ObamaCare Info

[lauradis]

Iim laughing about what that poster said which had nothing to do with the government shut down but was just a regurgitation of the most bat **** crazy right wing talking points.

I never understand why people listen to any of the cable drama new channels they are so slanted one way or the other.

msnbc last night sounded like fox news, it was so bazaar. Fox news was almost ignoring the fact that the government shut down.

srry for misunderstanding

 

[mikek]

If i was you. I would pretend it was Sept 15th and walk away from the site.

Sounds like a true nightmare. Don't worry they will work out the bugs they have till Dec 31.

I probably will- but part of my want to get it over and done with is that despite all the promises to the contrary I was notified my existing plan will NOT be getting renewed in 2014. So I can't keep the plan "I like today". So I HAVE to get new insurance in 2014. Since Likely I'm going to have some giant deductible (as i have now)- it's best to reset the deductible on Jan 1 with my new plan then

Basically if you change plans mid year they do NOT pro-rate the deductible- (unless the law fixed that?).

But i can wait a few weeks and see where things wind up- you have until Dec 15 to start coverage on a new plan on Jan 1 from the exchange. (But I need to know sooner if the exchange prices stink and i have to beg someplace to buy a new policy outside the exchange).

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

Amen. Besides, who knows what they would have thought about health care? Back then health care was leeches and amputations.

Not to mention several of the Founding Fathers were strong Federalists, including those three rascals Washington, Adams and Hamilton...

 

[j's m]

I gave up trying to get on the exchange. Instead I was finally able to get on NJ BCBS to see their plans. I had to use internet explorer since it wouldn't work with google chrome, does google chrome know something we don't know.

I am in shock, it's way worse that I ever dreamed of. For myself and one child, I came up with prices 978.34 to 1243.54 a month. There is no out of network component at all, except for emergency room. One of the plans also has Tier 1 and Tier 2 hospitals, with different deductibles.

I have a student at an out of state college, none of these plans would work and I would have to get him supplemental insurance on top of this.

I thought the small group plan we had was expensive and horrible, but it fits our needs better than any of the new ones. Of course, it's no longer available after our renewal next September.

Where are the cheap prices I keep hearing about? Not in New Jersey.

 

[manning]

Except that doesn't really answer the central question.

Is your position that any system that has ANY abusers should be completely abandoned?

Did I say that?

More like do a better job of policing it. And we know a snowball has a better chance in hell.

 

[mom2rtk]

I gave up trying to get on the exchange. Instead I was finally able to get on NJ BCBS to see their plans. I had to use internet explorer since it wouldn't work with google chrome, does google chrome know something we don't know.

I am in shock, it's way worse that I ever dreamed of. For myself and one child, I came up with prices 978.34 to 1243.54 a month. There is no out of network component at all, except for emergency room. One of the plans also has Tier 1 and Tier 2 hospitals, with different deductibles.

I have a student at an out of state college, none of these plans would work and I would have to get him supplemental insurance on top of this.

I thought the small group plan we had was expensive and horrible, but it fits our needs better than any of the new ones. Of course, it's no longer available after our renewal next September.

Where are the cheap prices I keep hearing about? Not in New Jersey.

But they need you to pay in and take care of everyone else. It's for the greater good you know. Take one for the team, ok?

 

[Muushka]

But they need you to pay in and take care of everyone else. It's for the greater good you know. Take one for the team, ok?

You know, this is the attitude I am trying to have.
You always get lots of these and everyone thinks you are a really nice person.

 

[mom2rtk]

You know, this is the attitude I am trying to have.
You always get lots of these and everyone thinks you are a really nice person.

Oops. I forgot to add this to my post.....

 

[njcarita]

Well- finally at about 6:10 got on the site for NJ (reun by the feds like most states)

I WANT TO SCREAM- it refuses to give prices without filling out and 'submitting' a 'signed' ap. Fine - i go through like 20 pages of info. But i still refuses to give me pricing becasue it needs to "verify" me and the credit report that they pulled apparently doesn't have the right info for me.

