Affordable Care Act Anecdotes - if you have 'em post 'em

[101A]

My sister and her husband own a small landscaping business North of Georgetown. They are doing OK - employee 6 - 10 workers depending on the season. Currently they have a group plan in which their family, and one of the employees are covered. They pay for their family; the employee pays for himself.

My sister called me yesterday when her renewal (12/1) came in with a $100 monthly increase. I told her to log in to healthcare.gov, and I would talk with her about her options/make recommendations. She got logged on, and after a little while came up with a list of options for her and her family. The bad news is that the premium for a similar plan to what she has now is ~$220 higher than what she was offered on renewal. The good news? The premium will be subsidized in full by The Federal Government. Her employee with coverage will also be covered, but his cost will be about $55/month for his plan - a saving of about $200 out of his pocket, on premium $75 more than the renewal offer they had.

So in short; my sister's family just got an $800/mo. raise, their employee $200 - AND the insurance companies get to make an additional $500!

Is this what they mean by "affordable"?

[AntiChrist]

The govt is picking up the tab, i.e. with OPM.

[Wild Cobra]

Yep.

I want to know what happens to all these people's healthcare plans when we run out of "other people's money?"

[Th'Pusher]

My sister and her husband own a small landscaping business North of Georgetown. They are doing OK - employee 6 - 10 workers depending on the season. Currently they have a group plan in which their family, and one of the employees are covered. They pay for their family; the employee pays for himself.

My sister called me yesterday when her renewal (12/1) came in with a $100 monthly increase. I told her to log in to healthcare.gov, and I would talk with her about her options/make recommendations. She got logged on, and after a little while came up with a list of options for her and her family. The bad news is that the premium for a similar plan to what she has now is ~$220 higher than what she was offered on renewal. The good news? The premium will be subsidized in full by The Federal Government. Her employee with coverage will also be covered, but his cost will be about $55/month for his plan - a saving of about $200 out of his pocket, on premium $75 more than the renewal offer they had.

So in short; my sister's family just got an $800/mo. raise, their employee $200 - AND the insurance companies get to make an additional $500!

Is this what they mean by "affordable"?

good! Hopefully they'll spend their new found money and drive some much needed demand in the economy.

[ElNono]

My sister and her husband own a small landscaping business North of Georgetown. They are doing OK - employee 6 - 10 workers depending on the season. Currently they have a group plan in which their family, and one of the employees are covered. They pay for their family; the employee pays for himself.

My sister called me yesterday when her renewal (12/1) came in with a $100 monthly increase. I told her to log in to healthcare.gov, and I would talk with her about her options/make recommendations. She got logged on, and after a little while came up with a list of options for her and her family. The bad news is that the premium for a similar plan to what she has now is ~$220 higher than what she was offered on renewal. The good news? The premium will be subsidized in full by The Federal Government. Her employee with coverage will also be covered, but his cost will be about $55/month for his plan - a saving of about $200 out of his pocket, on premium $75 more than the renewal offer they had.

So in short; my sister's family just got an $800/mo. raise, their employee $200 - AND the insurance companies get to make an additional $500!

Is this what they mean by "affordable"?

You mean the website actually worked?

[101A]

You mean the website actually worked?

Flawlessly; worked for several scenarios I've run, tbh.

[ElNono]

I actually tried to sign up to check the plans about a week ago, and all broke. Haven't returned since.

[boutons_deux]

Q. I’m sure you’ve been following the glitches and whatnot with the rollout of the health insurance marketplaces. You’re a health care futurist. Is this the future?

A. I am telling groups the metaphor is the Wright Brothers, not the Indianapolis 500. Let’s just get this sucker up in the air before we declare that flying is a bad idea. I just heard a panel of exchange execs say Massachusetts enrolled only 5% of its first year total in first month. The Washington state exchange is on that run rate. Everyone needs to chill out and see where we are by November 2014 when the election happens, not November 2013. The press frenzy is making this worse. Would you like to be fixing code under this scrutiny and pressure?

http://www.propublica.org/article/is-healthcare-dot-gov-the-future-we-ask-a-health-futurist

[AntiChrist]

Flawlessly; worked for several scenarios I've run, tbh.

And you haven't been contacted by CNN?

