsidy, which information is given to the most untrustworthy organ of government that exists: the IRS.

Fuck that.

[Ayaan]

Through work, I get medical, prescription, vision, and dental coverage along with life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment coverage for less than $70 a month. For the year, that is less than the retail price of one of the injections I give myself every other week for my rheumatoid arthritis. Plus, I can also now change jobs and not have to worry about being denied insurance coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

[Ayaan]

Signed up for work 2014 plan. Looks like the "regular" is the gold/latinum of that table. Company pays more than half. Then there is a high deductible plan.

So my rate went up for me a bit, not 20%.
Turns out there is no technical problem signing up for Obamacare. Just avoid the Gubment site. All insurance is now Obamacare. Each site allows applying for subsidies. You have to log into each offering to get rates. Many states have Anthem or Blue Cross.

But you have to tell the Obamanauts everything about your medical and personal history to get a subsidy, which information is given to the most untrustworthy organ of government that exists: the IRS.

Fuck that.

If I recall correctly, that was something demanded by the Republicans.

[Seth]

Signed up for work 2014 plan. Looks like the "regular" is the gold/latinum of that table. Company pays more than half. Then there is a high deductible plan.

So my rate went up for me a bit, not 20%.
Turns out there is no technical problem signing up for Obamacare. Just avoid the Gubment site. All insurance is now Obamacare. Each site allows applying for subsidies. You have to log into each offering to get rates. Many states have Anthem or Blue Cross.

But you have to tell the Obamanauts everything about your medical and personal history to get a subsidy, which information is given to the most untrustworthy organ of government that exists: the IRS.

Fuck that.

If I recall correctly, that was something demanded by the Republicans.

You seem to forget that the Republicans had absolutely NO input on the Obamacare bill. They were not even allowed to READ THE FUCKING THING before it was brought to a vote, much less debate and negotiate. Every bit of this is on the Democrat party and Obama.

Preventing welfare fraud is a good thing. If you choose to participate in government handouts then you sacrifice your privacy. The key word is "choose." Mandating that I turn over my information to the IRS under the guise of preventing fraud involving a program that I don't want to participate in in the first place is an intolerable invasion of my right to privacy and I will not abide it.

[laklak]

Reposting this from FB, someone directed me to a non-governmental calculator site after I bitched about the shit policy the ACA was offering me now that my insurance company is being forced to cancel all their "substandard" policies. Substandard because they don't provide maternity benefits, pediatric benefits, gender reassignment surgery or substance abuse programs. NONE of which I need.

No subsidy, silver plan $9,813 premium, 12,700 copay vs current plan 7260 premium, 10,000 copay. That's if both of us meet all copays. So 22513 vs 17260 = $5253 additional. If we don't go to the doctor at all it will cost $2,553 more than my current plan. Bronze plan is cheaper premium but higher copays, but they don't give that information. So a few hundred less than I got off the ACA website, and this one is saying I can get a catastrophic plan which the ACA site said I couldn't get. However, even if I get a catastrophic plan, the out of pocket is still 12700 vs 10000 on my current plan. It doesn't give me premium info for the catastrophic plan. So if this site is correct and the ACA wasn't, I could get a catastrophic plan that would be equivalent only if the yearly premium was 4560 or 380 monthly. IF I can get on the website and IF they'll insure the two of us for 380 and IF the catastrophic plan is equivalent I'll withdraw my criticism.

Here's my big issue. After being repeatedly told how wonderful this program will be, how we'll keep our plans and our doctors and get better coverage for cheaper, they say "Oh, sorry, you must have misunderstood, we didn't mean YOU, we meant THEM, so cough up another 5 grand a year". So if you work your ass off in third world countries for years, pay your taxes, save your money and retire early, you get it in the neck. No Medicare for another 5 years for me, a lot longer for my wife. We managed to weather the Recession-Not-A-Depression by cutting back expenses, scaling back retirement plans, accepting a lower standard of living while the government bailed out all the fat cats with our money. Now I'm told I'm going to have to do it AGAIN, this time to bail out the poor people. So I get to bail out everyone, rich and poor, because I was stupid enough to work hard? Can you see how this might stick in my craw just a tad?

