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Freedom includes the freedom to make bad decisions.
The right to make stupid decisions is not limited to democrats or republicans. If you would like I am sure we could come up with more than one stupid democrat that stupidly thought not paying for health insurance was a good idea.
She has been in and out of the hospital. As a self pay patient she has been able to negotiate her bill.
She is still likely paying more than the hospital would have recieved from an in network insurer.
It's a tad challenging to believe that someone who " has been in and out of the hospital" continues to find it cheaper to pay out of pocket than buy insurance, especially with chronic disease.
On the upside, she has a new opportunity to buy insurance during open enrollment each year, despite her pre- existing conditions. Her choice Her consequences.
How do the doctors know they got the insurance via Obamcare? Also isn't that against the oath they take?
Almost all insurance is Obamacare compliant.
( there may be a few grandfathered plans out there that will over time go poof. I believe Colorado decided that effective 2016, to terminate all grandfathered plans. The participation rate reduced premiums to a point they no longer needed exceptions.
That is not true. When people who self pay negotiate the rate down they are essentially just doing what the insurance companies do, without the insurance company acting as the middleman. The people who are being subsidized by those who pay the full price of insurance and taxpayers are those who do not pay their bill at the hospital, those who have Medicaid and those who receive subsidies.
They are still paying more than an in network insurer would pay the hospital. The uninsured do not have a good track record of honoring negotiated rate payment plans.
Depending on the value of the debt, the hospital may or may not pursue a court order for wage garnishment or put a lein on property. A hospital may sell bad debt for pennies on a dollar.
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I totally disagree with you as there are no doctors that I know - and I know many from working in the field for 35 years as well as being a patient of many for the past 10 - who has NOT opted out of accepting ACA plans. They too have been stung by treating patients with ACA plans where premiums were never paid.
Many doctors - do not take Medicaid any longer. The only time our practice has to accept a Medicaid patient is if they are on-call at an affiliate hospital when that person is seen there. Unfortunately because they do not want Medicaid patients - even if they are on call - many practices, when the patient calls for a follow-up appointment are told that the doctor, who was on-call, does not accept their insurance and is given the name of another doctor. We get these calls on a daily basis - and the patients know no better - so they call another dr. If we receive these types of calls when we have not been on-call - we tell them to call the hospital back and let someone at the hospital make the appointment with the on-call dr.
Many practices around here - do not accept No Fault cases - due to the extreme length of time to receive payment. Many only accept Comp cases. A doctor is under no obligation to accept any insurance that they don't want to with the exception of Medicaid if they are on-call at that hospital. It may be different in your state - but that's the way it is here.
And practices are doing just fine without "Obamacare" patients. You do realize that it is only a small percentage of the population that has an Obamacare plan don't you. There are even hospitals that don't accept ACA plans.
Obamacare is legislation, not insurance. Most insurance plans comply with Obamacare legislation therefore most healthcare insurance is Obamacare. Almost everyone with healthcare insurance has Obamacare compliant insurance, regardless of the source, employer sponsored, acquired via an exchange or directly through an insurer or its agent.
You are implying there are hospitals that do not accept Obamacare which means they do not accept insurance. Good luck with that business model. I am sorry. I don't believe your information is factual.
No doctor is forced to accept insurance. No doctor is forced to accept all insurers or plans. This was true before Obamacare and remains true.
What you pay depends on geography and how competitive or not healthcare is in your local market. My state is divided into 13 regions as it relates to individual plans. Premiums vary by region.
My husband is over 65 and could retire. He chooses not to do so and so I remain covered by his employer's plan. Because he could retire, I have tracked the cost of individual plans for myself, for years. My cost would be less now for better coverage than I could have purchased pre ACA. If I lived 1/4 mile to the north, I would be in a different insurance pool region, the cost difference would be less. If I lived downstate, I would pay more ( for better insurance) because healthcare is not as competitive.
Older people pay substantially higher premiums than someone half their age because older people are more likely to get a nasty diagnosis than a younger person.
Young people can remain on their parent's plans till age 26 ( or more dependent on state) or can buy catastrophic healthcare plans.
Young people pay higher auto insurance premiums because they are more likely to be involved in a serious accident. Except in the handful of states with no fault insurance, the state minimum auto insurance pays nothing towards medical expenses if the injured party is the one at fault.
ERs are required to stabilize regardless if the patient is insured. This does not mean the hospital does not expect payment. Most will negotiate ( your still paying more than they would be reimbursed by an insurer) and create a payment plan. Depending on the amount of medical debt, a court order for wage garnishment may follow.
Non sense. We can all rationized the ACA premiums all we want and insurance overall in general.
But younger healthier People making over 400% of poverty are clearly paying more than under the ACA than before the ACA. Either they pay more in premiums or end up risking a higher deductible.
Your auto insurance analogy fails because 1. Not all young people are risky drivers
2. Insurance companies still discriminate against young males when it comes to auto insurance.
Can't carry those insurance analogies over to the ACA insurance.
Older sicker people are paying less under the ACA than younger people.
Some people are making off like bandits with the ACA especially with the subsidies
Even in states that have competitive (so called) exchanges. Like California. Younger healthier people making over 400% of poverty are paying much more than pre ACA days.
You see in the good olde 2013 days. A young heathy person could easily get a max out of network $2000-2500 hsa plan for around $100-150/month. Now it's near impossible to find those type of plans.
Now those plans may still stay around $100-150/month but their max out of pocket more than doubles. It's just the simple facts of the ACA. The young healthy are subsidizing the older sicker.
The right to make stupid decisions is not limited to democrats or republicans. If you would like I am sure we could come up with more than one stupid democrat that stupidly thought not paying for health insurance was a good idea.
They are still paying more than an in network insurer would pay the hospital. The uninsured do not have a good track record of honoring negotiated rate payment plans.
Not necessarily. When I had my second baby in the hospital there was an error in the paperwork regarding my insurance. The hospital thought that I did not have insurance and the bill they sent me was already discounted with the tile, "uninsured discount" and the total was between $300 and $400. I was surprised at how low the bill was but me being the responsible person that I am contacted the hospital and gave them my insurance info. My new bill was $1,000 more WITH insurance then it would have been without. I was shocked and asked for an itemized bill which showed many overcharges and double and triple billing "mistakes". I spent hours on the phone with them and ultimately negotiated it down further. My insurance rep did not and would not help me at all. It was eye opening to say the least.
Doctors and dentist offices also tend to charge self pay patients the same rates as someone with insurance would end up paying as long as they pay on the spot. It's cheaper for them in the long run because they don't have to spend anytime billing. I would not assume that the rate the insurance companies can get is better then the amount a persistent person could negotiate as a self pay patient.
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