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Healthcare insurance is geographically rated. For example, Florida has 69 regions. The same insurer can offer the same plan to the same demographic at different premiums within a state, dependent upon region.
What determines premium within region includes:
Number and type of claims made
Ratio of beds and healthcare providers vs the local population
Competition amongst insurers within a region.
Insurers have been exiting the Individual Plan Market for more than 25 years and have been doing so primarily because premiums do not cover claims made. For this reason, insurers may exit the market or “ redline” less healthy regions or charge substantially higher premiums in less healthy regions.
If one lives in a zip code with a high number of say auto theft/ vandalism claims, one is going to pay a higher premium than if they lived in a different zip code with lower rates of theft/ vandalism, regardless of personal claim history.
All insurance mutualizes ( socializes) risk exposures.
I remember those years dealing with those plans with a relative with a congenital health issuemainly as a medical professional I saw way too many kids and families priced out or refused the care they needed.we should never go back to those times again.so far any plans promoted by this administration would , hence McClain no ---bless that man!
Having said this , I agree that means testing, including assets, makes more sense than just income.
As an aside, There are “ very wealthy” people who live off of secured revolving lines of credit and do so to avoid income taxes.
MY BIL inherited $$ plus their money as a couple is probably worth $4-5 Million. They retired at 58 and their big concern was Insurance (as if they had a problem buying a policy). He may not be "Wealthy" but he's pretty close.
With no income they were able to qualify for a nice subsidized ACA plan. I'm sure they did pick one of the better plans.
Many of my early retired friends have used the ACA as their Subsidized Insurance until Medicare kicks in. It's part of their retirement planning.
How much in medical bills do you think the average American can afford to pay out of pocket and what would you suppose the average yearly medical bill would be for someone self paying their medical expenses?
I've been without insurance. It's a whole lot less, believe it.
Example: I went to the same urgent care for 2 separate and identical visits (same level of care, same physician seen).
First visit there was something wrong with my insurance card so I had to pay right there without insurance: Cost was $150 without insurance.
Second visit insurance card worked fine. They billed my insurer $450 for the same type of visit and level of service. Of which I had to pay part of course, when my insurance company then billed me. And what I had to pay the insurer was waaaaaay more than the $150 I paid directly to the urgent care facility for the visit WITHOUT insurance coverage.
Tell me again how insurance makes ANY service cheaper?
Here's a tip: Stop relying on your pills. Lose weight. Stop smoking. Don't drink. Lay off the carbs and sugar. Go for a walk every day. Take supplements. I would guess up to 50% of ALL healthcare visits and services would be unnecessary if people took that responsibility.
Healthcare insurance was created to be a SAFETY net. Not an everyday expense. If you live your life that way, you'll be fine. Most don't want that approach and run to the doctor at every sniffle and hiccup. They go home eat a bag of doritos, drink a 2L of soda and watch tv for 6 hours, than complain how much healthcare costs when they have diabetes and high BP.
again not true.first of allthe correct term is A.C.A.,
A correction that is irrelevant to Rachel's points.
Quote:
2.rates vary state to state and vary according to plans available (a state problem)
Another irrelevant point for a number of reasons, here are two:
1. Which providers are 'in network' is a different issue than size of premium.
2. People in every state wouldn't have had plans they liked disappear for non market force reasons
Quote:
3.without aca those with preexisting conditions would be refused insurance
Some people think that disrupting what people already had in order to partially rectify that is fine, others think that that unnecessary disruption is a travesty.
Quote:
4.not only is that last sentence false but cruel and disdainful to the working poor
I've been without insurance. It's a whole lot less, believe it.
Example: I went to the same urgent care for 2 separate and identical visits (same level of care, same physician seen).
First visit there was something wrong with my insurance card so I had to pay right there without insurance: Cost was $150 without insurance.
Second visit insurance card worked fine. They billed my insurer $450 for the same type of visit and level of service. Of which I had to pay part of course, when my insurance company then billed me. And what I had to pay the insurer was waaaaaay more than the $150 I paid directly to the urgent care facility for the visit WITHOUT insurance coverage.
Tell me again how insurance makes ANY service cheaper?
Here's a tip: Stop relying on your pills. Lose weight. Stop smoking. Don't drink. Lay off the carbs and sugar. Go for a walk every day. Take supplements. I would guess up to 50% of ALL healthcare visits and services would be unnecessary if people took that responsibility.
Healthcare insurance was created to be a SAFETY net. Not an everyday expense. If you live your life that way, you'll be fine. Most don't want that approach and run to the doctor at every sniffle and hiccup. They go home eat a bag of doritos, drink a 2L of soda and watch tv for 6 hours, than complain how much healthcare costs when they have diabetes and high BP.
What do you suppose a medical bill would be for a young healthy individual who broke his femur playing baseball?
How about a young couple who has a baby born with a congenital heart defect that needs surgery to survive?
What do you suppose a medical bill would be for a young healthy individual who broke his femur playing baseball?
How about a young couple who has a baby born with a congenital heart defect that needs surgery to survive?
Then there is cancer...
Those are safety net applications, as I clearly stated. NOT everyday healthcare.
And I would guess that most people would have to pay the deductible upfront, which means that they would be paying 100% for the cost of setting that broken arm.
I also know a couple who had a preemie that was in the NICU for a month, and AFTER insurance? They owed $240,000.
As I ALSO clearly stated, just because you can wave that insurance card around? Doesn't mean insurance is going to actually PAY FOR ANYTHING.
middle-aged mom would probably know if my understanding is correct or not, and whether or not the rule you quote above (the link) has gone by the wayside, but it is my understanding that the change in the tax bill ('Trumpcare') doesn't actually technically eliminate the mandate, it just reduces the penalty to zero, which may not effectively be the same thing in every situation.
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+1 Obamacare/ 0 trumpcare.
