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Yes, most of the changes ARE in place. In 2014 the only major change is removal of the pre-existing condition clause, in 2015 the employer mandate goes into effect, everything else is already in effect.....
okay. Like I said . . . we will all see what is coming down the pipe - INITIALLY - in October, as far as exchanges. So not interested in debating. I was sharing info -- and if you want to further research it, you can, but you won't find the info in the media or from politicians (either side of the aisle).
In 2014, we will start seeing how the system works.
Over the next three years, 2014-2017 - we will get to see what changes are being phased in, including what meds will no longer be covered and what procedures will no longer be covered (and I am referring to Medicaid as well as Medicare).
If it's so great, thousands wouldn't have asked for (and been granted) waivers, unions wouldn't suddenly have seen the light about reduction of their benefits, and legislators wouldn't be holding pow-wows to be excluded because of increased expenditures for their benefits. The ACA is nothing more than a scheme to take money from Medicare and individuals who currently have health care, and use it to provide health care to those who aren't insured.
Eventually, people will be paying more. For much less. Unless, of course, they made the provisions they should have made decades ago when Hillary Clinton started squawking about "affordable" health care.
If it's so great, thousands wouldn't have asked for (and been granted) waivers, unions wouldn't suddenly have seen the light about reduction of their benefits, and legislators wouldn't be holding pow-wows to be excluded because of increased expenditures for their benefits. The ACA is nothing more than a scheme to take money from Medicare and individuals who currently have health care, and use it to provide health care to those who aren't insured.
Eventually, people will be paying more. For much less. Unless, of course, they made the provisions they should have made decades ago when Hillary Clinton started squawking about "affordable" health care.
If you believe society obtains a bargain by electing to allow people to remain uninsured, you obviously haven't heard of programs like Medicaid or CHIPs. We pay one way--or another--for those who aren't insured. Sometimes we pay by having to provide social security disability or public assistance to families who can't work because a wage-earner died or is too sick to work anymore.
I wonder if its occurred to you that if an individual has health insurance they may be able to get minor ailments treated cheaply before they become big ailments. Many cancers can be treated quickly and relatively cheaply if they are discovered in the beginning. If left untreated they will grow until they become incurable or only curable with hugely expensive treatment. Well-care can prevent many diseases. Routine physicals, the treatment of high blood pressure and high cholesterol can save the health care system billions of dollars in money we don't have to spend later on for bypass surgery or rehabilitation of a stroke victim.
I do worry in the sense that health care costs have risen faster than virtually any other service or commodity in the last fifty years. However, the government is in a better position to dictate prices for these services than individuals are.
All your complaining about the ACA ignores a critical point: Something had to change. The system was on a collision course with disaster. People like me have reached a point where we are willing to accept almost any change at all to be rid of a dysfunctional and expensive system.
For this year, my employer stated that old plan wanted more than 20% more even with added deductible and added copay. I'm not sure about 2014.
I think the 50% drop is only referring to people that aren't covered under their employers and need to get a plan themselve out in the market.
The insurance consultants that came in to do the presentation for the plan change stated that a lot of insurance companies are going to the percentage of Medicare route instead of traditional Usual, Customary & Reasonable (UCR). So my old plan went from 90% UCR to 400% of Medicare. He states that the amount that the doctors and hospital receives will be less using the Medicare method and they will quickly decrease that 400% down to as low as 100%. This is the decrease in coverage that people are afraid of.
In addition, even in that article, they quoted someone being afraid that the better doctors will not in the network. This is definitely something that will change once this % of Medicare method creeps into employer sponsored plans. Both doctors and hospitals will go out of network if they are not paid enough. This is a worrying trend.
Just remember, both side of ACA will claim different things but the reality is that these plans will get worst unless a single payer system come into place and private insurance becomes complementary.
Last edited by va-jc; 08-12-2013 at 11:34 AM..
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