How is Obamacare Affecting You?

I served, so I get coverage through the VA. That can be a good thing, or you can die of old age waiting for a Band-Aid.

I'm over 65, so I get Medicare. Sometimes that means almost free (and great quality) medical care, sometimes it means a choice between eating used cat food and getting treated like garbage, or paying almost nothing and getting treated like a king.

I'm sure the ACA, being run by the same people as both of the above, is going to be no better or worse. Some people will die unnecessarily, some will stay alive through the extraordinary efforts of real heroes.

But I can't agree with anyone who says "Obamacare is the best thing that ever happened" or "Obamacare is the worst thing that ever happened". It's going to be an individual thing - fantastic for some people at some times, horrible for some people at some times.

As far as price - if they told you that saving your life right at this moment was going to cost an additional $5 - or an additional $5,000 - would you call that good or bad? Which is more important, the "saving" part or the "$5,000" part?

I think we're looking at it the wrong way. One of the main reasons for the existence of governments is the welfare of its citizens. They should provide necessary medical care as part of that. I may be crazy, but I think my life is worth more than a $5,000 toilet seat.

 

The main reason for government should be the preservation of individual rights, but that's simply my opinion. But then, I also believe Kevorkian was right.

My insurance rates are going up as a result, and my coverage is lowering, as well. So I can't say its done me favors. Everyone I personally know either can't get coverage under ACA or has it getting worse.

 

I can honestly say that Obamacare has hurt me. The cost of my insurance went up. My deductible went up. Its honestly not worth it for me to have any insurance now. I don't think I will ever reach my deductible unless I get decapitated and have to get my head sewed back on.

 

Well, I really don't know how it's affecting me. The company I've been with the past three years the insurance cost has been going up. Each year, the company seems to pick an insurance company with high rates, but I'm sure they are getting some type of discount or not passing it on to the employees. I think Obamacare just gave companies a good reason to pass the cost to the employees without looking like the bad guy!

When I worked for a Food service company between '07-'09, all I had to pay was $50 per month, it was union dues that covered all medical insurance. Who says unions are good for nothing.
I'm not sure how things are going since the Obamacare act with the union.

 

As much as my insurance costs me now, a 6 pack of good beer is definitely out of the question. Looks like I'm gonna have to start drinking PBR again.:bawling:

 

Well, one person I know draws on SSI disability and such and has no other income, and the website for our state still has not been able to find him any plans, period.

 

Almost? My monthiles went from $30 to $70... I'm paying well more than double. Meanwhile, my co-pays and other rates increased anywhere from 15-50%, and my deductible went up by 20%.

 

I'm turning 25 in a week or two.

 

My premium is going down, though my out of pockets for going to the doctor are going up 100% (I paid ZERO out of pocket before). I guess my plan would have been considered a "cadillac plan", it was an HRA plan to which I didn't contribute anything but the amount that was deposited for me more than covered any bills I incurred. That plan is being discontinued so now I have a co-pay and a deductible to meet.

 

My plan and out of pocket premium costs........stayed the same. So I guess it is a positive they didn't go up.

 

Well, I am self employed. I am healthy (thankfully, I drew a good hand in the genetic poker game) so I will not be buying this garbage (and that is the best I can call it) at what it would cost me, or for even half of what it would cost me. Arithmetically, it just makes no sense to do so. I roll the dice, and if I stay healthy as I am now for a few years in a row I can bank enough to pay for most any routine service I need. And I will negotiate the hell out of the cost of services to be provided in advance, assuming it is routine and not an emergency. Cash is king (and a fair number of doctors are already adopting this business model I might add).

A catastrophic medical emergency will simply wipe me out. So what, even with the so-called insurance I would be wiped out financially. The "insurance" being offered under this law isn't insurance. It is an asset stripping scheme to benefit the medical industry (which had effectively hit the limit of what it could screw people out of without the force of federal goons to back up their efforts), conducted by the insurance companies and enforced by the typical government "do it or else". And don't think for a second that the "or else" clause will not be escalated when so many people have made the same decision I have. Get ready for some fireworks in this regard, as there will be a very large blast radius when it comes to a head a year or two from now tops.

