Affordable Health Care Law under review by SCOTUS

[PaleoMan]

Good read about how the SCOTUS can really screw poor people with their upcoming Obamacare challenge. Premiums would absolutely skyrocket for millions if this challenge is upheld.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/1...amacare-states

You do realize that this may occur because Obamacare is predicated upon artificially rigging the market with subsidies? It's a shell game based on moving resources from one sector to the other.

[In the Corn]

Personal update:

The insurance company that I selected informed MNSure they will be pulling out of the exchange this year. This is the provider that had almost 60% of the individual market in MN's insurance exchange. They are pulling out because they don't created a poor formula of enrolls to premiums. While a poor business decision on their part, it sucks for me as I will need to go back and change providers and shop for a new plan (not that I wouldn't window shop, anyway, but I am forced to find a new plan).

MNSure tells Minnesotans that plans overall will be going up 4.5% in 2015. I can't see how that is going to hold true for the 60% of people that had the same insurance providers as me. Of course, I won't know what I'm looking at until the middle of November. I will come back, and let you know what I'm looking at.

So we are one the eve of open enrollment, and I thought I would give everyone an update as to where I'm at here:

In 2014, my wife and I have had a Silver Plan. The deductible is $2000/$4000. Our premium is just over $500. My employer pays the majority of it, and we have a small subsidy from the ACA ($60-ish).

We have been fairly healthy all year. My wife has been to her general practitioner about 4-5 times each with a $35 co-pay. Those haven't been a big deal.

My wife has also been seeing a counselor for some mental health issues...counselor doesn't take insurance. Her appointments have been basically weekly at $54 a session. One of the things I was most excited about was Obama's wanting mental health care to be highlighted through the ACA. I never saw any benefit from it this year, as my wife's therapist doesn't take insurance (therapist is a specialist for this disorder). My out of pocket just for the therapy will be around $2,000.

About three weeks ago, I received my notice from our insurance carrier. They will no longer be involved in MNSure (MN's ACA exchange). My new premium for my plan, if I chose to continue will be $895. That is more than my mortgage payment.

Needless to say, I will be hopping back into the pool that is MNSure to find a new policy. Now, granted, I would still do some shopping around for policies even if my current insurance was continuing on MNSure, but now I have to do a whole heck of lot more searching than I thought I would have to. I feel pretty duped here. I did a lot of research to make sure I chose a plan that was going to meet my family's needs and also guard against incurring huge amounts of out debt lower deductible. This whole process is very frustrating.

I will be waiting a week or two before starting any research, as MNSure had so many glitches last year, I know some people who have been trying for months to get some insurance through the site. Last week, it was reported MNSure still has a few major bugs...can't wait to see what they are.

As Gris would say, "Hey just my report on ACA."

[Fresno Bob]

Just making sure here, but you guys know that these are private insurance companies that are raising your rates or canceling or changing or whatever, right?

and if we just went to single payer like the rest of the civilized world, this wouldn't be happening

[Moonlight J]

With the second round of Obamacare enrollment set to begin on Saturday, 71 percent said their coverage through the exchanges was good or excellent, according to a Gallup poll released Friday. Another 19 percent said the coverage was fair, while 9 percent rated it poorly. style="box-sizing: border-box;">>
Story Continued Below



The pollster notes that these marks are comparable to all who have health insurance. However, those newly insured through the exchanges are more satisfied with the cost of health care — with 75 percent saying so — versus 61 percent of all insured respondents who said they were satisfied with the cost of health care. style="box-sizing: border-box;">>
A majority — 68 percent — who received insurance through the exchanges said they plan to renew their policy, while an additional 7 percent said they will look for a new policy, but through the exchanges.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/1...#ixzz3J5Bi8Ihk

[cardboardbox]

This is the first year since I've had health insurance on my own (not parents) that was so expensive to have anything done that I dont feel like going to see doctors anymore, its just too expensive. I still have BCBS and I pay about the same but the plan I used to have they said is gone and I'm on a "similar plan." Last year I could see a specialist and get a blood test and the total was $25. This year its $80. I even got a $500 bill for a routine blood test that cost me $0 last year. Same place, same doctor, same test, $500 more. My wife had some tests done and we get bills from 5 different places for stuff we never had to pay for before.

sigh

[heyelander]

This is the first year since I've had health insurance on my own (not parents) that was so expensive to have anything done that I dont feel like going to see doctors anymore, its just too expensive. I still have BCBS and I pay about the same but the plan I used to have they said is gone and I'm on a "similar plan." Last year I could see a specialist and get a blood test and the total was $25. This year its $80. I even got a $500 bill for a routine blood test that cost me $0 last year. Same place, same doctor, same test, $500 more. My wife had some tests done and we get bills from 5 different places for stuff we never had to pay for before.

sigh

Sounds like my switch from a POS to a PPO. I've learned my lesson and will be back to a POS this time around. A few more restrictions, but most things are covered by your copay rather than billed out separately.

