Who Would Have Guessed

[bill3173]

Example: Guy is feeling bad, hard time breathing, flu like symptoms. $30 Dr copay. He goes and gets fixed.

EX2. Same thing, but No insurance...he stays home hoping to get better..he doesn't..he dies. It doesn't happen often but it happens.

Ex: Guy gets to feeling bad, stays home and takes it easy that day. Next day he feels better, goes to work. He throws the ball with his son when he gets home, and he takes his wife to Jcrew to get her that dress she's been nagging him about.

Or: goes to doctor, they run a bunch of tests, he gets a bill for $700.0 above what the copay covers and a call from the Doctor's office to come back for more tests. On the second round of tests, he gets hep b from a needle stick by a careless neophyte. As the family runs through their fledgling savings account trying to combat this illness, his wife doesn't get the dress, his son(who was a boy scout, and budding athlete) is neglected and starts hanging out with the druggies.

The man dies 6 months later over a pollen headache that would have been taken care of by a benadryl and an afternoon in bed. The family turns to relatives to help pay for the funeral(they cashed in all of their life insurance during the preceding months).

 

[deadhead]

The decision to not go to a doc is his choice not the insurance company's. Also every community has a public health dept people can use.

 

[Guest]

Walk in clinic is the answer here in sw. Florida, 75 bucks and your done, labs on site

 

[HealthGuy]

Me thinks what ol Hoogster is getting at here is

1. the unbelievable misinformation in redneck areas
2. the truly working poor often dont have affordable access to care
3. conservatives often claim they care about the uninsured, but seem to care little (their speech is often uncompassionate)

Look, Obamacare isn't going anywhere, even if the Republicans take the Senate and Presidency, its going NOWHERE. The repeal talk is ridiculous at this point, it simply election season speak...BUT counterproductive.

There is an element out there, and its spreading, that the working poor for the first time have access to medical insurance, and sometimes very good coverage at that, affordable, low copays and deductibles....whether we agree with the funding or sustainability long term of the subsidies..they are here to stay.

I have watched Fox news for years, and have found myself having to turn it off. I agree with their slant often in principle, but the misinformation and sensationalism is often rank.

Obamacare is essentially Medicare Advantage for the Under 65 crowd...and although I'm not a huge fan of MA either, that is here to stay as well.

Until we go Medicare for all, which may be coming...here we are. Obamacare for the working poor who are above Medicaid poverty level, is here to stay. Its a good deal for them, not so much for those over 400% of the poverty level, that is for sure....

But taking this coverage or saying that you are going to take it away from these people - at this point - is political suicide. Pure ridiculousness...

Conservatives have to provide a safety net, and in the past, they didnt - now we have this. Inaction led to this, imperfect as it is...Agents are just fortunate that at this time they can participate selling it.

Everybody (including me - who really wasn't for this law) has to get a freakin grip. Medicaid wasn't expanded enough to provide a large enough safety net for the working poor...And so Obama revamped the system from the bottom up to catch everybody.

We may not like it, and it may not have entirely been necessary, but again, we are here.

There are many working poor that game the system with free stuff, left and right...but I have been surprised how many 'well off' business owners are gaming the system and were the first to sign up for tax credits under the law...these are folks who were against the law and chewed out Obama for years, but when they learned how they could manipulate their business expenses and income and writeoffs, man they shut their mouths and got their big slice of government cheese.

There is much more nobility in my mind about the minimal wage worker working hard everyday at their low paying job getting an Obamacare plan and subsidy...good for them.

I would much rather sign up 100 of these folks, verses even 1 family that owns their own business, but they realize they can writeoff every little thing, but in reality make a boatload of money, but game this law.

There is something truly wrong with that.

 

[RayNY]

I still go to a walk-in clinic, and almost everyone I know does as well...It's still $75 with insurance, they're just a whole lot nicer and faster (plus, the local clinic's phlebotomist is exceptionally good looking).

Lab on site, less of a wait than my PCP (who's only open obscure times 3 days per week now).

Urgent care/walk-in clinics are popping up everywhere on Long Island, and the nation if the news reports are to be believed. I think it's the answer to the question Obamacare failed to address: how do we actually get these people using care?

