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I think that if someone chooses not to have health insurance that they should just be turned away anywhere...sorry, but do you carry auto insurance, homeowners insurance? How about life insurance of any kind? I don't see people complaining about carrying those, and in most states auto insurance is required and no mortgage company is going to give you a loan without having homeowners insurance. In the 25+ years we have had homeowners insurance, we have used it twice, for hail damage to our roof and once for our auto insurance for hail damage to our car.
^^^This.
Fine, you Republican's don't want to carry health insurance, now you are on the hook financially for ALL of it. The $1200 MRI, the $5000 ED bill, no making financial arrangements with the hospital, no applying for Medicaid because you can't work now. Pay your bill, in full please. You like our capitalistic society so well, step up my friend, put your money where your mouth is all you rebels who want to elect out of health insurance.
5 weeks ago I received a kidney transplant from my husband, the bills have started rolling in, thank goodness we have some great insurance! Total cost thus far... almost 450K. My out of pocket so far $250.00. I hope y'all stay healthy, but one small setback will ruin you.
Most self employed people I know including myself are not against carrying health insurance. I've been paying full premiums for 20 years. My point is about how poor the ACA plans are. Your post confirms this. No ACA plan will only require a $250 OOP on a $450, 000 bill. You certainly are lucky to have access to such a plan. We would like the option to have access to such a plan, or maybe a completely refigured plan as businesses can purchase from insurance companies instead of being forced to purchase cookie cutter plans that don't meet our needs. Reconfiguring the definition of individual mandate would go a long way in opening up different choices in insurance coverage for those who purchase their own plans.
Best of luck in your recovery.
Last edited by NSHL10; 01-10-2016 at 09:29 AM..
Reason: added
...pre ACA you were paying for a lot of things you would NEVER get too....testicular cancer, sickle cell or how about all the conditions you could have gotten but didn't. This is just a ridiculous argument all the way around. Do you have any clue how expensive your insurance would be if you got to pick ala carte??? It's very curious that you have no issues paying higher premiums for your house but not for your health . And, again, since you don't seem to get it, you are paying well under the average premium cost for a family plan, but since you are your own employer, you are paying both sides of your premiums....and all the tax breaks that go along with being self-employed.....and you have options you refuse to consider...and your tax breaks are coming out of MY pocket so how about we do away with all of the write-offs for businesses....not to mention, any time you file a claim against any insurance, that claim is coming out to of the pockets of everyone else on that plan...like you illustrated with your wind example. It's how insurance works....and how your health insurance was working WELL before the ACA. Get a real job, get a company plan, pay 1/2 or less of your premiums, simple solution....but then again, you would be subsidizing your co-workers then.
She is paying both sides of premiums yet getting the crappy individual plan, not the employer type of plans with low deductibles and wide networks. And you think she should be happy?
As you've been told over and over again, the tax breaks for the self employed aren't nearly as exciting as you think they are. You seem awfully jealous of the self insured. Maybe you should try it.
qwerty: "I think that if someone chooses not to have health insurance that they should just be turned away anywhere...sorry, but do you carry auto insurance, homeowners insurance? How about life insurance of any kind? I don't see people complaining about carrying those, and in most states auto insurance is required and no mortgage company is going to give you a loan without having homeowners insurance. In the 25+ years we have had homeowners insurance, we have used it twice, for hail damage to our roof and once for our auto insurance for hail damage to our car."
^^^This.
Fine, you Republican's don't want to carry health insurance, now you are on the hook financially for ALL of it. The $1200 MRI, the $5000 ED bill, no making financial arrangements with the hospital, no applying for Medicaid because you can't work now. Pay your bill, in full please. You like our capitalistic society so well, step up my friend, put your money where your mouth is all you rebels who want to elect out of health insurance.
5 weeks ago I received a kidney transplant from my husband, the bills have started rolling in, thank goodness we have some great insurance! Total cost thus far... almost 450K. My out of pocket so far $250.00. I hope y'all stay healthy, but one small setback will ruin you.