I balked at giving my SS- gave my name, DOB, and address and rather instantly it pulled up credit report sort of questions (confirm last address, employer, and phone number). It got me "previous address' as an address i use for shipping, it nailed my employer, but then it gave me a pile of phone mumbers that weren't for me. When i picked none of the above it balked. Now i need to scan a pile of docs and submit them and then wait around till someone reviews them.

I told it i know Im not elgible for subsidies and to ignore that and still it needs to verify me just to give me stinking prices.

calming down-
other tidbits-

the site desperately tries to get your SS #s. It asked at least 4-5 different places for each person. All marked optional if you read carefully so i ignored. In the end I went back and gave it mine to try and help it "verify" me but still it says i dont exist...

It asks bunch of questions over (and sometimes over again) even though i entered them already. Sometimes it is smart enough to prefill the page with what you entered last time, but other times it needs you to reenter it. Weird- like different groups made different pages on the website- and didn't talk to each other.

Oddly it asked questions about my kids that i have never been asked before. It wanted to know all sort of relationship info. I get that it wanted to know if me and my wife were the parents of each child, but once it knows that shouldn't it know that each kid is the other's siblings and not ask me how they are related with a dropdown of about 8 things?

it also went for race info on everyone- i just skipped those- I dont really care but was trying to get the prices asap.

Just like the directions to pick a username suck- there's a spot to "submit a signed app" but all it has is an empty box to type something. Not sure if they want my typed name, typed email address, or what. Usually they tell you what they expect for an e-sig

anyway- totally annoyed i can't even get a stinking price becasue the NSA is having trouble finding me. lol.

well thanks for the update........ i haven been able to get on the site..... now i am going to wait and see what happens........ i am sooooooo not giving all that info just to see rates............ that is INSANE................

 

[lauradis]

But they need you to pay in and take care of everyone else. It's for the greater good you know. Take one for the team, ok?

Take one for the team implys that we are working together what is the other half of the non paying team doing for me????

Oh wait I know the answer making me work harder to keep what I have personally earned because they wouldn't.

before i get flamed to much im not talking about the old or the truly handicapped that can't or shouldn't work.

 

[ZoeBell]

In case anyone is interested in NYS exchange rates. It only lists the premiums, not what the deductible would be for each tier. Also it's listed for individual plans and small businesses. I guess you're suppose to multiply by the matching number below the list.

http://dfs.ny.gov/about/press2013/pr1307171_health_rates_2014.pdf

 

[mikek]

well - I'm a complete glutton for punishment so i tried to see about getting 'verified' again online.

It only balked at letting me login once then the second attempt 10 mins later worked. So seems they're catching up some.

It gave me a number to call- so i called and i found out that the credit report they are pulling is from experien. The operator (who answered right away) identified himself as experien. Then he asked why i'm calling and i explained I am trying to get verified for healthcare. He said "let me set your expectations first thing" and he explained that the government side of things is still a mess and backlogged. Then he asked if i wanted him to look into it to try and force things along. So I gave him my info and he looked it up and found that the experien computers had not yet been queried by the feds.

So it's not that the NSA(er uh Experien- lol) doesn't know who i am, it's that they haven't been asked to try and look just yet. The experien guy told me to give it 24hrs more for the government computers to catch up and make the request of experien.

we'll see tomorrow.

 

[mikek]

I gave up trying to get on the exchange. Instead I was finally able to get on NJ BCBS to see their plans. I had to use internet explorer since it wouldn't work with google chrome, does google chrome know something we don't know.

I am in shock, it's way worse that I ever dreamed of. For myself and one child, I came up with prices 978.34 to 1243.54 a month. There is no out of network component at all, except for emergency room. One of the plans also has Tier 1 and Tier 2 hospitals, with different deductibles.

I have a student at an out of state college, none of these plans would work and I would have to get him supplemental insurance on top of this.

I thought the small group plan we had was expensive and horrible, but it fits our needs better than any of the new ones. Of course, it's no longer available after our renewal next September.

