Politics Obamacare

but if he has bcbs for life then why make him change??

 

When my FIL retired his private insurance was switched to secondary/supplemental from being his main insurance, for which he pays. I'm not sure why, I can't ask really him because after his strokes & TIAs he can't explain much of anything.

 

Depends on the details. No tax on life necessities, food, rent, medical, education. Tax certain items above specified cut-offs - i.e. autos over $20,000. Tax the heck out of pure luxury items - i.e. luxury yachts.

I don't know anything about what Canada has done. But a consumption tax can be as simple as sales and property taxes - something already in place - and we can refund taxes paid based on a formula related to something like the first $50,000 of income. Meaning people earning less than $50,000 would pay no tax and the first $50,000 of everyone's income is exempt. there are many ways we could structure it - but in principle I think taxing a person's labor (wages from work) and savings is wrong.
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Both NY and CA are very diverse states - and I think you illustrate if it can be done within those states it can be done nationally. In addition, an insurance company willing to sell nationally would set up negotiated rates on a national basis - perhaps with increased bargaining power helping to keep net costs and premiums lower. Imagine a national insurance company being able to negotiate with big pharma companies - why do we, US, pay more for drugs than others - one reason is that when there is a single payer (national healthcare) that single payer has clout. And if I have choice in a competitive market I can buy based on the factors most important to me, i.e. service, premiums, broad or limited coverage, etc.

 

I don't mean to rank on conservatives in general but there seems to be a certain kind of conservative who believes that poor people made the decision to be poor and deserve to be where they are.
By giving them health care (and food and heating oil) you are enabling them.
You're not letting them get out and pull themselves up by their own bootstraps.

In Florida where the governor refused to take the Medicaid expansion a young woman with a heart problem died because she was working poor and had a heart condition that cost too much to treat.

Why Conservatives Are Willing to Let People Like Charlene Dill Die | Alternet

 

thats pathetic. imo.... what if the kid was the governors, then what??

 

But will that lead to nationalized healthcare like it should? Imagine if every single company with over 1,000 employees stops subsidizing it? But they also wouldn't give you the money because there are 10 other people who would be willing to do your job. There aren't as many investors, and they 'need' an extra 3% return this year...

And that is the problem with allowing the delay of the employer mandate. If you have a job, your employer should be required (taxed) to cover a portion of the health insurance premium (and reduce deductibles to $1000 max in a 12 month period). Everyone is already taxed to provide healthcare for those over 65, why not for those 26-65? If Wal-Mart wants to compete against the corner store, both should be required to insure their workers. Companies shouldn't be able to 'save' money by not offering insurance or not offering a stipend to be used to buy health insurance.

 

First, a question - have you gone through the process?

At this point we (America) do not even have a clue regarding the full extent of the mess that has been created. For example Massachusetts, which had about 97% of their people covered, now all of a sudden is having problems -

Mass. discarding broken ObamaCare site | TheHill

Here has been my most recent experience - I find out my son is not covered under my Blue Cross plan, obtained through Obamacare - we could never get through on the website and used one of their specialists by phone - everything appeared to be o.k. I paid premiums and everything. Months later I find out my sone is not on our family plan. Call Blue Cross, they can't help, referred to the Obamacare folks. Yes, I do pay my premiums to Blue Cross and they have had no problem cashing the checks! After several weeks we final talk to someone in the Obamacare bureaucracy. They tell me that my son was referred to North Carolina Medicare for them to determine if he qualifies. I have to contact NC Medicare. They have no record of anything. Referred back to the Obamacare folks. Oh, it was not NC Medicare - it was the NC CHIP program. Contact NC CHIP folks - they have no idea of what my wife and I are talking about. Go back to Obamacare folks. I just want my son on my fucking Blue Cross family plan - just as we intended from the beginning. O.k. - you need a letter from NC CHIP saying they declined my son. My wife goes to the local NC CHIP office, and spends 6 hours there for them to decline my son on the NC CHIP program - AND WE MIGHT GET THE LETTER IN A FEW WEEKS!

Here is the problem that is going to blow up in a few months. Obamacare has created a government middle man. A middle man that is not effectively transferring data to those who need it. I expect there will millions of problem and no one will be able to serve as a point person to solve a problem. This is a shitty program. My son was perfectly insured every moment of his life until now. And after my wife's experience with NC CHIP I feel for all the people who have to go through either Medicaid or the CHIP programs in various states. I may have been better off avoiding this mess. Good luck to all of you who have not had to go through this - if your employer has a group plan pray that they keep it.

 

There are going to be a lot of problems with the program. That's a given, sad to say, but what is never talked about is all the problems medicaid and social security had when they first started.
People were mixed up because the same names or, couldn't get ss because they didn't have birth certificates (my grandfather went through that).
They didn't have the net in those days to trumpet every problem but what's a shame is we have the net now to find out what happened then.

 

I am not sure why people assume any system will come without issues.

 

Pence is the scary type of Republican. One that isn't crazy on the outside, and has some good ideas, but once they get power, they cave into the wants of the big donors and their hidden agenda. Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania have all had this happen. The state politicians talk to what people want to hear, but they have no idea if the state can do those things and then let big corporations control them once they are in power.

Obamacare is not perfect, but it is better than any proposal from the right so far. The issue is that there are personal HSA, low cost minimal coverage, or a nationwide single payer plan for the basics (break an arm, cut yourself, kidney stones, etc.) that the Wal-Mart redneck voters would cheer for. Nothing sexual or lifestyle related would be covered though, that is our own fault. We will see if a think tank will come up with something by October...

 

From a policy perspective, the ACA is working quite well, given all the administrative screw ups.

8 million enrolled in ACA plans, 80% plus have paid first premium and rates, on average, were as low as (or lower) than group rates.

7+ million enrolled in expanded Medicaid.

2015 premium rates are coming in now and they are averaging in the single digits...far less than the prediction of skyrocketing, triple digit increases.

The rate of uninsured in the US has fallen 4 percent to the lowest level in years.

Seniors are saving $billions on prescriptions by slowly closing the ACA donut hole; those with pre-exising conditions are no longer denied access to affordable insurance, families no longer face financial hardships or bankruptcy as a result of a costly medical emergency.

There will be more administrative bumps and, most certainly, there will be policy bumps as well. All are easily correctable.

The country is in a much better place than it was before the ACA.

 

The three Rs of the ACA - reinsurance, risk adjustments and risk corridors - will also help keep premium rates from rising too much. Opponents like to call it an insurance company bailout when in fact it is likely to be revenue neutral.

The provision that requires insurers to justify any rate increases over 10% will also help, except perhaps in red states where insurance commissioners might rubber stamp any rate increase request just out of spite.

 

Saw this coming:

Two Million Have Obamacare 'Discrepancies' - NBC News

I don't want government involved in my healthcare! There is no accountability in the system. Obamacare is a mess and needs to be repealed.