Obamacare: A Deception

[Capt Bringdown]

Counterpunch
Obamacare: A Deception (http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/02/05/obamacare-a-deception/)
The article below is the most comprehensive analysis available of “Obamacare” – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. You will learn how to purchase a subsidized plan at the Exchange, what will happen when income and family circumstances change during the year or from one year to the next, and other perils brought to you by Obamacare. There’s a lot to digest about how the ACA works and much is buried in a complex, convoluted maze of regulations and procedures. A few websites contain explanations, but very important details have either been left out or glossed over. These details are well worth understanding so you will know what’s at stake for you and your family.
Americans will be shocked to learn the extent to which they have been deceived. The legislation neither protects the patient nor are the plans affordable.

In today’s lesson, you will learn why 2013 is an important year for many of you with regard to your income and the ACA. We will discuss 1) use of Modified Adjusted Gross Income, 2) tax credits (help paying for insurance), 3) your share of the premium, 4) paying back the tax credits to the IRS, 5) expansion of Medicaid and estate recovery which could affect you if you are put into that plan, 6) inadequate coverage in most subsidized plans, 7) penalties, 8) exemptions and 9) a few tidbits. We’ll also take a look at the agenda of Enroll America and the Health Insurance Exchanges, and what you can expect to hear in the very near future.

Here we go. Fasten your seat belts.

In today’s lesson, you will learn why 2013 is an important year for many of you with regard to your income and the ACA. We will discuss 1) use of Modified Adjusted Gross Income, 2) tax credits (help paying for insurance), 3) your share of the premium, 4) paying back the tax credits to the IRS, 5) expansion of Medicaid and estate recovery which could affect you if you are put into that plan, 6) inadequate coverage in most subsidized plans, 7) penalties, 8) exemptions and 9) a few tidbits. We’ll also take a look at the agenda of Enroll America and the Health Insurance Exchanges, and what you can expect to hear in the very near future. OBAMACARE: THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS >>> (http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/02/05/obamacare-a-deception/)

[TeyshaBlue]

Bad link.

[Capt Bringdown]

Bad link.

Thanks. Fixed.

[TeyshaBlue]

Thanks. Fixed.

Thanks...that's gonna be some good reading tonight.:toast

[Jacob1983]

I don't like the tagline. Why not "decepticon" instead of deception?


http://therealmcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/tim_doyle_change_gun.jpg

[CosmicCowboy]

Just talked to a contact at CPS. I was told they are going to lay off 1400 employees between now and 2014 because of the cost of providing the "minimum" insurance mandated by Obamacare.

When you realize that CPS is essentially run by a democratic dominated city government with a "rising star" Democratic Mayor that is really telling.

And no, I do not have a link. This was a manager who has been instructed to make his hit list.

[ChumpDumper]

I call bullshit.

I can't think of any utility that laid off 40% of its workforce for any reason.

Maybe they should rethink their $16 million/year bonus plan.

[CosmicCowboy]

I call bullshit.

I can't think of any utility that laid off 40% of its workforce for any reason.

Maybe they should rethink their $16 million/year bonus plan.

May be bullshit. Apparently the plan was to privatize a lot of their operations currently done in house. I know I'm certainly getting a lot more work from them lately.

[BobaFett1]

I call bullshit.

I can't think of any utility that laid off 40% of its workforce for any reason.

Maybe they should rethink their $16 million/year bonus plan.



You call BS cause you a Obama supporter Chumpster.

[ChumpDumper]

You call BS cause you a Obama supporter Chumpster.I call bullshit because the number is simply too high to be plausible.

[CosmicCowboy]

I call bullshit because the number is simply too high to be plausible.

Chump may be right. I just know what I was told. Maybe they are floating the 1400 number with the intention of later "only" cutting 700 and hoping people will be relieved instead of pissed off. I know they will virtually eliminate meter readers when they get the rest of the automated and smart meters installed, plus a lot of their routing line maintenance could be subbed out to private contractors and those guys then called in to help on hurricane and ice emergencies, etc. CPS staffing in the past has always been based on max emergency staffing needed to get power up after a disaster.

[CosmicCowboy]

I know I get mail from them almost weekly wanting me to change over to a smart meter that talks directly to CPS.

[ChumpDumper]

Some of the layoffs you described would make sense. You'd think a plan like that would have leaked to something other than SpursTalk by now.

[Wild Cobra]

I call bullshit because the number is simply too high to be plausible.
Not if you replace it with contact services, to reduce your numbers of employees.

Remember. Different levels of required coverages are decided by employee count. I can believe such a thing is happening.

Time will tell...

[ChumpDumper]

Well, if they have $16 or $17 million to throw around each year, it's worth looking into the regular costs.

[CosmicCowboy]

I call bullshit.

I can't think of any utility that laid off 40% of its workforce for any reason.

Maybe they should rethink their $16 million/year bonus plan.

oh and their 16 million bonus plan is exactly why stuff like this is happening. The CEO for instance can make almost triple his base salary if he hits certain earnings targets.

[ChumpDumper]

oh and their 16 million bonus plan is exactly why stuff like this is happening. The CEO for instance can make almost triple his base salary is he hits certain earnings targets.I think it's double, but point taken.

[boutons_deux]

Cps provides no health insurance?

I also call bs, cc spreading fud

[Capt Bringdown]

Uh Oh, Obamacare Math Sinks In for Small Businesses (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/uh-oh-obamacare-math-sinks-152220158.html)

Even as you finish with this year's taxes, if you're a small-business owner experts say it's time to look ahead to 2014, when the tax implications of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) begin to kick in.