 

[Post Quartermaster]

Me thinks what ol Hoogster is getting at here is

1. the unbelievable misinformation in redneck areas
2. the truly working poor often dont have affordable access to care
3. conservatives often claim they care about the uninsured, but seem to care little (their speech is often uncompassionate)

Look, Obamacare isn't going anywhere, even if the Republicans take the Senate and Presidency, its going NOWHERE. The repeal talk is ridiculous at this point, it simply election season speak...BUT counterproductive.

There is an element out there, and its spreading, that the working poor for the first time have access to medical insurance, and sometimes very good coverage at that, affordable, low copays and deductibles....whether we agree with the funding or sustainability long term of the subsidies..they are here to stay.

I have watched Fox news for years, and have found myself having to turn it off. I agree with their slant often in principle, but the misinformation and sensationalism is often rank.

Obamacare is essentially Medicare Advantage for the Under 65 crowd...and although I'm not a huge fan of MA either, that is here to stay as well.

Until we go Medicare for all, which may be coming...here we are. Obamacare for the working poor who are above Medicaid poverty level, is here to stay. Its a good deal for them, not so much for those over 400% of the poverty level, that is for sure....

But taking this coverage or saying that you are going to take it away from these people - at this point - is political suicide. Pure ridiculousness...

Conservatives have to provide a safety net, and in the past, they didnt - now we have this. Inaction led to this, imperfect as it is...Agents are just fortunate that at this time they can participate selling it.

Everybody (including me - who really wasn't for this law) has to get a freakin grip. Medicaid wasn't expanded enough to provide a large enough safety net for the working poor...And so Obama revamped the system from the bottom up to catch everybody.

We may not like it, and it may not have entirely been necessary, but again, we are here.

There are many working poor that game the system with free stuff, left and right...but I have been surprised how many 'well off' business owners are gaming the system and were the first to sign up for tax credits under the law...these are folks who were against the law and chewed out Obama for years, but when they learned how they could manipulate their business expenses and income and writeoffs, man they shut their mouths and got their big slice of government cheese.

There is much more nobility in my mind about the minimal wage worker working hard everyday at their low paying job getting an Obamacare plan and subsidy...good for them.

I would much rather sign up 100 of these folks, verses even 1 family that owns their own business, but they realize they can writeoff every little thing, but in reality make a boatload of money, but game this law.

There is something truly wrong with that.

I agree....


I'll give an over/under of 7 posts before someone calls you a liberal.....

 

[HealthGuy]

Post Quarter...I am the new AL3 incarnate LOL...I'm bacckkkkk LOLLL....AL3 was right about one thing...we are on our way to coverage for all, one way or another, call it what you will...but the days of no large safety nets are over. Rubio and others calling for a repeal are ludicrous. A Repub may never gain the Whitehouse at this juncture talking 'repeal' its just plain stupid at this point.

 

[Norwayguy]

Post Quarter...I am the new AL3 incarnate LOL...I'm bacckkkkk LOLLL....AL3 was right about one thing...we are on our way to coverage for all, one way or another, call it what you will...but the days of no large safety nets are over. Rubio and others calling for a repeal are ludicrous. A Repub may never gain the Whitehouse at this juncture talking 'repeal' its just plain stupid at this point.

He who shall not be named has been....It's like an Egyptian curse...I hope you know what your doing.

 

[FLM2]

I'm a lifelong Democrat who didn't vote for Obama because of this law but my vote had little to do with the impact on my business and everything to do with the way the middle class will get hurt by the way the subsidy calculations are made.

Add to that the upcoming IRS clawback of subsidies and you have the making of a disaster for those around 400% FPL who could wind up higher (through no 'fault' of their own) and have to repay thousands of dollars in subsidies.

What would have been equitable, at least to me, was to tell everyone in advance that had health insurance prior to the October 2013 that they could keep their coverage for as long as they wanted (not the insurance companies) as long as it was either grandfathered or compliant with the law in place between March, 2010 and October, 2013.

I have many clients who are in this space and will see their premiums go from $400-500 for a family or 4 to over $1000 a month when their policy is termed, either next year or in 2016 or 2017. That is the equivalent of an IRA contribution every year for the rest of their working lives and may change their ability to fund a college education for their children.

The wealthy don't care about an increase like this but a working family in their 30s or 40s making $100K a year are the ones being hurt by this. At the end of the day, they are the bedrock of our society and this is just patently unfair.

 

[Guest]

Obamacare is an advantage plan for under age 65 you say?

I don't know of any advantage plan that costs 900 bucks a month with a 6k deductible.