How much do you pay each month in premiums? What is your deductible? Do you have a lot of choices in terms of hospitals and doctors who will take your great insurance?
The fine comes in the shape of a charge against your tax refund.
Those who have an income below $9,500 (single person) don't have to file taxes, hence no fine.
Those who can show that the cheapest health insurance available to them would be more than 8% of their income can file for a hardship exemption.
Those who are living off welfare will have an income below this amount. In many states, they will also be eligible for Medicaid (monthly income below $1323 for a single person). However, there are some states that chose not to "expand" Medicaid. See list below.
In most of the states who didn't expand Medicaid, you can only get it if you are:
a. Extremely low income AND
b. Pregnant, taking care of a child under the age of 18, over 65, under 18, blind or permanently disabled.
If you don't fit both "a" and "b", doesn't matter how low your income is, you won't be getting Medicaid. If you get sick, your only option is to go to the emergency room, where the tax payers will pay for your care in the most expensive way possible. Congress has cut back on the reimbursement that hospitals can get for uninsured care, which has placed the community hospitals in those states in a very difficult financial position. By law they can't turn away people in medical emergencies, but they won't be reimbursed anywhere near the cost of the care they'll have to give. So they pass the costs on to those who have health insurance. As Kathryn Aragon repeatedly notes, people who live in these states are already seeing the impact on their health insurance costs, and will probably continue to see pretty steep increases for several years to come.
Several states that weren't going to expand Medicaid had hospital administrators who were very clear with their governors about the impact that would have on the ability of the community hospitals to stay open. Arizona famously reversed their decision and expanded Medicaid when their governor realized the larger implications. Louisiana, as I understand it, is in the midst of trying to decide whether to reverse their previous decision and expand Medicaid this year. Next year it's likely that several more states will expand Medicaid, so as to keep their community hospitals and lower the rate of premium increases.
Homelessness is an interesting issue. Again, depends on your income. I was just reading about the oil boom in Williston, North Dakota, where there are a lot of working people making good money who are living out of their cars and trucks, because the contractors up there haven't yet built enough housing to meet the demand. If you're homeless with no or low income, then the other rules above would address your situation.
State that is thinking about expanding Medicaid: Louisiana (does anyone know if they've made a final decision yet?)
States that are not expanding Medicaid: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming
Last edited by Inquring81; 01-10-2016 at 11:32 AM..
Most self employed people I know including myself are not against carrying health insurance. I've been paying full premiums for 20 years. My point is about how poor the ACA plans are. Your post confirms this. No ACA plan will only require a $250 OOP on a $450, 000 bill. You certainly are lucky to have access to such a plan. We would like the option to have access to such a plan, or maybe a completely refigured plan as businesses can purchase from insurance companies instead of being forced to purchase cookie cutter plans that don't meet our needs. Reconfiguring the definition of individual mandate would go a long way in opening up different choices in insurance coverage for those who purchase their own plans.
Best of luck in your recovery.
Your post had a broken quote but I'll answer anyway, yes, there are ACA plans with premiums and out of pocket costs that low, or lower, for those receiving subsidies...which is the point.
She is paying both sides of premiums yet getting the crappy individual plan, not the employer type of plans with low deductibles and wide networks. And you think she should be happy?
As you've been told over and over again, the tax breaks for the self employed aren't nearly as exciting as you think they are. You seem awfully jealous of the self insured. Maybe you should try it.
I've been self-insured and self-employed, which is why I understand the tax breaks one gets, not just with health insurance, but with all the breaks....and again, you and she both have choices, go on a group plan if you don't like paying for your full premiums...but again, you give up the benefits of being self-employed by doing that....which are many.
I've been self-insured and self-employed, which is why I understand the tax breaks one gets, not just with health insurance, but with all the breaks....and again, you and she both have choices, go on a group plan if you don't like paying for your full premiums...but again, you give up the benefits of being self-employed by doing that....which are many.
