ObamaCare Info

[scrapquitler]

Well..that was helpful but worthless since nothing is actually on the site about cost until October 1. I don't have much faith in the navigators they are training at this point either since they really don't get all that much training. Think about how your IRS questions are handled..as in no one knows, confusing different answers form everyone you ask and you have an idea how this will probably go. Still..it is what we have and will bankrupt the country more than it already is, so will see what kind of subsidies for what kind of plans I will get.

This is a problem to me, we are able to enroll next week, but they still haven't actually released much of any information. For example, in my state the 'gold plan' will cost something like $346. for an individual who doesn't qualify for a subsidy. But SO many questions remain because my state's information say that the cost 'may' be more depending on your age and where in the state you live, and the price doesn't mention anything about the cost of family coverage (will it be 2X as much as an individual, 3X as much? less? more? I have NO idea) and it also never explains if the '80% coverage' of a gold plan means from day one, or do I have to pay a deductible first? And if I need to fill a deductible, is that going to be $500, $5000, $10,000? And will taht be a family deductible or an individual deductible if I'm on a family plan?

They're talking about how great it's going to be, but they haven't given me enough information to hae any ide if it actually WILL be great or not.

Oh, and I have heard that we are going to have to pay income tax on the subsidy if we qualify for that...but I'm not sure because they haven't ever officially said that.

SO many questions...and who thinks they are going to have enough qualified people working to answer questions next week? I'm not confident about that. Oh, and I hear there is a many page application...if there are no pre-exisitng condition exclusions, why a long application?

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

What I think is ridiculous is that the government thinks ANYBODY can actually AFFORD insurance that costs 9.5% of their annual income.

Yeah if you make 20k a year you can afford to pay $2k a year for insurance but if you make $100k a year (which I guess is rich according to the government) that would cost $10k a year. That is almost a thousand dollars a month JUST FOR THE EMPLOYEE. Even ppl who make $100k a year cannot afford to pay $1k a month in insurance premiums.

Imagine if you actually made 150k a year.

Those are the ppl who are going to be taking one in the hind end tax wise to pay for all those who qualify for subsidies.

I will be fine. My husband's employer provides great insurance for him and I (my kids are on their dad's plan) and we pay 20% of the premiums and the employer pays the other 80%. Our policy costs around $1500 a month. The employer said they will continue to provide private insurance for us.

However my son and his g/f who both only make about $250 a week ($1k a month) will still have to shell out money to buy insurance policies that they cannot afford. FORCED TO BUY IT.

I agree this is the single biggest tax burden that has ever been put on the American public.

And the scary part is they openly admit, this is just the first step towards going to a single payer system. Which would be the end of quality healthcare as we know it. That is the worst possible thing we could have.

Anything else I have to say on this would be way too political and partisan and would be against board rules so I will back out now.

 

[Judyat]

I was going to try to explain some things that I have learned but have decided there is so much misinformation here it's just not worth it. I will just say compare the plan you have with the ones available on the state healthcare exchanges. There are numbers you can call to get clarification and you can even chat with a person online who can answer your questions. I did that last week. So many people have heard so much that just isn't true. Healthcare.gov is a good place to start and starting Tuesday, October 1 you state healthcare exchange. There are agendas at work here and online as well as TV. Obamacarefacts.com has a lot of information. Some many good things for everyone and yet some do not want everyone to have them. They don't people to be in the drivers seat. No pre-existing conditions, no lifetime cap. Insurance companies can't drop you. Kids on your policy till age 26. Affordable coverage with subsidies for many. It's a good start headed in the right direction.

 

[mafibisha]

Oh, and I hear there is a many page application...if there are no pre-exisitng condition exclusions, why a long application?

Good question. I also wonder why the politicians themselves won't be getting it .... if it's "so good"...??

What I think is ridiculous is that the government thinks ANYBODY can actually AFFORD insurance that costs 9.5% of their annual income.

Those are the ppl who are going to be taking one in the hind end tax wise to pay for all those who qualify for subsidies.

I agree this is the single biggest tax burden that has ever been put on the American public.

And the scary part is they openly admit, this is just the first step towards going to a single payer system. Which would be the end of quality healthcare as we know it. That is the worst possible thing we could have.
.

This. ITA. Say bye bye to the best quality healthcare in the world.

 

[imabeimabe]

Good question. I also wonder why the politicians themselves won't be getting it .... if it's "so good"...??

This!!!

 

[runwad]

Judyat can you tell me if I"m interpreting this right? From an estimator site that was posted on the other closed thread these are our figures:
snip
Results
The information below is about subsidized exchange coverage. Note that subsidies are only available for people purchasing coverage on their own in the exchange (not through an employer). Depending on your state's eligibility criteria, you or some members of your family may qualify for Medicaid.

Household income in 2014:297% of poverty level
Unsubsidized annual health insurance premium in 2014:$13,117
Maximum % of income you have to pay for the non-tobacco premium, if eligible for a subsidy:9.43%
Amount you pay for the premium:$7,729 per year
(which equals 9.43% of your household income and covers 59% of the overall premium)
You could receive a government tax credit subsidy of up to:$5,388
(which covers 41% of the overall premium) .

