ObamaCare Info

[summersalt]

Dang! I just discovered my family is no longer middle class but rich! I guess one of us we'll have to quit our job of 25 years so we can qualify and afford health insurance again.

 

[zenshome]

Does my family of 5 still count as a family of 5 even though 2 of my children are adults? One lives at home. One lives on her own. Both are still on my husband's insurance.

I think the cutoff age is 26 but don't quote me on it. Please go out and check the website that is setup for it.

 

[zenshome]

But from everything that I have read it states if your employer offers "affordable" heath insurance which means that it does not cost more than 9.5% of your annual income for the EMPLOYEE's portion you would not be subsidized on the healthcare exchange.

What happens when the employer's coverage does not offer any contribution (meaning they do not pay any portion of that part of the spouse/children's premium) to that employee's FAMILY coverage and then the cost is more than 9.5% of annual income for that worker?

Is there any sort of fix in the works for this stipulation for families that are only one-income families?

PLEASE do not take the word of ANYONE on a board for your information. Go to the website or talk to the 1 800# to get your information. I don't think anyone wants to look back and say well the DISboard posters told me it wasn't true so I believed them. I am in no way trying to say anyone is trying to lead you astray, just that they may be misinformed themselves.

 

[Marie17]

PLEASE do not take the word of ANYONE on a board for your information. Go to the website or talk to the 1 800# to get your information. I don't think anyone wants to look back and say well the DISboard posters told me it wasn't true so I believed them. I am in no way trying to say anyone is trying to lead you astray, just that they may be misinformed themselves.

I didn't even read that information from the DIS board actually - I was hoping someone could guide me what happens to one-income families. That's from various news articles and even a couple of the calculators you utilize to figure if you qualify.

When I was looking at just about any of them there was always a caveat that seemed to stipulate that if it represents over 9.5% of the annual income for the EMPLOYEE's portion only. Nowhere did I see it pertaining to the FAMILY premium if only one person is employed in the family and that portion added with the EMPLOYEE's portion exceeds the 9.5% income limit.

Usually insurance is offered as employee, employee plus spouse, employee plus children, or employee + spouse + children (family). Insurance terms are very specific. And since this is insurance we are talking about, it seems that one could easily think that 9.5% of EMPLOYEE's portion of insurance in relation to annual income is just that - meaning the employee only portion. I would not want to assume that one-income families can just determine that since there is only one person working in that household they can just change the wording to fit their situation.

 

[Marie17]

"Family glitch"

That's what the article's headline was referring to. This definitely would affect our family. It was in the USA today newspaper.

 

[Colleen27]

"Family glitch"

That's what the article's headline was referring to. This definitely would affect our family. It was in the USA today newspaper.

It could effect ours as well, if DH were to take a job that offers benefits. At his last job, family coverage was the difference between $25/check premiums and $300/check premiums. I would like to have enough faith in our government to believe it will be resolved, but with Congress controlled by people who have held 40-odd votes to repeal this law and want to see it fail at all costs, even to the point of a government shutdown, I don't see much hope for that.

I guess I should be glad that DH is back in business for himself so we won't have to face that question any time soon.

 

[leahjade]

I'm in favor of Obamacare, bring it on. My only concern is it didn't go far enough.

I want to talk to you in a year from now - you will be paying a lot more than you are now!
On the news today"

Consumers may have to dig a little deeper into their wallets to pay for health care in the Obamacare insurance exchanges, according to a new analysis by Avalere Health.

The study of six states suggests that consumers could face steep cost-sharing requirements — like co-payments, co-insurance and deductibles — layered on top of their monthly premiums.


The health law sets exchange enrollees’ maximum annual out-of-pocket costs at $6,350. But many people won’t get near that limit, and deductibles for typical exchange plans can run twice as high as the average employer-sponsored plan

.

 

[leahjade]

Folks who use that "i don't want to pay for the lazy poor people" line have absolutely NO understanding of how the health care system has been working for the last say 3 decades.

And how do you think that will change with Obama care? Where do you think people who are not working will get the money to pay for their share of the exchange? It all sounds good in theory but like any entitlement program the government is involved in doesn't work in real life. It always ends up costing ten times more than they predict and who do you think will be paying for it in the end? The ever shrinking working population of this country. I feel so sorry for our kids and grandkids who will have to pay for all these for decades.

 

[leahjade]

. "Keep your current plan" - That quote was part of information regarding "will the government force me to switch to ObamaCare"

You are not getting the fact that many employers will stop providing health care and pay the penalty (which is lower than paying for premiums) forcing millions of employees to buy Obama care whether they want it or not.

 

[TwoAtDisney]

Our state opted out. We have a charity hospital system plus private hospitals have to treat everyone.

That's funny! So do you think that you are not paying for all of those "free" non-ObamaCare people? Where do you think the money comes from to pay their bills?

