The Current State Of ObamaCare - ACA

[houcoogster]

No truth to this.

Ocrap simply moved dollars around, robbing from productive members of society to redistribute to lower income.

Many will still show up at the ER expecting (and receiving) "free" care. Medicaid rolls expanded, more "free" care.

Those who earn above the FPL upper limit now pay more and have more OOP than before.

This grand scheme built on faulty calculations and lies will crash and burn by 2016.

There is absolutely nothing noble about this Socialistic scheme. It has been tried before and failed miserably. The same will happen here.

Looks like #2 is correct for your State. Check out my Uncle's article
Congressional Budget Office projections on ObamaCare raise questions about future enrollment* | Fox News

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I stumbled across this website you might find it interesting. It really fits the title of this thread.
ACA Private QHP (Qualified Health Plan) Spreadsheet | ACASignups.net


FAQ on the site.
What do you really think of the Affordable Care Act?
I think it's a huge, cumbersome, insanely overcomplicated law that creates a ton of headaches.

However, I also think that the healthcare system in the United States prior to the ACA was already cumbersome and overcomplicated, with its own headaches...and that it was hurting poor and middle-class people in terribly unfair and immoral ways. There are some elements of the ACA which I don't like one bit, such as it being a windfall to the for-profit health insurance industry...but I feel that the good that it does outweighs the bad. If it works as intended, it should stop some of the worst abuses of the industry, bring decent healthcare coverage to millions of people who didn't have it before, force insurance companies to use at least 80% of their premium revenue for actual healthcare costs, and pave the way for individual states to switch to single-payer plans if they so choose in the future.

So yes, overall I do want the ACA to work. However, wanting it to doesn't mean that it will. ACASignups.net was created to try and get a sense of whether or not it is working.

 

[somarco]

Just because you have no clue how health insurance and govt mismanagement works, no reason to flaunt it.

 

[houcoogster]

Just because you have no clue how health insurance and govt mismanagement works, no reason to flaunt it.

Fly your Flag High Somarco you should take great pride in this...

In fact, Georgia's insurance commissioner recently announced that of 220,000 applications, only 107,000 have actually paid -- a rate of less than 50 percent -- and almost all were offered subsidies.

Ralph Hudgens, the insurance commissioner, said the number who applied is well short of the 650,000 who were eligible for subsidies.

Most insurance companies have said 15 to 20 percent were not paying, so Georgia's experience could be a troubling sign.

 

[xrac]

I'm starting a petition that all libs are required to take math and economics by the time they quit school in the 10th grade.

I vote for that measure!

 

[Ann H]

My case is different in that I came over from Medicare so all the people I wrote were not previously insured that is all but two.

Guys, ole' Texas Houcoogster is just pulling your chain. He's bored now that ACA and Medicare's OEPs are over. And since this law brought him some new sales, he's feeling pretty good and wanting to do that again!

A lot of us made quite a bit of money this OEP, but still think the law is not in the best interests of America, our health care system, our taxes, etc. Making a pile of extra money didn't change that.

Houcoogster I'm sure it's easy to identify with the waitress, who you mentioned were the kind of folks you were helping this OEP season. But before it feels like righteous indignation, let me tell you that a number of waitresses that I have insured for years have seen their premiums spike. And, no, they don't get subsidies because they also work other jobs. And they report to the IRS the full amount of their pay, even the tips and cash under the table. So, is that fair? How about the hard working laborers who have insurance on the job, and are seeing their premiums spike? Or the young working family, or the business person who sunk his life's earnings into his efforts? A lot of people did not get subsidies, due to lower benchmark plan premiums, or the family glitch, or lots of other reasons. Please don't think you are the only person who cares for the poor and needy, much less the hard-working middle class who pays their own way.

Most of us have a book of business, but you came here fresh without any IFP accounts. How would you feel about this law if your book of Medicare clients all saw 20-100% rate increases? Would you be happy with the law that caused that? And would you want a newcomer poking you and making fun if you said the new law was disastrous? How would you feel if you had to rewrite your entire book of Medicare clients, mostly into worse plans at higher rates, only to have a newcomer to your market tell you that you don't get it? If your Medicare clients called day and night concerned that they can't get in to see a doctor, or their cancer specialist is no longer in network, would you be happy? Would you be happy if next OEP, 80% of your newly won clients told you that the 2015 options stink? Would it make you feel better if a newbie to your market swung in and told you that you don't understand your own market?

