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I can say obamacare has not helped us at all w our insurance or financial situation. We are in the income bracket not eligible for subsidies, and husband does not have family insurance through work. Our only option is the exchange. Husband and I pay $1000/ month (covering the 2 of us) for the cheapest gold plan available. The bronze and silver were not much cheaper and had much higher copays, deductibles, and coinsurance.
Our pool of care providers shrunk from our previous coverage (which was a not so great HMO)- at least in my area many of the good providers don't participate in any exchange plans because the reimbursements are so low. And it's difficult to compare plans because the provider lists are not up to date, or you're redirected to websites that don't list providers for the plan being offered.
I have to pay $40-60 on top of premiums to see a dr and our max out of pocket is $8000. So what we have through the exchange is very expense catastrophic coverage. Who has 20k to drop on insurance...? On top of all other expenses? The copays for specialists are so prohibitive that I am avoiding care I should seek.
I am all for some kind of universal coverage but believe me this is not it. It's very punitive to the middle and "upper" middle class (which isn't so "upper" in a high COL city).
Explain to me how filing bankruptcy is going to get cancer patients drugs they need..
Same way we have moved so far with HIV. Public need and central response. If enough patients go BK, or cannot afford a certain treatment or drug, the Feds might come to the rescue.
Most European countries and Canada have universal health care and lower medical costs too.
Obamacare today is like Social Security was when it was first started, back then no one in their teens and 20s and 30s wanted their wages garnished to pay for some silly forced retirement plan and no doubt there were many angry objectors and problems, but eventually it became the norm. Now when those people retired and started getting monthly checks based on what they put in I'll bet they changed their tune pretty fast!
Imagine what it would be like today for all those millions of retired people in Florida who collect SS checks every month if SS had never been in place, if it hadn't they would have had to keep working if they could, or do what the elderly used to do in the old days- die in the streets when they got evicted, or move in with their kids.
I'm in that age group now and I don't want a god damb nickel being taken out for the joke that is social security. 15.2 % of my money gone for 45 years and in return I will get a monthly pittance that is no where near what I'd have if i instead was allowed to save that 15.2% on my own.
Same way we have moved so far with HIV. Public need and central response. If enough patients go BK, or cannot afford a certain treatment or drug, the Feds might come to the rescue.
They might come in and rescue the hospital, but that doesnt give the patient treatment.
Thats like suggesting that if I go bk, I can suddenly afford a house, and ignoring the fact that the reason I cant afford a mortgage to begin with is no job.. (yes one might have a job because they are sick, but the act of BK doesnt create money in order to afford things one oculdnt afford previously)
The folks who are carrying on constantly about how awful the Affordable Care Act is are, as luck would have it, the same folks who are promoting the interests of corporations and the wealthy.
They are the same folks who oppose a living wage/minimum wage, leaving the taxpayers to pick part of the tab for corporate labor costs.
They are the same folks supporting tax subsidies for oil companies (?), agribusiness, and other corporate interests.
They are the same folks who oppose regulating Wall Street and we all know who picks up the tab for that.
It is not less expensive to provide medical care in Emergency Rooms.
It is not cheaper to have citizens go without insulin, do without rotator cuff surgeries, ACL repairs, cancer screenings... It just isn't.
They are trying to dupe people here, folks. Don't buy into it.
no some of us actually earn a living and are young and healthy and don't like getting robbed.
They might come in and rescue the hospital, but that doesnt give the patient treatment.
Thats like suggesting that if I go bk, I can suddenly afford a house, and ignoring the fact that the reason I cant afford a mortgage to begin with is no job.. (yes one might have a job because they are sick, but the act of BK doesnt create money in order to afford things one oculdnt afford previously)
Like dialysis and orphan drugs, central Gov't can come up with solutions for patients where the drug companies or private HC insurance carriers fear to tread.
Pitch your BK rants to Donald Trump, he's the expert at that!
Take your same example of the 55 year old man who makes $60,000 a year but who works for a small company that does not offer health insurance. At 55 years of age he must take pills for some condition, high blood pressure, cholesterol, indigestion, allergies, thyroid, who knows what else. Even taking one of those pills put this guy into the category of having a pre-existing condition which makes him uninsurable. So prior to the ACA without insurance this guy is afraid to go to the doctor as he does not want to lose what little he has been able accumulate over the years. He goes to bed every night praying that no serious illness strikes him or his family which would wipe him out for the rest of his life, $450.00 a month is a small price to pay for peace of mind and protection from our profit driven health care system. It is people like your 55 year old man that the ACA benefits, those that are extremely wealthy, or have decent health insurance, or those with nothing to lose did not gain with the ACA.
My wife was one of those benefiting from the ACA as she was finally able to get insurance. The problem is not the ACA, the issue is our profit driven, and procedure based health system.
ND:
Do you work for free, by chance? The issue is this the 2,271 government mandates in every health insurance policy, driving the cost thru the roof. If you think the ACA is so wonderful, I would invite you to your local dialysis clinic, which is socialized medicine. No one works for free, neither do you.
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