I find it quite remarkable that there has been no discussionhere on OptoBoard concerning personal health insurance coverage under the impending new ACA legislation. Out here in the real world I find that most of my acquaintences have had major changes in their health insurance coverage. Any changes in your life or is if business as usual?
Our company's coverage is not changing at all - we cover our employees using an HSA plan. We have some employees who cover their families with individual policies, rather than paying for our dependent coverage, which is relatively expensive. I expect those individual policies will decline in cost over the next couple of years, due to the increased competition in the exchanges, together with the mandate that requires everyone, including the largest single cohort of uninsured (19- to 29-year old males) to participate.
I suspect that for the 70% of Americans who are covered by their employers, the rollout of the ACA will be a non-event, just as it is for us. For the 30% who aren't so covered, it will be a substantial benefit.
I am pretty sure I already know Dick's feelings about the ACA, but I'll bite.
I'll know more on the Oct. 1st but right now it looks like my wife and I will save hundreds of dollars a month for better coverage than we have now. The current estimates are about $500/mo. in savings. My sister was also able to add her son back onto her insurance because of the ACA which has saved them money as well.
Everyone else I know will pretty much have the same insurance they have now with the following exceptions:
1. Insurance companies now have to put at least 80% of their premiums into actual healthcare. Millions of people have already received refunds.
2. Insurance companies can no longer discriminate against you if you are a woman.
3. Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage because of 'pre-existing conditions' which are usually things that most people have they make up (as they did with me) just to deny care.
4. Insurance companies can no longer provide caps to their coverage or cancel a policy on you if you become ill.
5. Preventive medicine is now covered at full cost.
Frankly I am already on the cusp of not being able to afford medical insurance for which I currently pay $1000/mo. I really can't afford to pay any more. The ACA is the only way my wife and I will be able to continue having medical insurance.
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Mine has changed. Much higher copays...deductible and we pay more for it. I have already found myself opting not to go to the doctor for something because of my deductible. Oh... and my meds are more too.
How is that attributable to the ACA? It's a real question. I'd like to know.Originally Posted by mervinek
My premiums have been going up for years and have had to switch to insurance with less coverage and higher deductibles and co-pays just so I can have some coverage.
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Premiums going up and employer (husband's) no longer able to afford to keep the same plan. They are spending more getting ready for the changes they have to make for the ACA. (Health Care Related Field)
Me too, but they've been going up for years. I can no longer afford $1000/mo so this looks like the only way we will be able to get coverage we can afford.
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For people who buy their own, the exchanges are the place to shop around. Take what you have right now and compare it to what is being offered. Minnesota is averaging about 15% less.
I currently pay about $2,100 annually in pretax dollars for my health coverage. If my employer dumped us into the exchanges, which would be a very real possibility, my premium would be about $5,900 a year based on the calculator Judy referenced. For our recent renewal, our deductibles went up, our employer contribution went down, and the employer contribution to family coverage went away.
The thing to remember is that the "calculator" is just an estimator, it is NOT what you are actually going to pay in your state. The insurance companies now have to compete with each other and that means lower prices.
My oldest daughter, who has spent most of her working life in the food service industry (bartender), with no health care coverage, will now be able to afford coverage. Her base pay of $2.13 per hour really doesn't cover much and is why my husband and I consistently over-tip any server in any venue. The new law may not be perfect, but it is a damn sight better than the alternative for the majority of Americans.
Gary, there's no question that a non-subsidized individual plan from the exchange would cost you more than the group plan subsidized by your employer. Why do you think your employer is going to be likely to "dump you into the exchanges"?
Because business is tough. They are cutting costs wherever possible as evidenced by our recent renewal I described.
Which is exactly why our current system of relying on employers to voluntarily provide health insurance is absurd and untenable.
And let's be honest. Over the last few decades employers have been 'dumping costs' (mostly employee jobs, wages, benefits and pensions) at a record pace. And even though the productivity of the American worker continues to grow and companies are producing record profits, wages are stagnant and benefits are being reduced and eliminated. Unlike Blanche Dubois, the American people should not have to rely on the kindness of their employers for such a critical function.
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I was going to ask the same question.
In my practice, we pay for health insurance for about 5 full time people. Over the past 20 years or so, it has been a constant battle of balancing the cost of the plan vs. the benefits...and the copays the staff has to pay to use the services. Over the years, we have been forced to opt for higher copays...but we still pay the entire cost of the premium for our employees.
