Blue Shield Of California instituting furloughs due to ObamaCare costs (broker, to eat)

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Nerdlord

How is this graph any different from your other one? Shall I try and explain this to you again?

The TOTAL donations to the Republican candidates is almost 50% MORE than to the Democratic candidates.

And pharma contributes more to congressional Republicans than Dems.

https://s13.postimg.org/mu7yqjngn/Pharma1.jpg


As I've said before, you need to take your partisan blinders off. Big pharma doesn't care about party ideology. They care about who is in power. And starting in 2017 that's going to be Hillary which is why they made sure to get her nice and greased up. I'm sorry your her Donald is a sh** candidate and won't be getting the presidency.

You do realize this simply means Big Pharm is buying the candidates on both sides of the isle?

Win-Win for them and Lose-Lose for us.

[Malloric]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

California seems to be doing better in regard to the ACA than many other states.

So you think Obamacare is a disaster? Here's how California is proving you wrong - LA Times

“No patient I know wants to pay $2,500 to see the doctor,” Lee said.

Come 2017 after the 13% rate hike (average), mine is going up by 18% in 2017, I'll be paying more than $2,500/yr in insurance premiums MORE than I was before ObamaCare. I don't know what it's proving wrong. It might be okay for people who aren't paying for their health insurance as it doesn't really matter how fast the rates are going up to them as they just get more subsidy. For those of us who are actually paying for our health insurance, however, it does.

I can still basically buy my old pre-(un)ACA plan and it's less than half of what an ACA plan would cost. Of course, I'd still need to pay the penalty but at this point it's actually looking like it might be cheaper to do that.

[Malloric]

Originally Posted by payutenyodagimas

even Kaiser incurs loss now but they wont tell if its due to Obamacare. suffice it to say that before they joined Obamacare, they distribute profits to its employees. now, NADA. you can make your own conclusion

Kaiser's rates (for me comparing 2016 to 2017) only increased by 7% for 2017. So yeah, they may be eating some of the higher costs whereas what I have (Blueshield) is not.

Look, it's no secret that ACA is just completely awful for people in my age group due to the 3:1 banding (most expensive age band can be no more than 3 times as expensive as the least expensive age band). Actual payments are more like 6:1 and with 3:1 banding, we're just a cash cow. Young people aren't stupid. They realize that. It's why they're no flocking to buy policies which is much of the reason the premiums are going up. Insurers were counting on larger numbers of cash cows with statutorily determined artificially high rates. They got less of them than they anticipated getting.

You're young, relatively healthy, see premiums that were more than a 100% increase (as they were for me) if you had health insurance, and maybe you just decide to go uninsured. Again, I can go and buy a short-term policy today for less than half what an ACA policy would cost me in monthly premiums. Basically the same insurance with a few differences. It won't cover pre-existing conditions and it won't cover maternity. For sure pre-existing conditions and mandated maternity coverage cost money but there's also the banding.

Pre-existing conditions is what it is. It's going to cost more but, okay, I can accept it. Maternity coverage sucked due to adverse selection. Basically people paid out of pocket or were on welfare. It was too damn expensive because the only people who got it were the ones planning to have kids. Abortion isn't the right choice for everyone for unexpected pregnancies so, again, defensible. The age banding is not.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by CaliRestoration

Basically if you're 60 and over with preexisting conditions and an income lower than $2.5 million, you get to walk willingly into a wood chipper?

If you're 65 or over, are on Medicare and have a decent Medicare supplement plan - they're not a part of Obamacare - you're pretty much home-free. We have ours from the state as we're both CA retirees and haven't had a medical copay in years including for surgeries and hospital stays. It's the younger people who have to fear not us old codgers.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by Malloric

It might be okay for people who aren't paying for their health insurance as it doesn't really matter how fast the rates are going up to them as they just get more subsidy. For those of us who are actually paying for our health insurance, however, it does.

Yes. Ours is going up 25%. You're right; many of us are covering all the other people who either had no insurance or had pre-existing conditions.

The ACA was a good idea, but now I've decided that I'm for single payer.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

If you're 65 or over, are on Medicare and have a decent Medicare supplement plan - they're not a part of Obamacare - you're pretty much home-free. We have ours from the state as we're both CA retirees and haven't had a medical copay in years including for surgeries and hospital stays. It's the younger people who have to fear not us old codgers.

So True,m as I am on Medicare and my wife will be in 1 and 1/2 years.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Yes. Ours is going up 25%. You're right; many of us are covering all the other people who either had no insurance or had pre-existing conditions.

The ACA was a good idea, but now I've decided that I'm for single payer.

How about EVERYONE including all Politicians from the president down MUST be on ACA and have NO other policies. That would fix it.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by expatCA

How about EVERYONE including all Politicians from the president down MUST be on ACA and have NO other policies. That would fix it.

We all have to comply with the ACA now. Do you mean if politicians had to get a health insurance policy on the exchange only?

[CaliRestoration]

The way ACA has crashed and burned so spectacularly is a sight to behold. I remember on various forums, telling everyone who would listen what a cluster**** this entire thing would become and how it wouldn't work.

But the leftist Pelosi supporters kept saying (some just a few months ago), including Tulemutt in this very thread, how ACA was one of the biggest accomplishments of the democrats in decades.

What say all of you now?

[CaliRestoration]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

The ACA was the best next step in a void.

I mean, look at these comments.