[Bella Fortuna]

My insurance premium for the kid and myself will be tripling in January. Guh.

[laklak]

It's for the Greater Good, Bella.

[Tero]

Seth, Republicans had 20 years or more to fix healthcare. They did...nothing.

To begin, Fleitman is wrong about the process of passing the Affordable Care Act. Republicans chose to obstruct the law at every turn instead of working to fix aspects they didn’t like or proposing a viable alternative. Fleitman claims Democrats “crammed” the law past Republicans, creating “enduring bitterness.” Hogwash.

We all remember the protest signs depicting Obama as Hitler or a witch doctor, town-hall screaming fits, lies about “death panels,” and shouts of “You lie!” at the president and “Baby killer!” at Democrats in Congress. Fleitman apparently doesn’t remember, but those displays of bitterness and incivility mostly predated the actual legislative process of passing the law.

Republicans had plenty of opportunity for input as the law took shape, despite Fleitman’s revisionist history. In fact, many aspects of the law were originally Republican ideas they disowned when President Obama endorsed them. The “individual mandate,” for example, was proposed by the conservative Heritage Foundation as a personal responsibility provision. Republicans now act as though their idea is tyranny from a dictatorial Obama. As Republicans obstructed, Democrats compromised on single-payer, public option and even contraceptive coverage.

http://www.gazettenet.com/home/8851836- ... umnist-jay

[laklak]

I don't give a shit who passed it or obstructed it. If this passes as "fixing" health care then I don't want to see these morons "fixing" anything else. Might as well let a troop of baboons armed with ballpeen hammers into Fukushima.

[Ayaan]

My insurance premium for the kid and myself will be tripling in January. Guh.

Yuck. Wonder why they are going up so much? Last change for the insurance company to screw you?

I'm paying less than $6 a month more. However, that is only because I upgraded my dental and accidental death and dismember coverages. The medical insurance portion actually went down a bit - but only for those who don't use tobacco. The policy has changed a bit, but on paper the coverage looks just as good. How it works in practice I won't get to see until my first doctor's appointment at the end of January 2014.

[JimC]

My insurance premium for the kid and myself will be tripling in January. Guh.

Yuck. Wonder why they are going up so much? Last change for the insurance company to screw you?

I'm paying less than $6 a month more. However, that is only because I upgraded my dental and accidental death and dismember coverages. The medical insurance portion actually went down a bit - but only for those who don't use tobacco. The policy has changed a bit, but on paper the coverage looks just as good. How it works in practice I won't get to see until my first doctor's appointment at the end of January 2014.

You're covered in case you are dismembered?

Shit, I knew things were dangerous in the states, but sheesh!

[Ayaan]

That should say 'dismemberment.' It covers you for any on-the-job accident that results in losing a body part or death. Given that the place I work in is a lot like a factory with conveyor belts and other moving equipment, it's good to have it.

[Tero]

These things cost nothing. It's just a list of things you can sign up for. I think there is free insurance in business travel. You could get drunk and run over and be covered, world wide.

[Bella Fortuna]

My insurance premium for the kid and myself will be tripling in January. Guh.

Yuck. Wonder why they are going up so much? Last change for the insurance company to screw you?

No idea, but they've only increased a total of $10/month in the previous 8 years, so I was doing pretty well until now. I could have switched carriers during open enrollment and got a cheaper rate, but after you've been with the same place for so long, and overall happy with them, who wants to change and establish those relationships again?

[Tero]

I think the insurance companies will raise their rates and plans as much as possible within Obamacare. There was no requirement to keep old plans. If they had grandfathered plans they could continue some years, most of them did not. Why would they? They get more income from the new plans. Obamacare as is will not be repealed because too many people will be in it for the Obama years. The 8 years was not enough time to put insurance out of business, to a single payer plan with doctors still out of Gubment control. That is, they could still work for cash as well.