Obamacare is not new in this regard. If your employer is going to throw you under the bus and take you off the company sponsored plan and make you go to the exchange, then they are shirking their responsibility...so you can't say that Obamacare costs more...it's because your boss is opting to get out from paying for your insurance. The insurance on the exchange is cheaper, but it may not be cheaper than the "free" or "partially free" plan you previously had.
No matter how hard the government may try to set up a plan, there will always be someone who figures a way to scam it.
That's an excuse...
The cost of health insurance is all part of the wage package. I will be the first one to admit that for those members of my staff that want the insurance, they earn a bit less in hourly wage.
If my boss cut off my health insurance, or switched me to a plan with high deductibles and copayments, I would be in his office the same day demanding an increase in salary. The boss can't have it both ways...unless he really doesn't care if he/she loses you and runs the business into the ground while making a million dollars.
Wow guys, you make it sound like being a business owner is a license to print money. I have been a business owner before, and I assure you that ain't the case. You're right Steve, the employer based insurance model makes no sense. It was started as a market response to wage controls instituted by the federal government during World War II. It is so ingrained in our system now it will be impossible to change lacking a total failure of the system. That is coming. I know this is going to be poo-pooed as a conspiracy theory, but Obamacare is designed to fail. Once it does, because those eeevilll tea baggers won't give the Dems all they want, the only solution will be to implement fully government controlled health care, euphemistically known as single payer. Obama, Harry Reid and many other Dems are on record as saying it's the ultimate goal. Medicaid for everyone! Yea!
I just read an article that says taxes will increase within the next year by around $6000 per TAXPAYER. Can't figure why the republicans are allowing themselves to bullied such. They are the intimate loosers! The ones left standing will be the the people that stand up for the people that voted for them. The 25 republican turncoats face a terrific upcoming campaign. Dumbist "healthcare solution" they could ever came up with.
What is your source for that claim?
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Guys, if you’re going to assert “facts”, it would be very helpful if you would cite some authority. For instance, Speed, where did you read about this putative tax increase? On its face, it’s nonsensical; I pay fairly close attention to changes in taxation, and I don’t know to what you might be referring. It’s certain that taxes overall will increase (as they have, and as they must, given that spending hugely exceeds revenues and there’s no agreement as to what to cut), but the suggestion that every taxpayer will shell out an additional $6000, as you appear to suggest, is nonsense.
Gary, you’re right, the idea that Democrats passed the ACA knowing that it would fail and lead to single payer is a conspiracy theory, and a specious one. I know some of these people. Their objective was to pass health care reform while they had the chance, and in the end, they arrived at what they could pass – that’s it. It’s supremely ironic that it ended up being pretty much the Heritage Foundation’s plan from the early 90’s. But certain Democrats (e.g., Joe Leiberman, see http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125900412679261049.html) were sufficiently in thrall to the insurers that passing “Medicare for all” (certainly not “Medicaid for all” – no one proposed that, so far as I know, and there’s no support for such a thing) was not going to be possible. Even the public option, which had the support of around two-thirds of voters (http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/20...25pollgrx.html), couldn’t pass the then-Democratically-controlled Congress. Why? The same reason they didn’t fix the glaring errors in Medicare part D. The money was on the other side.
If you’re saying that the ultimate goal of many Dems is single payer, OK, I think that’s true (I’m a Democrat, and I know that lots of my fellow Democrats want that, as do I). That doesn’t mean that anyone hopes or expects the ACA to fail; I certainly don’t, and while I’m sure that there are plenty of people who hope or expect it to fail – like, most Republicans (except those who know something about healthcare, see, http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily...-fail-20130408) – the idea that the Democrats passed this program as a subterfuge, even though it was designed by conservative Republicans (http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapoth...idual-mandate/), is quite ridiculous. They’re not that devious. Besides, the very idea that the failure of the ACA would lead to something like single-payer is more than slightly dingy.
I believe that "single payer" is an ideal, much like communism and socialism are ideals, as much as capitalism is an ideal. The fact is that none of these can exist in a pure form because of human nature. Therefore the failure of communism, socialism, and capitalism to survive without interference from government (errr...humans).
Any group of people that believe in an ideal will fight to retain that belief. Any group of people who profit from a belief in an ideal will fight to retain those profits.
My employer made it a real simple decision for me...I had a heart attack 3 weeks ago. Went back to work on the 23rd. Got laid off on the 23rd. No insurance after tomorrow.
I am so sorry to hear that BobV. How unconscionable. Best wishes on your recovery, in more ways than one.
That really sucks. Sorry you had to go through all of that.
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