[Bender]

I haven't been able to log on since it came live. I did go thru the account creation process finally, and I got the email, and I did the email confirmation, and I got the Success message about my account being created. Can't log on ever since then.

So, other than that, I guess I have no anecdote yet...

[Chief Brody]

Q. I’m sure you’ve been following the glitches and whatnot with the rollout of the health insurance marketplaces. You’re a health care futurist. Is this the future?

A. I am telling groups the metaphor is the Wright Brothers, not the Indianapolis 500. Let’s just get this sucker up in the air before we declare that flying is a bad idea. I just heard a panel of exchange execs say Massachusetts enrolled only 5% of its first year total in first month. The Washington state exchange is on that run rate. Everyone needs to chill out and see where we are by November 2014 when the election happens, not November 2013. The press frenzy is making this worse. Would you like to be fixing code under this scrutiny and pressure?

http://www.propublica.org/article/is-healthcare-dot-gov-the-future-we-ask-a-health-futurist

Nobody's going to read this.

Sorry.

[boutons_deux]

Nobody's going to read this.

Sorry.

your loss, AND

you're not sorry. GFY

[AntiChrist]

You people are brave to give any personal data to that ty website

[cheguevara]

You people are brave to give any personal data to that ty website

I have to agree. IMO the system right now is a black hole that is daily being given bandaid after bandaid. Why should I put in ALL my info at this point?? it's like putting ALL your personal info into a black hole. I will wait at least 1 month until they have fixed it to a point of usability.

And I want to hear some answers from the incompetent Sebelius when she stands in front of Congress on the 30th of this month. I heard someone decided at the last minute to ban access to the entire marketplace unless you give ALL your info beforehand. I want to know who decided this and why.

There are some brave or desperate souls out there daring to use the system today. I commend you and hope they can fix it so the rest of us can use it at some point.


or maybe I might decide to give it another try at some point if I have 1 or 2 hours to waste

[boutons_deux]

The Affordable Care Act’s Lower-Than-Projected Premiums Will Save $190 Billion

The Affordable Care Act is already working: Intense price compe ion among health plans in the marketplaces for individuals has lowered premiums below projected levels. As a result of these lower premiums, the federal government will save about $190 billion over the next 10 years, according to our estimates.

These savings will boost the health law’s amount of deficit reduction by 174 percent and represent about 40 percent of the health care savings proposed by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform—commonly known as the Simpson-Bowles commission—in 2010.

Moreover, we estimate that lower premiums will lower the number of uninsured even further, by an additional 700,000 people, even as the number of individuals who receive tax credits will decline because insurance is more affordable.

In short, the Affordable Care Act is working even better than expected, producing more coverage for much less money.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/report/2013/10/23/77537/the-affordable-care-acts-lower-than-projected-premiums-will-save-190-billion/

[TDMVPDPOY]

dunno why u guys complaining about premiums, when each year they are subject to rise %>inflation rate

[boutons_deux]

dunno why u guys complaining about premiums, when each year they are subject to rise %>inflation rate

yep, but now the insurance companies hide behind the lie that the hikes are 100% due to ACA, and of course the tea baggers and Repugs are simply lying about everything.

[boutons_deux]

These three Texans want Sen. Cruz to shut up already about Obamacare

Stacy Anderson, from Fort Worth, runs her own business selling sweaters online. She says she has not had health insurance for the past seven years because the sweater business is not too lucrative. "It cost more than I made some months," she says. Anderson says she was just diagnosed with skin cancer, though it is not life-threatening. "I've had it, apparently, for the entire seven years I've been uninsured," she says. "It will be nice if I can buy health insurance and get it treated."

Jeffrey Coffey is a 49-year-old from Austin who earns a living as a musician. He says has insurance, but notes that the $361 monthly premium is "way expensive" on his $22,000 salary; he says he pays more because he has asthma. Coffey says he applied for cheaper plans numerous times this year, but was turned down. "Getting rejection letters is depressing," he says. When Coffey buys insurance on the exchange, he estimates he will able to get coverage for $160 a month, a $200 savings. "But so far I haven't been able to log on to the website," he adds.