When this thing falls on its face (well, factually it has already done that) they will try to salvage it by cranking up the punishment to try and force compliance with this extortion racket. Good luck with that. I can't and won't pay what I don't have. Nor will I forgo a place to live, food to eat or gas in my car to piss money down this rat hole. Force the issue? Go ahead, show up at my door with orders in hand and see what that gets you. Hint: you won't like my response, as it will come at several hundred feet per second. As an added bonus, I then will no longer need any health care. I don't do ultimatums, especially not with degenerate criminals who have no legitimate claim to [try and] force me to do something. By the way, nine rectal cavities (or a majority thereof) dressed in black robes do not confer legitimacy on criminals, even if they say they have.

Look at it this way. You pay outrageous premiums (for anyone in my employment situation anyway) plus large deductibles and still the policy only has an actuarial value of 60% ("bronze") to 90% ("platinum"). Meaning that it only pays 60-90% (dependent on the plan chosen) of the full amount billed.

So if I incur a $100,000 hospital stay - which is easy to rack up now - under the bronze plan I am out the premiums, the deductible and after the coverage kicks in, another... wait for it... $40,000!!! Yeah, I got that scratch right here under the mattress. Oops, sorry it seems to be missing, would you accept payment in a pile of dust mites and an old nudie magazine instead?

Even the platinum plan would cost me $10,000 out of pocket in such a scenario, over and above aforementioned premiums and deductibles. Two words: Chapter Seven. Think of it this way: if you buy "insurance" that still results in your being bankrupted, you have effectively bought nothing; and thrown away a lot of money in the process.

Ya know what? Screw it. I am banking on a black market arising for medicine. People who insist that if abortion were illegal [again] it would just be done in back alleys with coat hangers [and it probably would be] will probably be surprised to find the same effect will be true of medical care before long.

Simply put, if a needed product or service is not attainable by "legitimate" (read: government sanctioned) means, some enterprising people will setup a system outside the lines to deliver that product or service. It may be sketchy and possibly dangerous (and of course the pigs in power will hate it and seek to destroy it), but it will be affordable compared to the official channels, simply because so many people will want it and not be able to get it any other way.

Actually, it is more likely that as a direct result of this law, the medical complex crashes and burns (well, probably the entire economy really, given the % of GDP ascribed to health care spending) and we have to start over with a system that actually works for the greatest number of people (like what we had in the US prior to 1980 for those old enough to remember). Note that even this will not mean everybody gets care.

A certain percentage of people will always get screwed by any system, that is just reality and it will never change. You want a perfect pain and guilt free existence? Die and go to heaven. Sorry, there is no other way to get there. The objective should be not to screw the maximum number of people, which is what barack's bogus bill ultimately does. Those who had no coverage will get some, but it will be lousy and expensive. Those who had good coverage will get much less, and it will be more expensive than it already was. And "subsidies" are just stealing money from your neighbor, co-worker, friends and family to cover your own ass. Nice that you have a fancy pain-free word there to assuage the guilt of that theft.

In the meantime, I am watching this thing continue to screw people all over the place and the consequences of it's implementation have barely begun to be realized. Being I'm one who loves to say "I told you so", I am looking forward to the collateral damage with a certain amount of relish. Especially since those who thought (or even now still believe) that this will be a panacea for medical care will be amongst those most punished by it's effects. They will certainly not get what they thought they had coming in exchange for their abject sycophantic political bootlicking. This has already dawned on some of them.

Paybacks can be truly satisfying sometimes. Useful idiots/true believers are both clueless and dangerous, and I will love hearing them squeal like stuck pigs when they finally realize what they have brought upon themselves. Some will never admit their folly, and will die praising the system that destroys them. So be it. Put it on pay per view, and help defray the cost while entertaining us. The ultimate reality TV, right there.

