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Old 04-01-2014, 01:01 PM
 
Location: The beautiful Rogue Valley, Oregon
7,785 posts, read 18,748,146 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Natural510 View Post
Right, my current insurance would be roughly the same $400/mo if my employer paid nothing. Which is why those who don't receive coverage from their employer would find it unaffordable, to counter your assertion they're simply too lazy to look it up.
It was even less affordable pre-ACA, if you were paying out of your own pocket.

Since our insurance isn't provided by an employer, we have been paying 100% of our premiums for the last 8 years. The premiums (unsubsidized) for a Silver plan under the ACA are less than 2/3 of my previous plan, and for far better coverage. Of course, the ACA premiums are also 12.5% of my AGI, which is spendy, but it is better than it was before.
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Old 04-01-2014, 01:05 PM
 
1,026 posts, read 1,187,950 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Natural510 View Post
Right, my current insurance would be roughly the same $400/mo if my employer paid nothing. Which is why those who don't receive coverage from their employer would find it unaffordable, to counter your assertion they're simply too lazy to look it up.
I disagree. I don't find $400 a month outrageous for insurance. I have paid more than that for most of my adult life.

Last edited by raindrop101; 04-01-2014 at 02:06 PM..
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Old 04-01-2014, 01:55 PM
 
2,420 posts, read 4,353,523 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raindrop101 View Post
I disagree. I don't find $400 a month outrageous for insurance. I have paid more than that for most of my adult life.

I was thinking the same thing. In thinking about this, I really think it is a question of conditioning. If for what ever reason, you have been paying little or no premiums for health insurance or had pretty good insurance provided to you by previous employers, you have not built health care into your budget, and therefore find it unaffordable if now faced with paying for it, or a good portion of it.

So if your previous budgets never put healthcare in the expense column, right up there with paying rent or your mortgage and your auto insurance, you will most likely find $400 unaffordable now. Individuals who have always had to pay the full cost of health insurance for themselves or their families, see things very differently, as it has been an item budgeted for and put up there in the column right underneath rent.
My son, who was a low wage earner and had no company insurance was making only about $24,000 a year and his insurance premium was $420 a month. So to him, insurance now is finally affordable for him, and paying $200 a month instead of the $420 is a dream come true.

The ACA has put out very generous subsidies for people who are lower income earners in order to make it affordable for them. The problem is, for someone not accustomed to budgeting for healthcare, it is now a reality shock, as the expense is the next biggest monthly expense you may have. For some people it can be more than there rent or mortgage. In other words it can be a big chunk of your income. No one will disagree with this. Those of us who have had to pay the whole enchilada ourselves have been screaming this for years.

With employers cutting back more and more now, more people are feeling the sting of the bite. I like to refer to it as "wake up time". We have always had health insurance, but in years past it was not the budget buster it has become today in relation to incomes. Health care costs have risen steady, faster than any other industry. However, wages haven't. There lies just one of the problems.
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Old 04-01-2014, 02:14 PM
 
1,026 posts, read 1,187,950 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by modhatter View Post
I was thinking the same thing. In thinking about this, I really think it is a question of conditioning. If for what ever reason, you have been paying little or no premiums for health insurance or had pretty good insurance provided to you by previous employers, you have not built health care into your budget, and therefore find it unaffordable if now faced with paying for it, or a good portion of it.

So if your previous budgets never put healthcare in the expense column, right up there with paying rent or your mortgage and your auto insurance, you will most likely find $400 unaffordable now. Individuals who have always had to pay the full cost of health insurance for themselves or their families, see things very differently, as it has been an item budgeted for and put up there in the column right underneath rent.
My son, who was a low wage earner and had no company insurance was making only about $24,000 a year and his insurance premium was $420 a month. So to him, insurance now is finally affordable for him, and paying $200 a month instead of the $420 is a dream come true.