I'm sure this fiery debate has been fun. Entertainment between OEPs. But let's get real now. There is nothing wrong with seeing some benefits to ACA, particularly to several segments of the population. Nor is there anything wrong with differing opinions. But let's add value. You know very well that I have written hundreds of posts that educated other agents about subsidies and the ACA. And yet, my major market is group insurance and the IFP business that I wrote this OEP was mostly OFF-exchange. RayNY has a state exchange, but regularly adds very insightful posts that educate those of us with the FFM. Yagents and AllenChicago chime in often with tidbits of well-documented information on issues that concern people in all markets, whether it's their own focus or not. Let's add value. But if you decide to continue poking a live bear with cubs, at least don't be surprised when the fur flies and you find yourself on the receiving end.

 

[AllenChicago]

In fact, Georgia's insurance commissioner recently announced that of 220,000 applications, only 107,000 have actually paid -- a rate of less than 50 percent -- and almost all were offered subsidies. Most insurance companies have said 15 to 20 percent were not paying, so Georgia's experience could be a troubling sign.

Right after that 50% statistic was published, Georgia's governor authorized citizens to carry guns to hospitals. Doctors operating under gunpoint, LOL. I wonder who will leave the operating room alive?

Edit: OOPS..sorry Ann for stepping on your sincere message with humor. We obviously posted at the same time. -Allen

 

[houcoogster]

Guys, ole' Texas Houcoogster is just pulling your chain. He's bored now that ACA and Medicare's OEPs are over. And since this law brought him some new sales, he's feeling pretty good and wanting to do that again!

I'll let the wisdom of Mr. Williams do the talking for me........clap along!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM

 

[somarco]

Ratt, I have no idea how old you are, nor do I care. What I do know is this.

My children will pay for this mess for years to come. Over $7T in new debt since 2008, almost double the number of food stamp recipients, more people on welfare (raw numbers and % of population) than any time in history.

The middle class has all but disappeared. College grads and even middle age individuals and families are moving back in with their parents. White collar and skilled blue collar workers have jobs that pay half what they earned before 2008 . . . and that assumes they have jobs.

Manipulation of the money supply by the Federal Reserve created paper wealth for those who hold equities. Artificially low interest rates, bank bailouts, mortgage bailouts have created a taxpayer funded safety net that is unraveling.

The dollar has lost almost half its' value on the world market. Our foreign policy is a joke.

The almost 50 year old war on poverty has created more poverty, not less. More dependence on the govt and less self reliance. Why work when you can have a comfortable, but not extravagant lifestyle on the dole?

Almost half the voters in the last 2 national elections demanded more free stuff.

The top 10% of wage earners (earning xs of $116,000) paid 70% of the income taxes.

The bottom 50% of wage earners (earning less than $34k) paid 2% of income taxes collected.

Minimum wage earners are paid exactly what they are worth. Raising the minimum wage to $10 or $15 will not make them better off when it means fewer jobs and fewer hours.

Britain would have gone bankrupt had Margaret Thatcher not come along at the right time. The govt give away programs were destroying their economy.

Of course they apparently did not learn their lesson as they are moving back towards the brink of financial disaster.

Back home, states like CA and NY are proud of their social programs but give away's need money and they aren't able to get money from the poor so they tax the wealthiest individuals and companies to support the welfare class. The result is a migration of wealthy individuals and companies away from those states. Many of them have moved to more business and tax friendly states . . . such as Texas.

The true cost of Obamacrap is not yet known and won't be until mid summer at the earliest. Many supporters of this trillion dollar taxpayer funded program are now coming out of the ether and having oh sh*t moments.

For those who made money peddling subsidized plans, they better have plan B in place. Sucking on the govt teat is not going to last forever.

I don't begrudge anyone that made money peddling subsidized plans. I hope it works out for them but I believe that game won't last long.

For all the changes in Medicare that have happened and will happen, that is nothing like the havoc Ocrap will have on the agent community.