The premium and subsidy amounts above are based on a Silver plan. You have the option to apply the subsidy toward the purchase of other levels of coverage, such as a Gold plan (which would be more comprehensive) or a Bronze plan (which would be less comprehensive).

So we would pay 7,729 in premiums not counting co pays and deductibles? Up to a max out of pocked 12K (I cut that part out to make is shorter).

Yikes. I hope my Dh's employer never drops our insurnace coverage and we have to go on this. We pay way less than 7,729 in premiumes. OMG we could never afford that. We only pay around 2500 in premiums now! Please tell me I'm not interpretting this right because this is anything but affordable for our family!!

 

[lauradis]

Judyat can you tell me if I"m interpreting this right? From an estimator site that was posted on the other closed thread these are our figures:
snip
Results
The information below is about subsidized exchange coverage. Note that subsidies are only available for people purchasing coverage on their own in the exchange (not through an employer). Depending on your state's eligibility criteria, you or some members of your family may qualify for Medicaid.

Household income in 2014:297% of poverty level
Unsubsidized annual health insurance premium in 2014:$13,117
Maximum % of income you have to pay for the non-tobacco premium, if eligible for a subsidy:9.43%
Amount you pay for the premium:$7,729 per year
(which equals 9.43% of your household income and covers 59% of the overall premium)
You could receive a government tax credit subsidy of up to:$5,388
(which covers 41% of the overall premium) .

The premium and subsidy amounts above are based on a Silver plan. You have the option to apply the subsidy toward the purchase of other levels of coverage, such as a Gold plan (which would be more comprehensive) or a Bronze plan (which would be less comprehensive).

So we would pay 7,729 in premiums not counting co pays and deductibles? Up to a max out of pocked 12K (I cut that part out to make is shorter).

Yikes. I hope my Dh's employer never drops our insurnace coverage and we have to go on this. We pay way less than 7,729 in premiumes. OMG we could never afford that. We only pay around 2500 in premiums now! Please tell me I'm not interpretting this right because this is anything but affordable for our family!!

yep close and hope your dh employer never drops you, because if im miss reading obamacare website wrong it says employee and dependents and spouses are not dependents according to tax codes

 

[leahjade]

The unions who have the best health care in our country don't want Obamacare!

Who knew Obamacare was bad for workers? Unions, or rather the professional class of union leaders, were vehement supporters of Obamacare’s federal takeover of health care. Now that they’ve had a chance to actually read the 2,801-page bill and “find out what is in it,” they are upset and want out.

Major unions like the AFL-CIO and the Teamsters are now demanding that they be allowed to stay on their current health care plans and receive government subsidies to cover the increased costs some of Obamacare’s provisions will impose on lower-income workers. They want to eat their government cake and have it too. What else is new? Who would foot the bill? You guessed it: We, the taxpayers.

The rank hypocrisy of Obamacare-backing unions began almost immediately after the passage of the bill three years ago, with hundreds of thousands of union workers being exempted from the law through waivers from the Obama administration.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/17/clancy-

 

[luvmy3]

Oh, and I hear there is a many page application...if there are no pre-exisitng condition exclusions, why a long application?

When I checked out my state's website it said the online or phone application will take 45 minutes!
I do my taxes in less time

 

[McKelly]

[QUOTEYikes. I hope my Dh's employer never drops our insurnace coverage and we have to go on this. We pay way less than 7,729 in premiumes. OMG we could never afford that. We only pay around 2500 in premiums now! Please tell me I'm not interpretting this right because this is anything but affordable for our family!![/QUOTE]

You are interpretting it right. While it doesn't seem affordable to you, my DH"s employer sponsored insurance has premiums higher than $7700.00 per year, which goes higher yet because we have a $12,000.00 deductible per family per year, or $3000.00 per person. So, in that respect, it is more reasonable for us. I am waiting to hear what kind of co-pays and deductibles Obamacare will have. That will make the difference for us, if it is cheaper or not. But we wouldn't qualify anway because at this time, my DH's employer plans to still offer the private insurance, so we wouldn't qualify for Obamacare......if I am understand THAT correctly. So this affordable insurance, isn't really doing much for us........

I just want to know who is going to police all of this? If people don't want to purchase the insurance, they get a fine? How are they going to be fined? Who is going to collect that? What if they don't pay?

 

[Colleen27]

The unions who have the best health care in our country don't want Obamacare!

Most of the people who have top-notch health care don't want Obamacare. Why would they? They already have what they need and they don't want that boat rocked for the benefit of others!

The union leaders (low-level leadership) I know are worried that Obamacare will further weaken unions in this country, because they'll no longer be able to "sell" unionization on the grounds that it means access to health care that workers wouldn't be able to get in non-union settings. Improved access to health care for all those non-union and temporary employees in unionized fields means one less reason people would sign up for paying union dues.

