Health Care Law Providing Relief and Frustration

Health Care Law Providing Relief and Frustration

By John Schwartz and Katie Thomas | nytimes | Published: December 6, 2013
Excerpts:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – “For a measure of the tumult that has accompanied the arrival of the federal health care overhaul, there may be no better place to look than in the politically mixed state of North Carolina, where both the anxiety and the promise of revamping the health insurance system has left hundreds of thousands of people struggling to sort out their options.

Many will end up with better coverage than they had, and may get help paying for it. Others will see their costs rise and are wondering if the change is worth it. And some may find themselves falling into both camps.

The agitation has been building for months. This fall, insurers notified about 260,000 North Carolinians that their individual health plans no longer complied with the law’s more stringent requirements, and many learned that the plans they were being offered as replacements would cost hundreds of dollars more per month.

Then, after Mr. Obama said on Nov. 14 that insurers would be allowed to renew their plans for one year, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina announced that 230,000 of its customers in the state could keep their own plans - but at prices that rose 16 percent to 24 percent.

Kathleen LaFleur, a broker who works with people who have individual plans at Employee Benefit Advisors, an insurance agency here, said many of the callers to her office had two things in common: confusion and anger. “They are confused before they call,” she said. “After they call, they’re not confused anymore. They’re angry.”

Adding to the confusion is the fact that many consumers have been unable to fully evaluate their options because the federal health care website, which serves residents of North Carolina and 33 other states, did not work very well until recently. Those who qualify for subsidies must sign up through the federal marketplace. Consumers have until Dec. 23 to sign up for coverage beginning in January.

“It has obviously been extremely frustrating for individual policyholders who have received cancellation notices at a time when there’s such a short window for them to decide what their coverage options will be,” said Wayne Goodwin, North Carolina’s insurance commissioner, an elected Democrat.

Still, for some, the new law is working well. Rachel Bryant, a small-business owner who lives just outside Winston-Salem, felt unlucky when she received a notice from Blue Cross saying that her plan was being canceled and that the replacement would raise her monthly bill to $675 from $408.

But when Ms. Bryant, a single mother of two young children who earns about $30,000 through her legal services business, finally succeeded after many tries to log onto the online marketplace, HealthCare.gov, she learned she was eligible for subsidies that would bring down her premiums to just $150 a month.

“I’m extremely happy,” said Ms. Bryant, 36. ‘I’m not going to go bankrupt because of medical bills. I’m looking forward to it, and I’ll put up with the frustration and the bother.’ ”

read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/07/u...lina.html?pagewanted=1&rref=politics&hpw&_r=0
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IMO: With such a momentous time in history that gives a better health plan to the people of America, we need to remember that the tumult occurring with any new nationwide creed is to be expected and accepted when there is one party that is totally against something that will benefit every American citizen.

What we want to know is why one particular party is so against anything that 99% of their fellow Americans will enjoy, becoming ‘free at last’ from the fear of going bankrupt because of a serious illness.

As more and more people sign up for an insurance plan we can live with, for some the first health insurance they have been able to afford, we are reminded that Congress should be working for the people and not against them.

By their actions do we know them.

 

It doesn't benefit every American citizen in anyway shape or form , lol ....

 

I'm sure there will no longer be bankruptcies...after all everyone can afford $12,700 out of pocket expenses for their family (plus premiums)

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/11/18/obam-n18.html (World Socialist Website, hardly a right wing article)

 

1. How is it better when you pay more for less?
2. Private sector pulled it off without a problem.
3. If its so great why are Democrats exempting themselves from it?
4. 99% hahah please, you honestly cant believe that can you?
5. Are you high? No seriously, is your blood just a river of concentrated tetrahydrocannabinol? Go sign up for some basic Obamacare insurance and read the fine print. See what you're getting.
6. Ya I heard another 17 people managed to login to healthcare.gov, sweet!
7. And for most ...triple digit rate increases.
8. They're working for the people that put them there.
9. Ya exactly, which is why we know the ACA isn't about health care its about power and control.

 

You have to understand that for progressives, it is never the results that matter but the ideology.