[cardboardbox]

Sounds like my switch from a POS to a PPO. I've learned my lesson and will be back to a POS this time around. A few more restrictions, but most things are covered by your copay rather than billed out separately.

yeah its a PPO but it was a PPO the previous years also. Its just gone to crap... I really wonder if only having some emergency insurance is better and then paying cash for whatever I need. Including employer contribution, our insurance costs around $1300/mo for three (one under 3 yrs old).

[chancellor]

yeah its a PPO but it was a PPO the previous years also. Its just gone to crap... I really wonder if only having some emergency insurance is better and then paying cash for whatever I need. Including employer contribution, our insurance costs around $1300/mo for three (one under 3 yrs old).

If you're in an area of a large suburb or larger city, absolutely. The discount for cash from some docs is huge - 50-60% in some cases. Make sure you have catastrophic insurance that has good acceptance in your area, and cash for everything else. We have urgent care clinics that provide a 40% discount if you meet with their business director and pay cash at visit.

[Moonlight J]

Piece in NYT today - http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/15/up...d=tw-upshotnyt

Nice interactive piece that shows people that renew the cheapest silver plan from 2014 would see a rate increase of 9.7% while those who switch to the cheapest silver plan in 2015 would see an increase of 3.4%.

[PaleoMan]

I guess the President did know Jonathan Gruber more than he let on. In less than 8 years, Gruber has gone from one of the "brightest minds" in the country to "some advisor."

[PaleoMan]

At 0:27 he says "kill whitey" but the liberal media cut that part out.

If you listen closely, I think he says, "I'm bought and paid for." Just another POTUS in a long line of front men. And if anyone thinks Romney would be different is deluded as well. Romney speaks even more glowingly of Gruber.

[PaleoMan]

Insurance companies will not sit down if the threats to the ACA materialize. Once the camel gets it's nose under the tent, it's not going to leave. Can you say fascism? The unholy alliance of corporate monopolies and big government?

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/insurers-will-strenuously-resist-gop-efforts-to-dismantle-obamacare/article/2556282

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/18/us/politics/health-law-turns-obama-and-insurers-into-allies.html?_r=0

So much so, in fact, that insurers may soon be on a collision course with the Republican majority in the new Congress. Insurers, often aligned with Republicans in the past, have built their business plans around the law and will strenuously resist Republican efforts to dismantle it. Since Mr. Obama signed the law, share prices for four of the major insurance companies — Aetna, Cigna, Humana and UnitedHealth — have more than doubled, while the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has increased about 70 percent.

“These companies all look at government programs as growth markets,” said Michael J. Tuffin, a former executive vice president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, the main lobby for the industry. “There will be nearly $2 trillion of subsidized coverage through insurance exchanges and Medicaid over the next 10 years. These are pragmatic companies. They will follow the customer.”

If anyone thought this was about providing healthcare to the uninsured, well you don't know how the world operates. Flash back to 2013:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tim-carney-health-industry-pushes-gop-states-toward-obamacare/article/2523136

These pro-exchange health-industry companies also poured money into legislative campaigns. Comb through the campaign finance disclosures of most Idaho state senators and you'll see gifts from drugmakers (GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer), insurers (Blue Cross of Idaho and PacificSource Health Plans) and industry groups (Idaho Hospital Association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and the Idaho Health Care Association). All these companies benefit from a state-run exchange.

Pearce thinks this industry push helped persuade Republicans to overcome their general opposition to Obamacare and big government.

What do the companies stand to gain? Insurers and providers both benefit from the federal subsidies that come with a state exchange. Insurers also get protection from competition: Stricter rules keep out new entrants, and some supporters made explicitly protectionist arguments. For example, Sen. John Goedde, an insurance agent, argued that "Idaho's insurance industry would lose out under a federal exchange, which likely would focus on national companies rather than Idaho insurers," as the Idaho Spokesman-Review paraphrased it.

[onejayhawk]

All this Gruber stuff is old news. The Republicans were saying all this back during debate. The numbers never added up. All this does is show that they knew they had to game the numbers to pass the law.

J

[Lucky]

For me, the ACA was a wonderful thing. After the judge gig flamed out, I was unemployed and worked a series of less-than-optimal jobs (rodeo clown, unicycle messenger, Cheney bag-man). When Obamacare came online, we signed up. My wife called the hotline, and got us with a good company. The coverage was good and cheaper than what I had been paying as a judge.

But here was the big thing...because I was unemployed, there was a gap in my coverage. That meant if it wasn't for the ACA, any new coverage would exempt my pre-existing conditions, and those of my family. If you are in your late 50s and don't have any health issues, you are a fortunate person. More likely, you have a little issue with blood pressure, or a disc, or prostate, or gout, or migraine, or ED, or something. I don't have gout. The point is that under the ACA I could still get the coverage I had for 20 years, despite the fact that I had a gap.

As soon as I got my new job, I signed up for insurance with my new employer. It is more costly, but I'm getting paid so I can afford it. I only used Obamacare once, when my wife fell and broke her ankle, but it sure was nice knowing it was there in case something more serious happened.

[onejayhawk]

The gift that keeps on giving.

J