Obamacare for early retirees and its demise (adult, cancer, best)
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TMKSarah, I have a lot of sympathy. I have many friends who are in similar situations and each has their own way of approaching it.
I'm in Massachusetts and they had an ACA type system before ObamaCare. Although I haven't been on it, I've heard it has good options and Massachusetts has high quality health care.
Take a look at SSDI, which is different from SSI. SSDI is based on the inability to do substantial gainful employment and has specific criteria for qualification which is well spelled out. It all hinges on relating the impact of your disability to whether you can do employment, but over 60 can factor into it. You've paid into it throughout your working life and its a good way to get to 'regular' social security early as well as qualifying for Medicare after 24 months.
And last, understand that many 55+ face the "they don't want me" employment situation, in a wide variety of fields--technology, business, teaching and others. If there is any way you can objectively reposition your skills into a field that can use them, sometimes a state/local career center can help you to do that. I know several people who hated the idea of a career center approach and found that it was helpful, if only for the networking aspects.
They often denied coverage for a combination of chronic conditions. If you failed to reveal even one, they could deny you coverage retroactively. They also imposed annual and lifetime caps on coverage. Also, precipitous premium increases and/or coverage slashes in the individual market were very common prior to the ACA, rendering insurance unaffordable for many. If they can force you to enroll in a high-risk pool or spend-down to get onto Medicaid, that's a win-win for them, if not for you.
Way back when, I had a job which promised insurence. I filled out the form which ask no medical questions. I got a card. I got a statement from my doctor about my long term situation. I went to them asking how I put in for payment for supplies. Medical paid for them after all.
They said sorry, that is a long term situation and we expempt those. I could go see a doctor with a cold or bad infection or so on.... but..... not the most important.
The job didn't last long, and they didn't seem well organized. The reason I lost it was they were losing a contract, and the lowest on the ladder got to go.
This was the typical treatment of pre-existing conditions with those companies who used the 'we have good insurence' line to get people to work for them. When push came to shove, you'd be informed. It was good that I wasn't with them when I had my son, on medicade, since I'm sure it had a long list of 'not this stuff'.
Just the same, companies with authentically GOOD health policies got their pick of the best for jobs since it was a real advantage.
I wonder how many people complaining about the whole 'fuss' and wishing to get rid of it have NEVER had a preexisting condition or someone in their family has suffered one.
Means testing for Medicare is in line with the whole purpose of government. The key issue is that the cost of the paperwork and employees to do the means testing has to be more than the amount saved by the means testing. If they tried to come out ahead on it, by making the paperwork and employees cost less than the amount saved by the means testing, it would defeat the whole purpose of government.
The topic, though, is pre-Medicare age health insurance replacement for Obamacare. I don't see how means testing Medicare helps solve the problem of what to do in the event that Obamacare goes away and a new system isn't ready to replace it.
And in any event, Medicare is already means tested. High income people pay much more.
medicare is already means tested and in 2018 there will be jumps in premiums at lower incomes than today. 133k will trigger a jump in premium and not 160k like now .
you also have a 3.80% surcharge on top of that if your income is high enough . your last years income for 2016 , while on medicare yet or not will determine what you pay in 2018. it is a done deal !
I am 61 years of age and work a part time job. I took early retirement since my field does not want me.
With healthcare on subsidy I can make it to Medicare. Without it I will spend down my retirement savings to early into a forced retirement and for a chronic condition that I inherited from my father at 10 years of age and it has progressively worsened and has precluded me from many jobs. I do not qualify for disability nor do I seek it. I will take SS in 8 months and counting because I am going to need it.
Do any of you have plans "after" Obamacare.
Please do not give me any rhetoric on "poor choices." This is not a question about judgement of one person's life.
I am looking for straight forward, realistic information as to how to get medical care once Obamacare has been gutted.
Thank you for down to earth thoughts on this matter.
My plan is to work until I drop unfortunately. Like others say, if the ACA is gutted -- for a time -- other states will still have protections. So my suggestion is to figure out the best ones quick and locate there now.
Because it will only be a matter of time before the marketplace corrects and/or #secede gets real.
I'll be 65 in about five months. Before that I need durable medical things which I cannot do without. As I couldn't afford them when Oklahoma decided not to update medicade to cover a higher income, family helped.
Why can't you afford them for a few months? How much are you talking about?
Quote:
Originally Posted by nightbird47
I'm just about to pay the monthly 20 dollars and look up doctors, and the orange thing starts messing with the ACA system. Now I'm stuck.
First, the orange thing hasn't changed ACA. It is the same today as it was 2 weeks ago.
Second, are you REALLY complaining about a $20 premium???
Quote:
Originally Posted by nightbird47
So right now, I have a really bad problem.
It doesn't sound like it. It sounds like you pay $20. That doesn't sound like a problem at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nightbird47
And this thing about tax premiums. What about those who are disabled and do not pay taxes. Does that mean they'll pay us back for anything medical we had to pay out?????? Or are we just chump change and don't matter to those who need tax credits.