Based on your posts you seem to greatly overestimate the tax breaks and other benefits that the self insured get. Your answer is for people to give up their businesses that they worked so hard for so that they can get employer based insurance? Is that what I'm hearing?
...pre ACA you were paying for a lot of things you would NEVER get too....testicular cancer, sickle cell or how about all the conditions you could have gotten but didn't. This is just a ridiculous argument all the way around. Do you have any clue how expensive your insurance would be if you got to pick ala carte??? It's very curious that you have no issues paying higher premiums for your house but not for your health . And, again, since you don't seem to get it, you are paying well under the average premium cost for a family plan, but since you are your own employer, you are paying both sides of your premiums....and all the tax breaks that go along with being self-employed.....and you have options you refuse to consider...and your tax breaks are coming out of MY pocket so how about we do away with all of the write-offs for businesses....not to mention, any time you file a claim against any insurance, that claim is coming out to of the pockets of everyone else on that plan...like you illustrated with your wind example. It's how insurance works....and how your health insurance was working WELL before the ACA. Get a real job, get a company plan, pay 1/2 or less of your premiums, simple solution....but then again, you would be subsidizing your co-workers then.
My husband has testicles - he might get testicular cancer. Who knows about sickle cell - we all have blood cells. Same with all sorts of issues. However, pre ACA it was possible for me to forego the maternity rider. I could also lower my costs by excluding my right ankle from my policy - which I did, because I had torn the Achilles tendon on my right ankle and though I could have bought insurance to cover it, it would have been expensive - and I could just exclude it for two years and drastically lower my premium.
I have a house. My house is in a county with historically higher wind damage and higher claims. In fact, my very house had to have a new roof six years ago due to a tornado. So though I will probably never have tornado damage, it could happen.
BUT I HAVE NO UTERUS SO HOW CAN I POSSIBLY GET PREGNANT? I can't believe you can't see the difference.
My tax breaks aren't coming out of "your pocket" by the way. If you think so, please try to explain that one to me.
I worked a "real job" till I was in my fifties. I don't need your lecture on "getting a real job." My husband and I are self employed. On the advice of our CPA (not you - you've proven to me repeatedly that when it comes to taxes and company structure you frankly don't have a clue), we are restructuring and I will be an employee - maybe that will be a "real enough job" for you but who cares? It still will not lower our premiums AT ALL, by the way, though it may lower our massive taxes. I really have to smile when you say that our "tax breaks" are coming out of your pocket, when we paid an obscene amount of taxes last year - on top of our premiums for substandard health insurance.
Most self employed people I know including myself are not against carrying health insurance. I've been paying full premiums for 20 years. My point is about how poor the ACA plans are. Your post confirms this. No ACA plan will only require a $250 OOP on a $450, 000 bill. You certainly are lucky to have access to such a plan. We would like the option to have access to such a plan, or maybe a completely refigured plan as businesses can purchase from insurance companies instead of being forced to purchase cookie cutter plans that don't meet our needs. Reconfiguring the definition of individual mandate would go a long way in opening up different choices in insurance coverage for those who purchase their own plans.
Best of luck in your recovery.
Of course - I don't know ANY self employed peope who are "against carrying health insurance."
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. And, again, since you don't seem to get it, you are paying well under the average premium cost for a family plan, but since you are your own employer, you are paying both sides of your premiums....and all the tax breaks that go along with being self-employed.....and you have options you refuse to consider...and your tax breaks are coming out of MY pocket so how about we do away with all of the write-offs for businesses....not to mention, any time you file a claim against any insurance, that claim is coming out to of the pockets of everyone else on that plan...like you illustrated with your wind example. It's how insurance works....and how your health insurance was working WELL before the ACA. Get a real job, get a company plan, pay 1/2 or less of your premiums, simple solution....but then again, you would be subsidizing your co-workers then.
