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Barely helps the uninsured. Lots of them are in states that opt out of the Medicaid expansion, and Obamacare still results in close to 10M people not having healthcare. Scam. And yet, here I am struggling to make ends meet each month, I don't qualify for the subsidy, and I can't afford health insurance.
How is that? By definition, if you don't qualify for the subsidy then you aren't "struggling".
I cannot understand why the government will require me to purchase $2K/year worth of services from a private company simply for existing. This isn't even like car insurance - I don't pay for car insurance because I don't own a car. If I had the option, I would purchase an ultra-high deductible plan instead, but this doesn't qualify under Obamacare.
You are helping to subsidize those who cannot afford a high deductible plan.
If I'm not mistaken, the basic premise behind the law is to cap out-of-pocket health insurance costs to, what is it, 10% of income based on a certain set level of income, in turn based mainly on number of household dependents. If your household income is below that threshold, you receive a subsidy to make up the difference. For example, 10% of $84,000 is $8,400 for a family of four, but you make only $50,000, 10% of which is $5,000, so you receive a subsidy of $3,400. If you make $84,000 or more, then no subsidy and the premium you are paying helps to subsidize those whose income is less than the threshold for their situation.
I think the actual calculation is more complicated than that (local cost of living and any state income tax brackets, among other factors, are also taken into account), but that's the basic premise. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
Yes, it appears that young healthy people and self-employed people are the hardest hit. In your case, according to the rules, you do not qualify for the highest allowable deductible, around $12,000, because, I assume, you are single; the highest deductible is for a family plan, and it is around half that, or $6,000, for a single person.
In my case, my monthly premium for a family plan would have increased by around 25% (or by $300 per month) because we would have the privilege of subsidizing other people's pregnancies (which I don't mind because though that was not available to me and my wife during our child-bearing years, we had to pay cash out-of-pocket and risk the cost of any complications, no insurance available even if I stood on my head and spun around, including for the first year of life, and I remember how scary that was), and also other people's substance abuse counseling and treatment (which I think is going too far).
However, the initial promise was that people could keep their existing plans, the administration reneged on that promise, but as a result of the ensuing protests, the promise to keep existing plans has been extended, in my state at least, for two years (until mid-year 2015, I believe, in my case).
Anyway, the basic thrust of the law is to push everyone who does not otherwise have healthcare insurance into more or less high deductible plans which I think, subsidized or not, are rather complex to understand for the average person. Yes, better than nothing, but we could have done better.
At the time, the current administration had a supermajority in Congress, but they chose to gift the insurance companies more captive customers, in rather expensive and complicated plans, and apparently they did not consider the golden opportunity to implement a single-payer system and end this nightmare.
We look at the results and they show who pays whom.
The new plans are cheaper than the old for those that don't line up at the trough of nepotism business.
It's allowing people to waste absurd amounts of money through insurance that is driving up the price. Reverse the current stupid system by making all events co-pay events with the individual responsible for 5 to 20% of the bill and they will stop electing to have additional procedures.
We procure health insurance through our former employer (we retired quite early so we have a long way to go to Medicare age). We pay the full cost, as there is no employer contribution because we're retired.
For next year, it is $1900 per month for the two of us ($23,400 for the year). It is a very low deductible plan. Pre-Obamacare, we couldn't consider purchasing health insurance in the open market due to the exclusion of significant pre-existing conditions. We may consider Obamacare going forward.
Question: I think I heard that Obamacare insurance rates for next year won't be announced until after the national election. Is that true? I'd like to compare Obamacare insurance prices with that available through my former employer (expensive). Unfortunately, I believe the open enrollment periods do not overlap.
It's allowing people to waste absurd amounts of money through insurance that is driving up the price. Reverse the current stupid system by making all events co-pay events with the individual responsible for 5 to 20% of the bill and they will stop electing to have additional procedures.
That's how it was when I entered the workforce full-time (1989). I paid $12 a week for health insurance through my employer (which was the full premium, no employer contribution) for insurance that didn't cover a thing until you hit the deductible. So I didn't go to the doctor until I really needed to, but when I did it wasn't a big deal because an office visit was only $18.
I find it interesting that insurance companies are the ones who have been the focus of the health care overhaul. Before I started my current job a year ago I was buying essentially the same insurance I had when I started working for about twice the cost ($100 vs. $48), but a local office visit had increased fourfold ($80 vs. $18). given that disparity it seems like they should have been focused on the health care industry rather than the health insurance industry.
2nd year of virtually no increase in my company health insurance premium. 11 years, and every year but last and this it has increased significantly (as a %).
Question: I think I heard that Obamacare insurance rates for next year won't be announced until after the national election. Is that true? I'd like to compare Obamacare insurance prices with that available through my former employer (expensive). Unfortunately, I believe the open enrollment periods do not overlap.
Rates are approved by the individual state insurance commissioner. They are not tagged to any election. Example would be BCBS who always releases their new rates mid October so group plans can make changes if needed. United Heathcare releases rates early October. In some states, once approved the rates become public records that anyone can see.
2nd year of virtually no increase in my company health insurance premium. 11 years, and every year but last and this it has increased significantly (as a %).
I thought company plans didn't have to follow ACA mandates until 2015, so do you even have an "Obamacare" policy?
I thought company plans didn't have to follow ACA mandates until 2015, so do you even have an "Obamacare" policy?
my company's plan is already compliant with any ACA regulations. so, we are already in compliance with the law.
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