 

Yup. No worries. EVERYBODY has that much extra cash.

 

On one hand, Obamacare-haters say there is no "low-cost high deductible" catastrophic plan for people to buy, yet then they scream and complain about $5000 deductibles,which is what an Obamacare Catastrophic plan (for people under 30) or the Bronze plans in general ARE.

MY Super-silver plan deductible is ZERO! My out of pocket is $1400. My premiums are $58/month.

That is the reality of Obamacare. My premium would be $550 per month if I was making $76,000 per year, but guess what? That is LOWER than the not-as-good a polity I had SEVEN YEARS AGO for $650/month under COBRA (until my old company cut off their health insurance entirely and it canceled with NO NOTICE and left me high and dry with NOTHING, which has been the fate of MILLIONS of people since the Bush Crash!)

 

"If you like your plan, you can keep your plan. PERIOD"

LIE!

"If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. PERIOD"

LIE!

"This will save American families $2500 per year."

LIE!

You're shill for a lying POS. Obama has kicked the entire country in the nuts. And you're on board. Nice work.

 

What's your out of pocket maximums and coinsurance? Here's a link to Colorado's Obamacare website, show me a plan like yours: http://connectforhealthco.com/

Buy hey if you're right, I'm sure those under 30 will be signing up in droves! "Forty percent of young Americans believe Obamacare will bring worse care, 51% believe it will bring higher costs and 57% said they disapprove of the president's signature law..." http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ma-young-people-obligation-obamacare/3871351/

 

Thanks for the AGITPROP. Aren't you ashamed of the incompetence this POS has displayed? What's left of your soul?

 

Total Out of pocket annually, as I posted, is $1400.

Coinsurance I pay 10%, plan pays 90%, until I reach my out of pocket of $1400. Then I pay nothing.

Of course, I pay nothing for annual checkup, blood tests, diagnostic tests like colonoscopy and other cancer checks, general blood tests, STD tests and much more.

Yes, well, since the Republicans and wealthy are spending HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars in propaganda, TV ads filled with ugly lies and Nazi-like caricature Jewish-propaganda images of doctors and nurses, sponsoring thousands of booze and screw parties while hiring armies of actors, speakers, massive letter and internet campaigns filled with lies of how "young people have NO need for health insurance!!" to encourage young people to be irresponsible, indeed, its not a surprise some think they don't like it. Of course they have NO idea what it REALLY is, but that is how the Republicans roll!

Spreading ignorance and irresponsibility to make people suffer for the Republicans OWN benefit is their way to the top!

 

Link to your healthplan please?

I haven't seen one TV ad against Obamacare. I have seen a Socialist website posting about the ills of Obamacare, and posted it above.

 

Don't believe everything you read. Check out the comments on their own website... healthcare.gov/facebook. Not only are shills declaring false results being called out... there are very few positive comments that appear legitimate. Mainly the ones from 25 yo 'kids' being allowed to stay on mommy's policy or folks getting subsidies.

https://www.facebook.com/Healthcare.gov

It's a disaster.

 

That's what I believe as well. I'd like to believe Fiddlerdave is not just a shill and just maybe somebody, somewhere, actually received something good from this fiasco, but I have my doubts. I know you can't get a plan here in Colorado close to what he posted.

 

Well, I went there to the Colorado site, and previewed an assisted plan for individual, and the news is TERRIBLE - for the Rightie propaganda artists!

It looks like for a 21 year old making 16,500 per year, she/he can get a plan for a TOTAL monthly cost of $49 and a $100 deductible and a %10 copay limited to an annual out of pocket of $750.

That same individual get a monthly payment of $37 if he/she went with a Kaiser Permanente plan, but it has a $2250 out of pocket, ALTHOUGH both of these plans' out of pocket amounts may be lowered by further assistance as long as they make under about $36000 per year.

BTW, this entire process took about 15 minutes from the moment I entered the website address. Too bad so many Republican governors failed in their duties and have abandoned their working people and poor!

The Righties' are SO blatant, SO easily dis-proven, maybe even our young people will catch on. Of course, with the Billionaires and Republicans filling them with booze and lies, many won't. The Right's politics of cruelty and wishes for the failure of the young and working people is their typical politics of destruction at ANY cost to ANYONE else.

