Obamacare success stories please

[chobie]

Yes, you are correct

Nope, wrong chobie.
I would like to think that something good can come from all of this and wanted to hear success stories.

Of course! How silly of me to think you would want nothing more than for this to be a big success!!!! Just think about in 2016 what it will be like of this turns out well!

 

[Lindaland]

Well I have to agree that I fit into the "DIS demographic" being a nurse and having insurance through work. And one thing I have learned at the hospital is we spend millions every year on "charity care" as we call it. The number of people we see in the ER for non-emergent illness or conditions is a good 40% and most of those are there because they don't have insurance to go to a primary doctor. It will be quite a relief on those that are seeking emergency/urgent care to have 40% less people to wait behind. ER's are the most expensive care on the planet and the costs just get passed on to others. Allowing coverage for most people will reduce cost for everyone in the long run. I am very happy that so many people will now be able to get coverage. I think it is a good system on the whole and while it may not change my life too much, it will certainly help others immeasurably!

 

[lauradis]

+1

With all the doom and gloom on tv night after night over this, I'm happy to read folks who are being helped.

You watch the junk every night. I would go mad woman, mad I tell you

 

[3happydancers]

While it is wonderful to hear about those who will benefit from the Affordable Care Act, it has hurt my. My work hours were cut to under 30 hours weekly because employer does not want to pay for insurance. I may be forced to look for another part time job to make up the difference, or if I am lucky, will find full time employment elsewhere.

I think parts of the new healthcare system are wonderful, however, I do believe there is room for improvement. I don't believe people should be forced to purchase insurance and penalized if they don't.

But please know that I am very happy for those who will finally be able to have some form of health insurance!

 

[SGB13]

I am glad most of you are so upbeat about this massive change to the health care system. I hope you are as happy in January. We in the medical field fear this is the beginning of the end. I hope we are wrong.

 

[lauradis]

Well I have to agree that I fit into the "DIS demographic" being a nurse and having insurance through work. And one thing I have learned at the hospital is we spend millions every year on "charity care" as we call it. The number of people we see in the ER for non-emergent illness or conditions is a good 40% and most of those are there because they don't have insurance to go to a primary doctor. It will be quite a relief on those that are seeking emergency/urgent care to have 40% less people to wait behind. ER's are the most expensive care on the planet and the costs just get passed on to others. Allowing coverage for most people will reduce cost for everyone in the long run. I am very happy that so many people will now be able to get coverage. I think it is a good system on the whole and while it may not change my life too much, it will certainly help others immeasurably!

Did I miss something in ACA are hospitals now charging up front before care like dr offices do????

Not trying to start argument, that could possibly help to lower cost

 

[disney1990]

My granddaughter, who had childhood cancer at age 8 (now 15), is able to get insurance again.

 

[tvguy]

Way way too soon to pass any judgment. Wait a few months until they find answers to come of the unanticipated questions and situations.

Rarely do people call a TV newsroom to praise something, so no surprise all our calls have been people with issues. The common themes seems to revolve around what the AHCA considers income and what is not, and whether these people were already qualify for health insurance through other programs at a lower premium than the AHCA offers. Many of the folks I talked to are disabled and have some sort of disability income, or were injured and have court judgments.

 

[3happydancers]

My granddaughter, who had childhood cancer at age 8 (now 15), is able to get insurance again.

Sure hope your granddaughter is doing well and very happy to hear she will be afforded medical coverage. I believe everyone with pre-existing conditions, or not, should be able to access to affordable healthcare. While I don't agree with everything in the Affordable Care Act, I do believe this is one good part which we should have had all along.

 

[3boymthr]

I'm happy to see some positive results especially for people who have had trouble getting insurance and I will price out some options for us in the not too distant future but as someone who has worked in insurance for years I fear that the very demographic that is so excited about the insurance is the very reason that the insurance program will see HUGE increases in a year (it's a theorem called adverse selection). Which is why I will price it out but not do anything until next year.

 

[Muushka]

Of course! How silly of me to think you would want nothing more than for this to be a big success!!!! Just think about in 2016 what it will be like of this turns out well!

While it is wonderful to hear about those who will benefit from the Affordable Care Act, it has hurt my. My work hours were cut to under 30 hours weekly because employer does not want to pay for insurance. I may be forced to look for another part time job to make up the difference, or if I am lucky, will find full time employment elsewhere.

I think parts of the new healthcare system are wonderful, however, I do believe there is room for improvement. I don't believe people should be forced to purchase insurance and penalized if they don't.

But please know that I am very happy for those who will finally be able to have some form of health insurance!

I'm so sorry. I know that there are going to be stories such as yours.

 

[mnewcomer]

I hope there is positive sides my husband has a pacemaker & can not get insurance plus we are a small business owners we have not had insurance for 6 years. We'll before we could get my husband on the new insurance his appendix burst yesterday. I worry for the people that are going to be hurt by this new plan I think there has to be a better solution that will not hurt so many. Best wish for all of us & hope we will hear some happy stories.