"Just now, things are really sinking in that there is this employer responsibility," said Amanda Austin, of the National Federation of Independent Business.
-- more --> (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/uh-oh-obamacare-math-sinks-152220158.html)


The Obamacare clusterfuck is jackass policy and politics that will set the cause of affordable universal health care back for at least another generation. A win-win for Obama's corporate masters.

[CosmicCowboy]

Cps provides no health insurance?

I also call be, cc spreading fud

You obviously haven't read what the "minimum" health plan has to be now compared to the cost of existing lower benefit plans. Costs are gonna go up 50% next year. I'm already running the math to drop health insurance completely because I can't afford to pay 100% of the Obama "minimum" plan.

[CosmicCowboy]

Let me repeat that for you Boustupid. I may not give my employees a perfect health plan but I pay 100 fucking percent of the premium for my employee, spouse, and children. That just got legislated out of existence by Obamacare.

[ElNono]

Not sure you can call it a 'deception' when you knew from the get go it wasn't addressing cost...

[symple19]

Let me repeat that for you Boustupid. I may not give my employees a perfect health plan but I pay 100 fucking percent of the premium for my employee, spouse, and children. That just got legislated out of existence by Obamacare.

Damn

And I'm guessing a small business like yours is going to be a rule and not an exception. smh

[symple19]

We really fucking need universal coverage. Hopefully, this Obamacare experiment is such a disaster that we get pushed toward that system

[baseline bum]

We really fucking need universal coverage. Hopefully, this Obamacare experiment is such a disaster that we get pushed toward that system

I have no doubt it will be a disaster, but I always have doubts on things being improved in this nation and thus don't see this clusterfuck getting us any closer to a health system that doesn't require bending over for the insurance companies.

[symple19]

I have no doubt it will be a disaster, but I always have doubts on things being improved in this nation and thus don't see this clusterfuck getting us any closer to a health system that doesn't require bending over for the insurance companies.

I have doubts as well. It may just swing the lemmings back over to the hard-core righties and deepen the mess even more. Ugh, the more I think about it, the more likely it sounds. fml

[Th'Pusher]

I have doubts as well. It may just swing the lemmings back over to the hard-core righties and deepen the mess even more. Ugh, the more I think about it, the more likely it sounds. fml

Hopefully it'll be too late. People like CC will have already dumped their employees on to the government system and cost will be out of control further increasing deficits. The only answer will be to put in price controls and allow negotiation with the pharmaceutical companies making the system more or less what Germany has in place.

[TDMVPDPOY]

i dont get with the healthcare in ur country, why are bosses paying for that shit? isnt it up to the individual to provide and pay for their own private healthcare plans?

[symple19]

Hopefully it'll be too late. People like CC will have already dumped their employees on to the government system and cost will be out of control further increasing deficits. The only answer will be to put in price controls and allow negotiation with the pharmaceutical companies making the system more or less what Germany has in place.

That sounds logical. Our government usually doesn't deal in logic :lol

[boutons_deux]

i dont get with the healthcare in ur country, why are bosses paying for that shit? isnt it up to the individual to provide and pay for their own private healthcare plans?

it's a racket.

employers skim employees salaries and send it directly to the insurers. employee get the insurance benefit tax free.

insurer has only one insurance contract with the employer, not 100 or 1000 or 10,000, lowering his overhead.

[baseline bum]

Hopefully it'll be too late. People like CC will have already dumped their employees on to the government system and cost will be out of control further increasing deficits. The only answer will be to put in price controls and allow negotiation with the pharmaceutical companies making the system more or less what Germany has in place.

Insurance would have to be non-profit to be Germany. Also, you don't have to go into enormous debt for medical school in Germany. The US has a LONG way to go to ever get to anything sensible approximating the German model.

Speaking of that, the US needs to copy the German educational model too so that everyone leaves secondary school with some kind of useful skill.

[Th'Pusher]

Insurance would have to be non-profit to be Germany. Also, you don't have to go into enormous debt for medical school in Germany. The US has a LONG way to go to ever get to anything sensible approximating the German model.

Speaking of that, the US needs to copy the German educational model too so that everyone leaves secondary school with some kind of useful skill.

Good point. Maybe it'll pave the way for a public option to help drive down cost.

[Winehole23]

The Obama administration is set to announce Friday an ambitious health-care experiment that will make Maryland a test case for whether aggressive government regulation of medical prices can dramatically cut health spending.

Under the experiment, Maryland will cap hospital spending and set prices — and, if all goes as planned, cut $330 million in federal spending. The new plan, which has been under negotiation for more than a year, could leave Maryland looking more like Germany and Switzerland, which aggressively regulate prices, than its neighboring states. And it could serve as a model - or cautionary tale - for other states looking to follow in its footsteps.


“You can put Maryland in the company of Massachusetts and perhaps Vermont as the three states furthest out in trying to invent a new future for cost accountability in health care spending,” added Harvard University’s John McDonough. “Success creates a model that other states will want to look at emulating. And failure means it’s an option more likely to be crossed off the list.”


For Maryland, the new rules build on past success. Since the mid-1970s, it has been the only state to set the prices that hospitals charge patients. Typically, hospitals negotiate with each health insurer individually, leading to disparate rates. In Maryland, all customers — whether a private insurance plan, public program or uninsured patient — pay the same price. Researchers estimate the system has saved $45 billion for consumers over four decades and prices have grown more slowly in the state.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/01/10/%253Fp%253D74854/

[boutons_deux]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/01/10/%253Fp%253D74854/

very cool. a "rape defense"