 

I don't even have to look this up. The plan name Humana 4600/6300 means a $4600 deductible and $6300 out of pocket maximum for a single individual. I did look it up though:

humana
1 Star Rating

Humana Connect Silver 4600/6300 Plan
Preferred Drug List
HMO/SILVER

4,600.00 USD/ Person
9,200.00 USD/ Family

Annual Max. Costs

6,300.00 USD/ Person
12,600.00 USD / Family

Monthly Premium
$195.91

Coinsurance
20% Coinsurance after deductible

 

Get ready for the Left's current Obamapologist tactic: Make Believe Wonderful Obamacare health plans.

They all have miraculous coverage, no cost increases, and not one coverage more than they wanted anyway.

IOW = COMPLETELY MADEUP BULLCRAP.

 

It does not benefit every American. That is the flaw in your logic. Some of us have insurance that is acceptable or we would not have had it, and unfortunately for a lot of folks, they can no longer have that which they were satisfied with. In addition, time will show you that only a minority of the previously uninsured will now be insured. There will be millions of people with no insurance whatsoever still. The flaw in the liberal logic is that some people choose to not have insurance willingly. They would rather spend the money on something else. Even the ACA leaves millions of poor people without insurance even if every state had opted into medicaid expansion. The working poor were largely left out.

I have no idea who "we" are or why they feel entitled to have their questions answered, but the short answer is the the "We" asking do not represent all viewpoints, did not win the House of Representatives, and, in the minds of a great many people, the majority of which did not vote for "we" , do not share their worldview.

And the House of Representatives is which is why you will see it remain in republican control in 2014. Who knows, at this point, it looks like "We" are going to lose control of the Senate as well.

Good. You probably work for them, assuming you have a job.

 

The penalty is phased-in over a three year period.

In 2014, the penalty will be the greater of 1.0% of taxable income or $95 per adult and $47.50 per child (up to $285 per family).

In 2015, the penalty will be the greater of 2.0% of taxable income or $325 per adult and $162.50 per child (up to $975 per family).

In 2016, the penalty will be at the greater of 2.5% of taxable income or $695 per adult and $347.50 per child (up to $$2,085 per family).

Okay say your a young invincible and earn $15,000 a year with the subsidies you could get a Bronze Plan for maybe $15 to $20 a month OR pay $150 then in a year $300 and then $450 a year in 2016 its cheaper to get the insurance the young will sign up even if they don't like it. If the young person earns more it gets more expensive to opt out unless your income is high. And most states opting out of Medicaid will likely opt in at some point and likely within a few years especially if the Democrats hold the White House and one of the two Congressional houses (if two I would say opting out no longer makes sense). So low income young people will just be in Medicaid a very inexpensive program which is also ACA coverage.

 

I can guess. You're screwing over the taxpayers for the difference. You're taking $6,000 a year from the makers of this country. You're a leech. You're a looter.

Is that about right?

 

Sorry, you lose.

Here we clearly see the dirty tricks of the Right Wing smears and lis about Obamacare.

Our RIGHT WINGER doesn't even LOOK IT UP!!!! Its is ALL online for ANYONE TO SEE But he is not going to "look it up"!

THESE are the people who want to decide our future and control your laws and lives! They live in a world of "faith-based" paranoid dogmatic fantasies they call "reality", but of course they will NEVER LOOK IT UP!

Maybe your surmise is correct about the particular Humana base plan with that particular set of benefits and formulary, but when purchased through the group exchange with both the price reductions Humana has provided for the Obamacare "group" (just like it gives massive price reductions to ANY company or group purchaser), and then the the low-income subsidy from the ACA and this person is paying $48 PER MONTH with $100 deductible, 10% copay limited to an annual out-of pocket of $750.

There is no excuse for this kind of false claims about easily-verified reality, but it shows EVERYTHING that the Obama-haters are all about - TOTAL BS!

 

Read my post again there genius, " I did look it up though:" You want to post a particular plan, I give you those plan rates and you say, "Maybe your surmise [surmise? I looked at the website which is there for anyone to see] is correct...". Duh, of course it is I looked at the website.