The low information, low income crowd has always been preyed upon by shysters and opportunists. That won't change. The poor, for the most part will always be poor no matter how much free stuff you give them.

Frankly, I am tired of paying 70% of the income taxes to support more give away programs. In a few years I will be debt free and can scale back my income and we be part of the downward mobility crowd except this is by design rather than default.

The shrinking middle class is adding people from the top down rather than bottom up.

Keep peddling give away programs that create dependence vs. independence. Washington needs more people like you to pay your fair share so the rest of us can live comfortably, collecting our govt benefits.

Yes, I said govt benefits. Social Security and Medicare.

Unlike those who are getting "free" health insurance, food stamps, subsidized housing, etc. I worked for almost 50 years to pay for these programs. It's about time to get some of my money back.

 

[houcoogster]

For those who made money peddling subsidized plans, they better have plan B in place. Sucking on the govt teat is not going to last forever.

I don't begrudge anyone that made money peddling subsidized plans. I hope it works out for them but I believe that game won't last long.

.

Is it just me or does anybody else see a direct contradiction with these two statements? ^^

Why is it that you feel holier than thou because you sell med supps? What good would a med supp be if you didn't have the Medicare A &B teats to suckle off?

What about MA's and Medi Medi Agents are they not suckling off the Govt. teat?

What about the makers of cruise missiles we fire off to the tune of $1.2 mill a piece....are they not suckling off the Govt. teat?

What about all the Doctor's and Hospitals billing the living sheet out of Medicare everyday are they not suckling off the Govt. teat?

 

[xrac]

Guys, ole' Texas Houcoogster is just pulling your chain. He's bored now that ACA and Medicare's OEPs are over. And since this law brought him some new sales, he's feeling pretty good and wanting to do that again!

A lot of us made quite a bit of money this OEP, but still think the law is not in the best interests of America, our health care system, our taxes, etc. Making a pile of extra money didn't change that.

Houcoogster I'm sure it's easy to identify with the waitress, who you mentioned were the kind of folks you were helping this OEP season. But before it feels like righteous indignation, let me tell you that a number of waitresses that I have insured for years have seen their premiums spike. And, no, they don't get subsidies because they also work other jobs. And they report to the IRS the full amount of their pay, even the tips and cash under the table. So, is that fair? How about the hard working laborers who have insurance on the job, and are seeing their premiums spike? Or the young working family, or the business person who sunk his life's earnings into his efforts? A lot of people did not get subsidies, due to lower benchmark plan premiums, or the family glitch, or lots of other reasons. Please don't think you are the only person who cares for the poor and needy, much less the hard-working middle class who pays their own way.

Most of us have a book of business, but you came here fresh without any IFP accounts. How would you feel about this law if your book of Medicare clients all saw 20-100% rate increases? Would you be happy with the law that caused that? And would you want a newcomer poking you and making fun if you said the new law was disastrous? How would you feel if you had to rewrite your entire book of Medicare clients, mostly into worse plans at higher rates, only to have a newcomer to your market tell you that you don't get it? If your Medicare clients called day and night concerned that they can't get in to see a doctor, or their cancer specialist is no longer in network, would you be happy? Would you be happy if next OEP, 80% of your newly won clients told you that the 2015 options stink? Would it make you feel better if a newbie to your market swung in and told you that you don't understand your own market?

I'm sure this fiery debate has been fun. Entertainment between OEPs. But let's get real now. There is nothing wrong with seeing some benefits to ACA, particularly to several segments of the population. Nor is there anything wrong with differing opinions. But let's add value. You know very well that I have written hundreds of posts that educated other agents about subsidies and the ACA. And yet, my major market is group insurance and the IFP business that I wrote this OEP was mostly OFF-exchange. RayNY has a state exchange, but regularly adds very insightful posts that educate those of us with the FFM. Yagents and AllenChicago chime in often with tidbits of well-documented information on issues that concern people in all markets, whether it's their own focus or not. Let's add value. But if you decide to continue poking a live bear with cubs, at least don't be surprised when the fur flies and you find yourself on the receiving end.

Another great post Ann! I am a big fan of yours!