Where are the cheap prices I keep hearing about? Not in New Jersey.

way back in the day when i was in college - the college sold health insurance- maybe your kid can get something her/himself? Might also be worth checking into jettisoning him/her from your taxes, having them file separately and then getting their own medicaid or highly subsidized plan from the exchange. Require some math but might work out best under some conditions.

thanks for the idea for checking BCBS themselves- just checked rates for my family of 5- YIKES- they do suck. Did you see the EPO with the 12,700 deductible? the good news is once you nail that then anything (well in the EPO) is free. But even for the 12,700 deductible is $9980 for my family. no savings there AND ITS an EPO, god forbid you get cancer and need a Dr out of network i guess you still get to go bankrupt.....

Thing is my current suck plan is from them already and it's cheaper, only has a 5k deductible, a 10k total out of pocket limit, we have out of nework benefits (double the deductible, double the copays/coinsurance/double the max out of pcoket, but it's there in case something horrible happens or for the couple dr's we have that aren't in their network.). So appears in NJ that BC/BS is going up a bunch for people in their mid 40's. Since horizon BC/BS is by far cheaper then the others with my current plan, that doesn't bode well that anyone is going to undercut them.

I thought i might save a few bucks, now i'm getting nervous that it might even go up....

Not even sure if HSA's are allowed under the new rules anymore- i know they limited FSAs...

 

[lauradis]

Not even sure if HSA's are allowed under the new rules anymore- i know they limited FSAs...

The government health web site (obamacare facts one) said they are going to reduce/limit all tax benefits in effort to help fund ACA.

Medicine Cabinet Tax In Effect
Over the counter medicines no longer qualified as medical expenses for flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), health savings accounts (HSAs), and Archer Medical Saving accounts (MSAs).

• Additional Tax on HSA/MSA Distributions
Health savings account or an Archer medical savings account, penalties for spending money on non-qualified medical expenses. 10% to 20% in the case of a HSA and from 15% to 20% in the case of a MSA.

• Flexible Spending Account Cap 2013
Contributions to FSAs are reduced to $2,500 from $5,000.

• Medical Deduction Threshold tax increase 2013
Threshold to deduct medical expenses as an itemized deduction increases to 10% from 7.5%.

• Individual Mandate (the tax for not purchasing insurance if you can afford it) 2014
Starting in 2014, anyone not buying "qualifying" health insurance must pay an income tax surtax at a rate of 1% or $95 in 2014 to 2.5% in 2016 on profitable income above the tax threshold. The total penalty amount cannot exceed the national average of the annual premiums of a "bronze level" health insurance plan on ObamaCare exchanges.

 

[mikek]

The government health web site (obamacare facts one) said they are going to reduce/limit all tax benefits in effort to help fund ACA.

Medicine Cabinet Tax In Effect
Over the counter medicines no longer qualified as medical expenses for flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), health savings accounts (HSAs), and Archer Medical Saving accounts (MSAs).

• Additional Tax on HSA/MSA Distributions
Health savings account or an Archer medical savings account, penalties for spending money on non-qualified medical expenses. 10% to 20% in the case of a HSA and from 15% to 20% in the case of a MSA.

• Flexible Spending Account Cap 2013
Contributions to FSAs are reduced to $2,500 from $5,000.

• Medical Deduction Threshold tax increase 2013
Threshold to deduct medical expenses as an itemized deduction increases to 10% from 7.5%.

• Individual Mandate (the tax for not purchasing insurance if you can afford it) 2014
Starting in 2014, anyone not buying "qualifying" health insurance must pay an income tax surtax at a rate of 1% or $95 in 2014 to 2.5% in 2016 on profitable income above the tax threshold. The total penalty amount cannot exceed the national average of the annual premiums of a "bronze level" health insurance plan on ObamaCare exchanges.

thanks

 

[lauradis]

thanks

your welcome

this site has more detailed info and isnt government based and it seems to be non party related. but they are slanted to loving aca

http://obamacarefacts.com

 

[Colleen27]

It is simply not valid economics to state that an increase in the minimum wage results in a corresponding and equivalent increase in prices because 100% of a product's cost is never tied to labor and 100% of the workforce is not paid minimum wage.