Andrew (who prefers his last name not be used) is a BFA student at Texas State University in San Marcos. He's in his mid-30s and has gone without insurance for years because it's too expensive. He has also avoided doctors for fear that he'd be diagnosed with a chronic condition, and insurance companies would "blacklist" him when he finally applied for coverage. Andrew says he no longer has to worry about that when he signs up for insurance through the exchanges this month. Andrew and his wife, a pre-K teacher, want to have a baby soon, and he says that Obamacare makes it "much more affordable for us to plan when and where we will start a family. I no longer need to worry that, god forbid, if one of us gets sick, we will be dropped from our insurance."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/1...e?detail=email

[AntiChrist]

Obama admin knew millions could not keep their health insurance

http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_n...insurance?lite

[TSA]

These three Texans want Sen. Cruz to shut up already about Obamacare

Stacy Anderson, from Fort Worth, runs her own business selling sweaters online. She says she has not had health insurance for the past seven years because the sweater business is not too lucrative. "It cost more than I made some months," she says. Anderson says she was just diagnosed with skin cancer, though it is not life-threatening. "I've had it, apparently, for the entire seven years I've been uninsured," she says. "It will be nice if I can buy health insurance and get it treated."

Jeffrey Coffey is a 49-year-old from Austin who earns a living as a musician. He says has insurance, but notes that the $361 monthly premium is "way expensive" on his $22,000 salary; he says he pays more because he has asthma. Coffey says he applied for cheaper plans numerous times this year, but was turned down. "Getting rejection letters is depressing," he says. When Coffey buys insurance on the exchange, he estimates he will able to get coverage for $160 a month, a $200 savings. "But so far I haven't been able to log on to the website," he adds.

Andrew (who prefers his last name not be used) is a BFA student at Texas State University in San Marcos. He's in his mid-30s and has gone without insurance for years because it's too expensive. He has also avoided doctors for fear that he'd be diagnosed with a chronic condition, and insurance companies would "blacklist" him when he finally applied for coverage. Andrew says he no longer has to worry about that when he signs up for insurance through the exchanges this month. Andrew and his wife, a pre-K teacher, want to have a baby soon, and he says that Obamacare makes it "much more affordable for us to plan when and where we will start a family. I no longer need to worry that, god forbid, if one of us gets sick, we will be dropped from our insurance."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/1...e?detail=email

Hey Stacy, find a new job if knitting sweaters doesn't bring in enough to buy insurance. Same goes for you Jeffrey, you sound like you must be a pretty ty musician if you're only pulling in 22,000 a year. Find a real job and stop assuming other hard working people are okay with footing your bill. And Andrew, you can't even afford healthcare for yourself but you think you want to have a kid soon? You stupid piece of .

Thanks for the article boutons, needed a reminder of how many stupid s are putting their hands out.

[boutons_deux]

thanks for reminding us how prejudiced, ignorant, sociopathic you run-of-the-mill right-wing haters are. Please post a link to your hate for the 50 huge, wealthy companies in the Fortune500 who pay tax rate of 0%, aka, corporate welfare, or Walmart with its hand out to taxpayers to top up the ty salaries of its employees.

[TSA]

thanks for reminding us how prejudiced, ignorant, sociopathic you run-of-the-mill right-wing haters are. Please post a link to your hate for the 50 huge, wealthy companies in the Fortune500 who pay tax rate of 0%, aka, corporate welfare, or Walmart with its hand out to taxpayers to top up the ty salaries of its employees.

them too, and yourself as well.

[AntiChrist]

thanks for reminding us how prejudiced, ignorant, sociopathic you run-of-the-mill right-wing haters are. Please post a link to your hate for the 50 huge, wealthy companies in the Fortune500 who pay tax rate of 0%, aka, corporate welfare, or Walmart with its hand out to taxpayers to top up the ty salaries of its employees.

lol, irony

[boutons_deux]

lol, irony

lol, for brains

[Clipper Nation]

thanks for reminding us how prejudiced, ignorant, sociopathic you run-of-the-mill right-wing haters are. Please post a link to your hate for the 50 huge, wealthy companies in the Fortune500 who pay tax rate of 0%, aka, corporate welfare, or Walmart with its hand out to taxpayers to top up the ty salaries of its employees.

Translation: "Stop disagreeing with me!"