Of course, the thing that puts me in a rage is that they are taking me (and scores of others) down with them. It's little comfort, but at least I know what is coming and am preparing accordingly. They still think it is all unicorns and rainbows. Where do you suppose that unicorn is gonna put his horn? Looks like we're gonna need a lot more proctologists, stat.

 

Self employed and I had a catastrophic injury plan. It was fine for me because I am healthy and don't go to the doctor more than once a year, if that. My plan got canceled because it didn't meet the minimum requirements. Was paying close to $200 a month with a $2500 deductible (everything is more expensive in NY). Now the cheapest plan I can get is around $350 a month with a $6000 deductible.

I will be forgoing coverage and hoping this law somehow gets repealed in the next few years (I know that probably won't happen but one can dream). I had all the insurance I needed and wanted, now I don't. I guess that pretty much sums up the PPACA for me.

 

Eh, I suspect this law is doomed one way or another. There is simply no way it can work arithmetically. As you have observed, the cost is way too high for piss poor coverage. The "good" coverage is positively obscene on premiums. Most people who have (or rather had) money to buy insurance are now getting destroyed by the cost increases that are already apparent and these will only continue to get worse.

With the amounts involved, this will be equivalent to a second mortgage - or more - for most people. Only the very wealthiest could possibly eat that outlay and still have money left for discretionary spending. The rest of us will be left to chose food, clothes, transportation and housing OR insurance. Simple as that. What this really comes down to is that it will decimate all other parts of the US economy as it rolls out fully. People will be forced to stop buying other things if they are going to be paying for insurance.

So, the fed gov has just created a no win situation for the economy at large. Either health care blows up and sinks us; it is some 25% of GDP after all. I'd point out that was inevitable anyway due to the exponential cost increases YOY, and will be even worse now. Or, we are forced at gunpoint to buy insurance and then can buy little or nothing else. There goes most of the remaining 75% of GDP excluding government spending which of course can never possibly be cut.

Bottom line being that with or without this "law", we're gonna get economically nuked from orbit. It had to happen sometime, no empire lasts forever (irrespective of the arrogant delusions of its rulers and their sycophants). I say bring it on, I'm tired of the inevitable being delayed over and over. We need to take the pain sometime and I'm not getting any younger. At least now I'm at an age where I have some chance of surviving and maybe recovering a decent life after the shit storm that is coming. I've no doubt that we are in the terminal end stages of the scam that this country has become. So, I've no delusions that we aren't going to suffer an enormous fall from grace here. Best that can be hoped for is that something decent can be rebuilt out of the carcass.

 

Yes, I know what my fine/tax will be. I won't be paying anything. Under the law, the only way to collect is by taking from your tax refund. It's pretty easy to make adjustments to my quarterly tax payments so I never get a refund. Just my way of helping this law collapse on itself.

 

How I'm effected by this Bill? Program? Act? is not clear. That said I think that our law(s) are often riddled with ambiguity and most of the authors won't even agree let alone admit
that this legal-speak is there for a reason.


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I'm not sure that this piece of information better answers the question or makes it even more confusing.
All of my " healthcare " has been based on the Veterans Administration system for years.
I got letters from the VA informing me that as a veteran with a disability I didn't need to worry about doing anything with, with-in, for, to, about the new system and it's deadlines.

A friend of mine asked me if I opted in for medicare plan B which I did opt in and some amount of money is deducted from my total SS to allow me the option to go to a doctor of my own choosing.

The letter from the VA did not consider that option. They informed me about my obligation as if I had nothing else except VA Health Care. That was not good advice. Now the time limit has passed for me to make a choice for something called " health care advantage "

This is an example of my first post. The government makes things so confusing and so wordy and complicated that I can't say in a few words how this has effected me because I don't know except to say that it seems like misinformation has left me in a place that I can do nothing about until next year. By then the rules and the laws will probably have changed and I will need new advice on what will serve me best.

I still don't know if I answered the question you were looking for because things are too complicated.