The actual net positive impact on buying power greatly outstrips inflationary pressures caused by an increase in the minimum wage, and due to the fact that lower wage workers tend to spend a dramatically larger portion of their take home pay than higher wage workers on consumable goods, it actually puts more money back into the economy.

You saved me a lot of typing, and said it better to boot.

This is what im saying just because you can get insurance at lower price? maybe

doesn't mean the coverage is good or that you will be able to afford medical care.

It will almost certainly depend on your starting point.

way back in the day when i was in college - the college sold health insurance- maybe your kid can get something her/himself? Might also be worth checking into jettisoning him/her from your taxes, having them file separately and then getting their own medicaid or highly subsidized plan from the exchange. Require some math but might work out best under some conditions.

thanks for the idea for checking BCBS themselves- just checked rates for my family of 5- YIKES- they do suck. Did you see the EPO with the 12,700 deductible? the good news is once you nail that then anything (well in the EPO) is free. But even for the 12,700 deductible is $9980 for my family. no savings there AND ITS an EPO, god forbid you get cancer and need a Dr out of network i guess you still get to go bankrupt.....

Do you know if BCBS is quoting exchange pricing, or if the exchange pricing will be different from standard pricing at all? I'm still seeing the same quote I got the last time I checked BCBS back in January - just shy of $850/mo with an $11K deductible and 40% co-insurance. The only difference I see is in the OOP max, which is now standardized at 12.7K but I think was 20K or so last time I checked pricing.

What I'm interested in is the subsidy side of things because we're well within the range that qualifies, so I know I'm not going to get any answers for a while. But I'm in no hurry; we've got a few months to get it sorted before the plans actually take effect anyway.

 

[mikek]

...
Do you know if BCBS is quoting exchange pricing, or if the exchange pricing will be different from standard pricing at all? I'm still seeing the same quote I got the last time I checked BCBS back in January - just shy of $850/mo with an $11K deductible and 40% co-insurance. The only difference I see is in the OOP max, which is now standardized at 12.7K but I think was 20K or so last time I checked pricing.

What I'm interested in is the subsidy side of things because we're well within the range that qualifies, so I know I'm not going to get any answers for a while. But I'm in no hurry; we've got a few months to get it sorted before the plans actually take effect anyway.

the NJ BCBS site has both pre 1/1 pricing and post 1/1 pricing. I checked the post 1/1. I uses the same silver, bronze, gold names so i assume it's the same as the exchange- why would they have different prices on their website when ANYONE is allowed on the exchange (well it is BCBS AND the government so who knows...)

I think i also saw they have a subsidy calculator link. WHich is probably good enough to get an idea without taking hours and hours on the government site right now and giving them all your SS #'s when you aren't even sure.

(I'm not at all worried about giving my SS# to the government- they have it already right- but the hackers make me nervous. I really feel bad for clueless non-compute-savvy folks right now in this period of chaos. The government site is a mess- but i bet you the russian hacker websites that are one letter off are all running like a well oiled machine. Harvesting SS#'s by the car load. There's millions of people trying the exchanges right now, some amount has to be getting abused by fake web sites)

 

[LovinPooh]

So when you go on the site to do the application..if you actually can that is... are you commiting to anything? Does it ask what your employer takes out weekly for ins? How do you prove it?
This seems like such a headache.. for the entire country at that.
Can only imagine what income tax time will be like.

 

[lauradis]

So when you go on the site to do the application..if you actually can that is... are you commiting to anything? Does it ask what your employer takes out weekly for ins? How do you prove it?
This seems like such a headache.. for the entire country at that.
Can only imagine what income tax time will be like.

More then likely the insurance company or your employer will have to file something to irs just like they do now for reporting your wages that will be the easy part till they f it up.