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So you are happy with your previously unregulated corporate system?
I never had any problem seeing a doctor when I or anyone in my family needed to, and it cost me hundreds of dollars a month less so YES I, was happy the way it was pre Obamadisaster.
The fines to pay for NOT having insurance are cheaper. And if people get sick, they can jump in at any time even though they haven't paid into the risk pool.
Just remember - this will change, because by 2016, it will be cheaper to have insurance, because the fines will increase. The question is how many insurance companies will be left by then? We know Uncle Sam's Insurance Depot will be around - but who else?
This whole plan is about nuking private insurance companies and having government as the only viable health insurance option in 2016 - except for maybe the super elites.
This is too common misinformation.
One cannot just opt into healthcare insurance once they become sick. If you choose to ignore the 3/31 deadline, you are SOL for the remainder of 2014. You will have to wait until November to buy insurance for 2015.
The ER is required to stabilize a patient, regardless of the patient's ability to pay. This does not include MD bills, medication or rehabilitation. Stabilization does not mean you will not get billed. It also does not mean the hospital is not going to attempt to secure a court order to garnish your wages or slap a lien on your property, if the bill is high enough.
No MD, medical practice or hospital is required to treat an uninsured patient who cannot pay for it. Cancer treatment centers, can and do require uninsured patients to show them the money, before treatment begins.
Obamacare was implemented because it was going to be an improvement. So where is this 'improvement'? Is the question too hard lefty? Obama twisted arms, lied to the American people and had the dems ram it through to his desk for signature. Why? It's worse than before iunless you can tell me how it's better.
Typical lefty who lock-steps behind Obama in total darkness.
You have not explained how the unregulated corporate fascist ER system is better. I already said the ACA's flaw is a wet kiss to an established barnacle of an industry. Reading comprehension?
You have done zero homework other than to believe what fascist Fox News has told you. You see, they fear it will be as popular with Americans as Romneycare has been in Massachusetts. If Obama were a republicon, both you and Faux News would be singing the praises of the President and his program.
Do you even understand the basic premise behind Obamacare? Seems like before expressing an opinion you should at least accomplish that. Fox apostles don't even know if it is bad or not.
Did you know that the program was designed by the conservative Heritage Foundation as a gift to the repub corporate base? Fox hasn't told you that little fact?
One cannot just opt into healthcare insurance once they become sick. If you choose to ignore the 3/31 deadline, you are SOL for the remainder of 2014. You will have to wait until November to buy insurance for 2015.
The ER is required to stabilize a patient, regardless of the patient's ability to pay. This does not include MD bills, medication or rehabilitation. Stabilization does not mean you will not get billed. It also does not mean the hospital is not going to attempt to secure a court order to garnish your wages or slap a lien on your property, if the bill is high enough.
No MD, medical practice or hospital is required to treat an uninsured patient who cannot pay for it. Cancer treatment centers, can and do require uninsured patients to show them the money, before treatment begins.
Are you telling me insurance companies CAN refuse people for pre-existing conditions?
I never had any problem seeing a doctor when I or anyone in my family needed to, and it cost me hundreds of dollars a month less so YES I, was happy the way it was pre Obamadisaster.
Exactly right!! Your insurer gladly covered routine visits and medications, but nobody became seriously ill and too expensive for the company to tolerate. I myself had such a policy. You also had preventive medicine and checkups which the ER system does not provide before an illness becomes extremely expensive to treat. That's why many people liked the old system. People who became "expensive" were a bane to insurers and panels were convened to decide the availability or level of coverage while doctors were forced to await their decision. This is your "death panel".
Are you telling me insurance companies CAN refuse people for pre-existing conditions?
Has nothing to do with pre-existing conditions.
The open enrollment period has always been limited to several months out of the year. Works the same with employer-sponsored insurance unless one is a new hire or is a current hire with a life-changing event (birth, adoption, marriage...) The exchanges are set up the same way.
Now, a person could purchase an individual policy through an individual provider at any time of the year, but, there will likely be, as there are with employer-sponsored plans, waiting periods before one is covered.
And, if one does go this route, forget subsidies, etc. until the next open enrollment period.
As for the OP, I've no issue with employers dropping health coverage.
Personally I doubt now they can get the votes to change to such a single payer system. Heck they will be lucky to get enough votes to change anything others than eliminate the mandate.
That is just a Roger Ailes talking point designed to be accepted at face value by a sleepy Fox News audience - it stands out like a sore thumb. Can you even explain it?
Skyrocketing costs are due to allowing corporations to do as they please, the expensive ER system itself, unnecessary but lucrative procedures performed, and rising costs of technology.
Most hospitals are NFP. Being NFP, does not mean they are not allowed to have a profit. They simply cannot use those profits to pay dividends to their shareholders. So the best of them use those profits to build their brand and either put the competition out of business or acquire them. The less competition, the more they can charge.
Let's say there are 2 hospital based Cancer Treatment Centers, A and B, a few blocks from each other. "A" uses its profits to attract top international research talent to create the aura that they can cure you and they build the brand around this. "B" offers the same treatment plans but can do so for less because they do not invest in research talent or brand building.
When people receive a cancer diagnosis, they want the best care their insurance will buy. They have been bombarded with TV, direct mail and internet ads that tout hospital "A". So patients flock to hospital "A" for treatment.
That "B" charges less, is a drag on what "A" is reimbursed by insurers and Medicare. "A" has to either force " B" to close or buy it. When they succeed, they have reduced local competition and the reimbursement from insurers and Medicare will be higher.
Take private and public insurance out of it, and most people could not afford treatment. There is no way to make it affordable for the masses. I don't envision Walmart installing birthing rooms in the back of the stores and paying MDs $25/hr. at crunch time.
The growing trend seems to favor hospitals seeking to eliminate the middle man, the insurer. If the depth and breadth of their brand is large enough, they can offer their own insurance plans directly to consumers.
Obamacare was implemented because it was going to be an improvement. So where is this 'improvement'? Is the question too hard lefty? Obama twisted arms, lied to the American people and had the dems ram it through to his desk for signature. Why? It's worse than before iunless you can tell me how it's better.
Typical lefty who lock-steps behind Obama in total darkness.
I am no leftie and I do advocate for universal healthcare.
Here are improvements that I see:
People cannot be denied insurance for a pre-existing condition.
People can no longer be dropped from their individual plan, when they get sick
There are no longer annual/lifetime caps on pay-outs.
Annual out of pocket costs, including the deductible are capped.
There's a cap on the premium, based on a percentage of income.
There's a cap on insurer's profits.
There's a cap on annual increases.
Lowers senior's prescription medication prices by beginning to close the donut hole.
Offers tax credits to small businesses to purchase group insurance for their employees.
Adult children can be covered on a parent's policy till age 26.
The open enrollment period has always been limited to several months out of the year. Works the same with employer-sponsored insurance unless one is a new hire or is a current hire with a life-changing event (birth, adoption, marriage...) The exchanges are set up the same way.
Now, a person could purchase an individual policy through an individual provider at any time of the year, but, there will likely be, as there are with employer-sponsored plans, waiting periods before one is covered.
And, if one does go this route, forget subsidies, etc. until the next open enrollment period.
As for the OP, I've no issue with employers dropping health coverage.
OK - so when Obama, or whomever, speaks about insurance companies not rejecting customers because of pre-existing conditions - what is he talking about?
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Can you even explain it?