 

[leahjade]

5. It's not working now & hasn't been working for too many decades! I wish some Americans would quit saying "Why" & start saying "Why Not" (give it a try). How can we be the "exceptional" nation, the "greatest" nation & not have everyone provided with health care like the rest of developed countries?

It has worked for the majority of people. There are some people who think they should pay nothing out of pocket (and they will have a rude awakening when they find out they will be paying much more than what they are paying now). No one is ever turned away from a hospital in this country because they don't have healthcare, and low income people have Medicaid that pays for much more than most families' employer offered health care.

 

[TwoAtDisney]

Well, I would be okay if I had one more kid.

Congratulations on your upcoming pregnancy! (I'm joking, of course).

 

[Robbi]

That's funny! So do you think that you are not paying for all of those "free" non-ObamaCare people? Where do you think the money comes from to pay their bills?

You're assuming. Maybe ask before you make a statement.

Where did I say that? Of course, we're paying and that's one reason our governor said no thanks to o care.

It has worked for the majority of people. There are some people who think they should pay nothing out of pocket (and they will have a rude awakening when they find out they will be paying much more than what they are paying now). No one is ever turned away from a hospital in this country because they don't have healthcare, and low income people have Medicaid that pays for much more than most families' employer offered health care.

I agree.
3 of my daughter's former school mates just had or are about to have babies. 100% of prenatal and hospital costs are/were covered by Medicaid. One had a c-section and her baby was premature. Medicaid paid for 5 days of hospitalization. The baby, thank God, was healthy enough to leave the hospital with his parents. All 3 were high risk- diabetes, brain tumor, continuing hyperemesis. They had a high risk doctor along with their regular obs, monthly ultrasounds, and other medical tests.

 

[pryncess527]

You're assuming. Maybe ask before you make a statement. Where did I say that? Of course, we're paying and that's one reason our governor said no thanks to o care.

Your governor did not opt out of Obamacare. States do not have that option. The options states had was to either run their own healthcare exchange or let the federal government do it for them. States who "opted out" are the ones that chose to let the federal government run the exchange.

 

[aw14]

Lots of people are depending on YOU to work hard to pay for their healthcare! Our premiums stayed level but our deductible went up by $6,000 for two of us. This Healthcare law is the largest and most burdensome tax on the middle class in the history of our country.

well said. It is a sham and should never have been pushed through.

 

[Robbi]

Your governor did not opt out of Obamacare. States do not have that option. The options states had was to either run their own healthcare exchange or let the federal government do it for them. States who "opted out" are the ones that chose to let the federal government run the exchange.

Ok, then, our state is running our own exchange. Excuse me for not being up on the proper terminology. I think you got my point though.
Decided not to be rude.

 

[pryncess527]

Ok, then, our state is running our own exchange. Excuse me for not being up on the proper terminology. I think you got my point though. Decided not to be rude.

no, I didn't. Based on your post I figured they were using the fed exchange, but even that didn't make sense in the context of some of your statements. I wasn't trying to be rude, just clear because I had no idea what you meant

 

[Robbi]

I kind of thought this thread would be closed anyway since people are so pro or con politically.

 

[Colleen27]

It has worked for the majority of people. There are some people who think they should pay nothing out of pocket (and they will have a rude awakening when they find out they will be paying much more than what they are paying now). No one is ever turned away from a hospital in this country because they don't have healthcare, and low income people have Medicaid that pays for much more than most families' employer offered health care.

No one is turned away from emergency care for inability to pay. That doesn't mean they get access to the care they need, just that they get stabilizing care with no follow up and often no treatment for the issue that caused the emergency in the first place. And often even that care comes at a cost that leads to bankruptcy or a lifetime of collections calls.

Medicaid doesn't cover the low income in many states. It covers low income children, the elderly, and the disabled, but often not non-disabled adults no matter how poor. That's a matter of state law - in mine, there was nothing until the ACA Medicaid expansion, even for adults living at a fraction of the poverty level.

 

[Colleen27]

3 of my daughter's former school mates just had or are about to have babies. 100% of prenatal and hospital costs are/were covered by Medicaid. One had a c-section and her baby was premature. Medicaid paid for 5 days of hospitalization. The baby, thank God, was healthy enough to leave the hospital with his parents. All 3 were high risk- diabetes, brain tumor, continuing hyperemesis. They had a high risk doctor along with their regular obs, monthly ultrasounds, and other medical tests.

That's because they were pregnant. Medicaid covers pregnant adults for the sake of the child. Let one of them develop diabetes or cancer or suffer an injury outside of pregnancy and they'd have a very different experience.

I kind of thought this thread would be closed anyway since people are so pro or con politically.

The ban on politics is fairly narrowly applied, and really only seems to come into play when the conversation turns partisan or nasty. Civil discussion on government issues doesn't seem to be a problem.