The ACA has put out very generous subsidies for people who are lower income earners in order to make it affordable for them. The problem is, for someone not accustomed to budgeting for healthcare, it is now a reality shock, as the expense is the next biggest monthly expense you may have. For some people it can be more than there rent or mortgage. In other words it can be a big chunk of your income. No one will disagree with this. Those of us who have had to pay the whole enchilada ourselves have been screaming this for years.

With employers cutting back more and more now, more people are feeling the sting of the bite. I like to refer to it as "wake up time". We have always had health insurance, but in years past it was not the budget buster it has become today in relation to incomes. Health care costs have risen steady, faster than any other industry. However, wages haven't. There lies just one of the problems.
I agree completely. I have also found that many people are comparing prices on the exchange with a policy that is partially or heavily subsidized by an employer and calling the exchange plans expensive or not affordable. It is not a fair comparison at all.
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Old 04-01-2014, 03:40 PM
 
2,420 posts, read 4,353,523 times
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In a more direct answer to the OP article posted. Yes, I find it amazing how little most people know about this, and what they know is most often incorrect. I guess because I am a political animal at heart and health care reform has always been an issue with me, I assumed that it would be something that everyone would be tuned in to.

But apparently not so. I am reminded of those "man on the street" questions that Jay Leno and occasionally others would do, where they went out in the street and asked some pretty basic questions about government or even the new health care, and the responses were amazing. I guess there are just a lot of people who are low level information types out there, and unless something hits them in the face and effects them to an extent that matters to them, they just go blissfully on with their lives.
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Old 04-02-2014, 10:35 AM
 
Location: Oxygen Ln. AZ
9,319 posts, read 18,690,831 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by golfgal View Post
To counter your assertation that I said that--the report is saying that....

sorry....people make choices to spend their money in many ways and not paying for health insurance is one of those ways....go out and talk to the uninsured and find out for yourself....I talk to people about this daily and their #1 reason--they say--is because they can't "afford" it and they don't "need" it because they don't get sick...but a quick examining of their budget says otherwise....
I agree with you that many people would rather take long trips, buy expensive homes they can barely afford and BMW's to match rather than have to actually pay for their healthcare. We will punt/give up more "things" as we have in the past. I would rather have medical coverage than a new car, big home. We live small and I think we will survive the sea change.
On a side note: Our good friend who had pre existing conditions just got her ACA policy with her health card and she pays $500 a month with no deductibles. At our respective ages, this seems like a fair price to pay for a Platinum plan. Maybe things will shake out soon and we will all know the truth of this matter. I am hoping next year the web site will be fixed.
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Old 04-02-2014, 11:30 AM
 
Location: Southeast Texas
764 posts, read 1,416,181 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by golfgal View Post
You are making the choice to go back to school--great, fine, but you do have options. As for the higher deductibles--do you use your plan to the point of reaching those deductible levels? Did you look into the option of a HSA plan so your contributions can be tax deductible? $400/month is pretty easy to come by working very part time in a retail job or such, can you get a part-time job to pay for your premiums??? It comes down to choices. A non-marketplace plan, for which you would qualify, will not be $400/month. Did you look at those for just you? Employers are not required to pay 50% or more for spouses and/or children, but many to contribute to some of those costs.
Hmmm, HSA plan - I was under the (mistaken?) impression that an individual couldn't open one - it had to be through an employer. I will look into that. Perhaps my options aren't as limited as I believed. Thanks!

My program is pretty intense and requires more than the normal amount of studying. They tell us in orientation that if you work, you most like will NOT be successful. They highly recommend not working while in the program. I do agree with you that it does come down to choices. I've tried working while in school, and they were not kidding when they said that working while in the program would greatly impact your success.
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Old 04-02-2014, 03:09 PM
 
2,420 posts, read 4,353,523 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pnc66 View Post
Hmmm, HSA plan - I was under the (mistaken?) impression that an individual couldn't open one - it had to be through an employer. I will look into that. Perhaps my options aren't as limited as I believed. Thanks!