The "Obamacare group", ROFL...we're on the friggen Obamacare website as implemented by Colorado. Now you're just making up crap.

You were posting you made $76k before, now your at $16.5K and bringing in subsidies! Here's news for you Dave....if you're at $16.5K a year (in Colorado) you're going to be on Medicaid anyway not the Obama disaster.

Sorry, I don't lose, you don't lose....all of America loses.

 

Maybe you should direct this screed to your billionaire heroes, who you all just voted 100's of BILLIONS of dollars to raise farm prices, leave land idle, boost the price of milk, sugar, hone and dozens of other, give them truckloads of free money when floods or bad weather happens, all to give THEM the highest prices EVER for food and farm land!

Show me ONE Republican leach who even looks away for a moment when he is shown the hundreds of thousands or MILLIONS of dollars of welfare and subsidies and government contracts that have made them set for life, or ONE big-time religionist who feels bad for EVEN a MOMENT for not paying ANY property taxes, income taxes, sales taxes or anything else for their free rides on the USA'a infrastructure while they loot old and gullible folks of their money.

I don't feel bad for a moment getting some help if this crazy country refuses the half a dozen excellent way to handle health care expenses and regulations, and continues to provide the wealthy doctor and pharmaceutical and medical supplier manufacturer unions (the AMA, FDA etc.) with the power to artificially create shortages, drive up prices and rape the populace.

What is even MORE laughable is there are very few Republicans I know who have NOT been transferring their parent's assets and artificially impoverishing their elderly parents to allow those parents to get government paid medicaid health care and nursing home care "for the impoverished" on the taxpayer dime, while using that money themselves for an even wealthier lifestyle.

Its funny how THAT massive loophole is NEVER talked about in the Republican platform of how to cut government expenses!

There is an "elderly trust" accountant and lawyer on every street corner in rich areas for our wealthy families to legally dump their dying parents's expenses on the taxpayer. Not ONE PEEP about THIS practice from the Republicans, EVER!

 

Pathetic.

My figures are copied from the http://connectforhealthco.com/ website, going to the "financial help", giving the income of 16,500 and an age of 21, and then looking at plans. You can also see plans that only have a $1 monthly premium except the out of pocket and deductibles are much higher!

But if what the lying Republicans are saying is true about the young "not needing health care", then the young people "who never need health care" have the option to pay $12 PER YEAR for ALL THEIR HEALTH CARE! What is the PROBLEM?

YOUR figures may well be the retail price of that plan, which may be all well and good for your propaganda purposes to try to smear the ACA, but our fulltime worker is NOT going to be paying your amount of $195/month, she will pay $48/month, and the annual out of pocket will be cut to $750 and the deductible will be $100, just as I stated. VEry bice policies and it willsave BILLIONS in unpaid health care.

Too bad you have NO conceptual idea of what the exchanges are all about. The Obamacare Exchange is ANOTHER large group, just like large employers, for which the health insurance companies craft health plans to get the new business the exchange will bring in for them. :roll

I have news for you, 10A.

NOW you are just making up CRAP!

The monthly income limit for an individual in Colorado for the expanded Medicaid program is $1,273! For the intellectually impaired, that number times 12 months equals $15,276, which for the REALLY intellectually impaired is LESS THAN $16,500!

Anyone who cares about REALITY instead of propaganda can download the individual eligibility table at http://www.medicaid.gov/AffordableC...-Levels/medicaid-chip-eligibility-levels.html You will see the line for Colorado, which is pretty much the same as for every OTHER states that is participating!

In fact, if you show me ANYWHERE a reasonable source that indicates that $16,500 income for an individual in the state of Colorado means what YOU claim

, I will retract the statement that you are simply pulling numbers out of your butt and making up your BS entirely as a propaganda-meister.

 

That is not being productive if this person happens to earn this amount and the ACA gives a subsidy its part of the law and therefore meets their need for health care. That is why there is a tax support system to help those with lower incomes. He is not a Leach or Looter just a citizen getting help with health coverage.