Your question is valid, but again, NOTHING HAS CHANGED. Everyone agrees that Obamacare is too broke to fix. The replacement system has not been designed yet.
Insurance premiums, if just allocated based on total expenditures and total number of people, will need to be about $10,000 per year plus overhead. From your post, it sounds like that is way out of your league. You are not alone. The rest of us will subsidize you. There is no getting around that.
A key phrase to remember from Trump's campaign is "repeal and replace."
The traditional Republican point of view has simply been to repeal it, but what Trump appears to want to do is to replace Obamacare with some form of Trumpcare, another government run or at least facilitated health insurance scheme.
Completely wrong.
Repeal and REPLACE started with ROMNEY and his Congressional co-horts.
At this point yes of course you must REPLACE it with something for the people who just should have been thrown on Medicaid and been done with it.
The topic, though, is pre-Medicare age health insurance replacement for Obamacare. I don't see how means testing Medicare helps solve the problem of what to do in the event that Obamacare goes away and a new system isn't ready to replace it.
And in any event, Medicare is already means tested. High income people pay much more.
Stop believing fake news that Obamacare is going away with nothing to replace it. There is ZERO evidence of any willingness or ability to do that from ANYONE.
I think the replace part got added when he figured out a LOT of his own would be hurt by his following ieological rules. And if suddenly a whole bunch of people who were *happy* with their new health insurence, even if not perfect, blamed him and his short sided brain for losing it, along with others of his kind. A lot of the congressional sorts still haven't figured that out.
My preexisting condition has been around for years, along with the problems it makes, and I HONOR our last president (and miss him) for making it a priority. This joke of a president currently playing at it only sees concequences, intended or not, when someone starts screaming in his twitter ridden ear.
WRONG. What are you even talking about? (other than just hating Trump - even though this is NOT SUPPOSED to be a POLITICS forum).
NOBODY ever called Trump an ideologue, either.
Since DAY ONE Donald Trump said he was going to "replace" Obamacare. And since day ONE he said he thought pre-existing conditions HAVE to be covered.
He pledged to save Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid "without cutting it to the bone" by "making the country rich again." He vowed to repeal Obama's Affordable Care Act and replace it with something better, although he didn't provide any details. Trump made no effort to woo mainstream GOP elected officials. He remarked, "I am a Republican, and I am disappointed with our Republican politicians because they let our president get away with absolute murder."
Source: Des Moines Register on 2015 Iowa Freedom Summit , Jan 24, 2015
Even if we elect a real president who will get tough and repeal Obamacare, we still need a plan to bring down health-care costs and make health-care insurance more affordable for everyone. It starts with increasing competition between insurance companies. Competition makes everything better and more affordable. One way to infuse more competition into the market is to let citizens purchase health-care plans across state lines.
This could be easily accomplished if Congress got some guts and did the right thing. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress control over interstate commerce. But for whatever reason, the Congress has never exercised this power regarding health insurance. They need to.
Source: Time to Get Tough, by Donald Trump, p.131 , Dec 5, 2011
I don't know why you guys just say what you "THINK" when evidence exists including the very first debate and the famous 60 Minutes interview and the CNN Town Hall which caused the GOP to start screaming "PROGRESSIVE! YOU WANT UNIVERSAL COVERAGE!".
One time he used the term - mandate- "I like the mandate" incorrectly meaning he wanted these conditions to be mandated to be covered and not the employer mandate and you would have thought he said he was for free heroin or something the way all hell broke lose.
Q: If Obamacare is repealed & there's no mandate for everybody to have insurance, why would insurance companies insure somebody who has a pre-existing condition?
TRUMP: Well, I like the mandate. I don't want people dying on the streets. The Republican people, they don't want people dying on the streets, but sometimes they'll say "Donald Trump wants single payer."
Q: Will people with pre-existing conditions be able to get insurance?
TRUMP: Yes. Now, the new plan is good. It's going to be inexpensive. It's going to be much better for the people at the bottom, people that don't have any money. We're going to take care of them through maybe concepts of Medicare. Now, some people would say, "that's not a very Republican thing to say." That's not single payer, by the way. That's called heart. We gotta take care of people that can't take care of themselves.
Source: 2016 CNN GOP Town Hall in South Carolina , Feb 18, 2016
Last edited by runswithscissors; 01-27-2017 at 01:28 PM..
Price, the Nominee, said everyone would have "access to health care," which to me means nothing. Access means paying how much monthly for premiums? Older age = higher premiums. Pre-existing=higher premiums, etc. How many will be able to afford it? Medicaid is not great. The docs that accept it, I'd rather go to a local Veterinarian personally from what I've seen as a nurse. I also wonder if Medicare will be raised to 67, which worries me a lot. Hard enough to get to 65. I guess those living int the few Blue states left might have it easier, but overall COL is higher.
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