My program is pretty intense and requires more than the normal amount of studying. They tell us in orientation that if you work, you most like will NOT be successful. They highly recommend not working while in the program. I do agree with you that it does come down to choices. I've tried working while in school, and they were not kidding when they said that working while in the program would greatly impact your success.
I thought a HSA had to funded by earned income, but maybe I'm wrong on that. Golfgal will clarify for sure.
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Old 04-02-2014, 04:03 PM
 
20,793 posts, read 61,108,358 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pnc66 View Post
Hmmm, HSA plan - I was under the (mistaken?) impression that an individual couldn't open one - it had to be through an employer. I will look into that. Perhaps my options aren't as limited as I believed. Thanks!

My program is pretty intense and requires more than the normal amount of studying. They tell us in orientation that if you work, you most like will NOT be successful. They highly recommend not working while in the program. I do agree with you that it does come down to choices. I've tried working while in school, and they were not kidding when they said that working while in the program would greatly impact your success.
Are you thinking about a Flex Spend plan (or maybe a Health Reimbursement Account)? Those are employer sponsored. The only qualifications for an HSA plan is that the medical plan has to be tax qualified, you can't be covered under another plan (spouse, Medicare, VA, etc.), and you are under 65 to make contributions to the plan. Anyone that meets the qualifications can open an HSA. It's just a savings account at your bank and you own the account. Your employer has nothing to do with that account unless they contribute to that account for you--in which case you generally have to open the account at a certain bank--but so what.

Quote:
Originally Posted by modhatter View Post
I thought a HSA had to funded by earned income, but maybe I'm wrong on that. Golfgal will clarify for sure.
No--it can be funded by anything---as long as you meet the requirements. Your parents can give you money, you can do a one time 401K/IRA roll over into the account, your employer can put money into the account, etc.

Main difference between a Flex and an HSA is that unspent dollars in a Flex go away at the end of the year but the money in your HSA is your money forever.
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Old 04-03-2014, 11:20 AM
 
Location: Tennessee
10,688 posts, read 7,655,186 times
Reputation: 4674
Default Other options in some states

Some states have developed Co-op health insurance companies that are apparently doing quite well, initially, under Obamacare.

Quote:
Many of us know the names of some of the big U.S. health insurance companies — like Blue Cross, Aetna and Wellpoint. But what about CoOportunity Health, or Health Republic Insurance of New York? These are among 23 new companies started under the Affordable Care Act. They're all nonprofit, member-owned insurance cooperatives that were begun, in part, to create more competition and drive prices down.
---------------
A couple hundred miles and several mountain ranges away, John Morrison has a comfortable law office in Last Chance Gulch, the downtown historic district of Montana's capital, Helena. Morrison was the first president of the National Alliance of State Health CO-OPs.

"In some states, co-ops are dominating the marketplace," Morrison says, "with 80 percent of the enrollees going to the co-op."

That's in Maine. Morrison says most co-ops are very happy with their enrollment numbers. Their rates are often the lowest that are available through an exchange.


"The co-op states have 8.4 percent lower premiums, on average, than [other states] across the marketplace," says Morrison. "So co-ops are creating that competition. They're keeping rates down in the states they're operating in."
-------------

But Montana's co-op still has managed to win about 40 percent of the new exchange market. Co-ops now have 50 percent of the new market in Nebraska and Iowa, and 60 percent in Kentucky. Dworak attributes Montana's early success, in part, to tirelessly beating the bushes for customers.
Small Health Insurance Co-Ops Seeing Early Success : Shots - Health News : NPR

As one enrollee in Montana's co-op pointed out:

Quote:
"When you buy into a co-op, that entitles you to one vote in the decision-making, and I think it's the one business model that actually aligns with our democracy," he says. Sutton was eager to join the new Montana Health CO-OP. He thinks if members own the company, they're less likely to overuse health care — and that saves everyone money.
same source

Guess we'll have to see how it plays out in the long run. If I wasn't on medicare I'd jump on the co-op bandwagon if one were available in Texas.
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