 

[eliza61]

Good question. I also wonder why the politicians themselves won't be getting it .... if it's "so good"...??

This. ITA. Say bye bye to the best quality healthcare in the world.

Lol where would that be? Sure as heck ain't the usa. I have lived in another country with waaaay better healthcare.

You are going to have to give me your definition of "best".
out of the 34 developed nations, us health care ranks 27th

Among canada, New Zealand, UK, Germany and Australia we are dead last.
we consistently have high infant mortality rates
we consistently have low life expectancy rates
LOL, with all the new technology, in 2008 the USA was 43rd, 43rd!!! in adult female mortality. Seriously? You consider that the best? Cuba's women get better health care than women in the US and you have no problem saying we are the best?

And I'm not making this up. NE journal of medicine, world health organization, Bloomberg organization. Almost every tracking organization and scientific community has been saying the same thing for years.
Jeez, we're below Columbia and Costa Rica!!! Costa Rica and Dominican Republic have a growing america retiree population because the cost of living and health care are so much cheaper and better.

AND WE SPEND THE MOST PER CITIZEN for this privilage. So seriously, how are we the "Best".

Health care is only good if you can get it.
Like every thing else here, if you can afford the best, that's what you get. If you can't pay for it, you are on the same level as most 3 world countries.

This country stopped being the "Leader" in health, education, science, technology decades ago.

I totally agree though, politicians need to stop getting privileges unavailable to every one else. but these are the guys who can vote themselves a raise so it doesn't surprise me.

 

[Tinkerdreams]

[/QUOTE]I just want to know who is going to police all of this? If people don't want to purchase the insurance, they get a fine? How are they going to be fined? Who is going to collect that? What if they don't pay?[/QUOTE]

On the news last night this subject came up and at tax time every year, you will have to provide proof of health care insurance. If you do not, then your refund is garnished for the fine imposed.

 

[disney1990]

Good question. I also wonder why the politicians themselves won't be getting it .... if it's "so good"...??
This. ITA. Say bye bye to the best quality healthcare in the world.

Politicians won't be getting it because it is for people that do not have insurance.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

From what I understand they will not garnish your wages or put you in jail but they will garnish your tax refund. How are they going to verify that everybody has coverage? Do you show an insurance card to your tax accountant? What if you do your own taxes? How are they going to police this? I know thw 17 thousand additional IRS agents they hired may have something to do with it.

 

[Pooh2]

I just want to know who is going to police all of this? If people don't want to purchase the insurance, they get a fine? How are they going to be fined? Who is going to collect that? What if they don't pay?[/QUOTE]

On the news last night this subject came up and at tax time every year, you will have to provide proof of health care insurance. If you do not, then your refund is garnished for the fine imposed.[/QUOTE]

Just received the tax penalty schedule from my company today:
2014 $95 per family member per year
2015 $325 per family member per year
2016 $695 per family member per year

Pretty steep for those who cannot afford 9.5% of their annual income for insurance.
The IRS is the enforcer of Obamacare as it is a tax on the American people.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

Also I just wanted to mention. These health plans that are suppose to be so great in insuring millions of Americans will probably be unusable. If they have a family deductible of $3000 for example. That means that family has to pay 3k out of pocket before the insurance begins to pay. Most ppl can't afford that. So really they are going to be forced to buy insurance they can't afford and can't afford to use. It is healthcare coverage in name only. The only time that insurance will be a benefit is if they have surgery or a catastrophic illness or injury. Even then having to pay 30% of the final bill could bankrupt a family. Or ruin their credit when they can't pay it.

 

[angwill]

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.

If it has worked for the majority of people we would not have a health care crisis in the US. We have yet to see that the majority will be paying much more than what they are paying now. The only place nobody is ever turned away from at a hospital is and ER where all they do is stabalize a person or give them a plan to getting better. Then they charge you and if you don't pay in full it goes to collections at the end of the month. They don't give out meds, they don't take out cancer.

Try not having insurance and finding a sugeon or hospital willing to remove that cancer without cash up front. There are some hospitals that are not for profit that offer charity to help with the costs but that is only the hospital costs and does not cover the bills the patient recieves for scans, blood tests, every doctor, anethesiologist, lab worker, meds etc. All those bills come in and everyone wants payment in full or big payment every month. That is devistating not working for the people. As for medicaid in my state right now it only covers families or mothers with children making minimum wage and if the father is known and both work and make minimum wage they make too much to qualify.

 

[leahjade]

Among canada, New Zealand, UK, Germany and Australia we are dead last

Guess you haven't lived in Canada! My brother's girlfriend lived there all her life until a few years ago and told many stories how her father had to wait months for critical care and how all the wealthy traveled to the US for top notch care.

 

[redsonja76]

Good question. I also wonder why the politicians themselves won't be getting it .... if it's "so good"...??

This. ITA. Say bye bye to the best quality healthcare in the world.

We actually do not have the best quality healthcare in the world. We have the highest infant mortality rate of any industrialized nation in the WORLD. I would not call that quality.