 

[Lindaland]

Did I miss something in ACA are hospitals now charging up front before care like dr offices do????

Not trying to start argument, that could possibly help to lower cost

No worries, we treat everyone first and then deal with the payments later.
What I meant by having 40% less people to wait behind, is that we get several complaints of "suture removal", "jaw pain", "hand cramps" etc... Those people would see a primary doctor if they had insurance and would not have to rely on the ER. This would also lower what we have to spend on "charity care". People would also get more preventative care and be able to catch illnesses sooner when they can be more easily treated, thus saving the cost of advanced staged care.

The ACA is not perfect but it is better than what we had and at least we are able to help more people get basic care. I may be paying more for my care, but I am okay with that because I am helping someone who couldn't get help before the ACA.

 

[kydisneyfans]

It has caused a problem here.
My wife and her coworkers were called into a meeting Wednesday morning-the announcement was that all of them are out of work soon. There were 2 teams, the first will be eliminated by Dec 31, the second will stay on until June 30, 2014 to clean things up. She is in the second.

She is in the healthcare field.

The problem stems with low reimbursements and estimated non payments skyrocketing in 2014. The issue is that while folks are buying new insurance, their expenses rise. In addition, the deductibles are so high the chance of collecting payment has decreased, thus healthcare companies nationwide are laying off due to decreased revenues-even with anticipated volume increases.

The advanced notice is good as she will be able to find other employment in 8 months, but the safety of working in healthcare is no longer there.

 

[DOPEYLUVER]

I know it's not the party that recently went into effect but the coverage for my kids up to 26 is huge for me.

I have a son who wants to be a police officer. While enrolled in college, he decided to go to the reserve police academy. School is a struggle for him. He did this prior to Obama care and had to remain in school full-time to stay on our insurance while enrolled in the academy. It wasn't the most successful academic year ever.

On the other hand, my daughter had been able to do two Disney College Programs because she was able to stay on our insurance even though she was not enrolled in school. Her school did not allow her to enroll in the program for credits so she was considered on leave from school and would not have been covered by our insurance previous to Obama care.

As far as the "real" aspects of Obama care, I have to admit that I don't know enough about it to comment.

 

[luvmy3]

No worries, we treat everyone first and then deal with the payments later.
What I meant by having 40% less people to wait behind, is that we get several complaints of "suture removal", "jaw pain", "hand cramps" etc... Those people would see a primary doctor if they had insurance and would not have to rely on the ER. This would also lower what we have to spend on "charity care". People would also get more preventative care and be able to catch illnesses sooner when they can be more easily treated, thus saving the cost of advanced staged care.

The ACA is not perfect but it is better than what we had and at least we are able to help more people get basic care. I may be paying more for my care, but I am okay with that because I am helping someone who couldn't get help before the ACA.

Of course all of that is assuming most of the 40% will have insurance now. Its very possible they will still choose to not purchase insurance, pay the penalty and still get their "charity care".

 

[eatatmidnight]

It is nice to hear about families/individuals who are benefiting from ACA. In our benefits meeting yesterday we learned that our $1000/3000 deductible, 20/50 percent out of pocket (after deductible) with 35% out of pocket prescriptions plan will no longer be offered because it would eventually be considered a "Cadillac" plan. The only option will be similar to an HMO with $3000/$6000 deductible and 20/40 percent out of pocket (after deductible) for medical and prescriptions. The monthly cost is about the same.

It will cost us more but knowing that people who are working without insurance will be able to afford care softens the blow a little. I somehow wish we could all be covered without having to deal with politicians or insurance companies. I don't trust either group.

 

[eliza61]

Did I miss something in ACA are hospitals now charging up front before care like dr offices do????

Not trying to start argument, that could possibly help to lower cost

It depends.
If you go into emergency with a life threatening case you will most definitely be seen to.
When my dh was battling cancer, the hospital WOULD NOT give us an admittance date to start his chemo until the insurance company verified the treatment.

That is why the argument about how ACA is going to take away the doctor-patient relationship is so bogus. believe me, every step of the way during my dh's illness it was made very very clear that no treatment or not program would be started until the insurance company said they would pay for it.
Your doctor could want to admit you asap and if the insurance say no, guess who's not getting admitted.

Many times we had to fight with Aetna because his oncologist prescribed a certain medicine that wasn't on the approved list and guess what, hospital definitely did not administer the medicine.

Now I don't know enough about the aca to know if things like that will be changed but today in this country, medical care is directly attached to your ability to pay. I spent all of 2012 learning that fact first hand.

 

[bdcp]

The average family so far that I've seen and heard about will see increases of over 2K/year under this plan. There has to be in order to pay for the previously unisureable and the low income applicants. It's not self-sustainable.

I think people need to remember how much this program is going to cost than was told to us originally. Nothing is free, ever.

 

[aprilchem]

One of my very good friends told me yesterday that her husband, who is contract worker, has been without insurance for two years because he was declared uninsurable (high blood pressure). They were able to sign him up for health insurance under the ACA, and she is SO relieved.