Two things, one fact, one opinion, about "Obamacare":

[PCIntern]

1. I just wrote the check for January's premium for what is essentially the SAME PLAN for my family and single coverage of two employees and it is $1500.00 less MONTHLY. So there.

2. When this starts to really take hold nationally, the RW will come out and bash Obama for having the temerity to name the plan after himself, when everyone "knows" that it was conceived as a Republican Plan and given full support by the Rethug-friendly insurance industry.

[lamp_shade]

1. My RW relatives are now calling it ACA... carefully... consistently. n/t

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Republicans could rename it RomneyCare

Or HeritageFoundationCare?

[reACTIONary]

12. It could eventually become "CruzCare" !!1!1 (nt)

[truebluegreen]

3. Give it a few days or weeks

and they will be saying that the ACA is way better than Obamacare, and claiming credit.

[Berlum]

4. You nailed it. Republicon faux whining is so tedious for Americans

When the Repubbies realize Americans are laffing at them for their whining about the Affordable Care Act, they will -- alas and alack -- just dig up some other phony thing to whine about. Pathetic nattering nabobs of negativity.

[PCIntern]

5. Great! Thanks for the cartoon... nt

[spanone]

6. has anyone heard the insurance industry complaining about the affordable care act? i haven't.

[mucifer]

23. They do when they cut people off

[JackInGreen]

7. on point 2

it's why I think Fox has stopped referring to it as 'Obamacare'. Have to re-appropriate the program before he gets credit for it.

[SouthernLiberal]

8. I've paid my first month's premium, too

Unlike some who have posted here, and on other sites I visit, I will be paying more (about 150 a month more) for less coverage than I have no. Now, I live in South Carolina, where our governor has refused to set up at state exchange, so I might have done better in another state.

Still, I am pleased by the result. That's because the coverage I have now is COBRA coverage that would run out soon. And before ACA, the result would have been that I would be a candidate for the state high-risk pool, which would require that I go without insurance for six months.

I do have a nice collection of chronic illnesses, so sic months without my doctors and medication would have been a disaster! So yeah, I am happy to pay for this coverage.

Oh, and I have always called it the ACA.

[meaculpa2011]

9. I live in a state that does have an exchange...

and I'll be paying $500 per month more for less coverage.

The ACA may be an overall plus, but let's not act as if there are no winners and losers.

[PCIntern]

10. Please elaborate what the new plan lacks for our info...

I really would like to know!

[meaculpa2011]

14. Basically the same coverage, but higher...

deductibles and co-pays.

$12,900 for a family of four going to $19,000 next year and my wife's oncologist is not in the network.

I don't mind that much since her office visit costs are very low for those paying cash, but if there is ever a need for surgery we would have to choose another specialist. We're starting the research now.

I earn too much to qualify for a subsidy, but $500 per month is going to be a stretch. That's $500 per month more to the insurance industry and $500 per month less for other things. I've been paying premiums in the individual market for more than thirty years. Now I just have to sweat it out for a few more years until Medicare kicks in.

[PCIntern]

15. thank you...

so you were paying roughly 1100 a month for a family plan...I was paying 3200 including pharmaceuticals...

[meaculpa2011]

16. We have a separate plan for pharmaceuticals...

administered through a trade association. I haven't gotten any word about that, but I believe it's beyond the scope of the ACA.

$3,200 per month covers your family and two employees?

That's about what it would be here in NY.

I'm a freelancer so I pay high rates and don't receive a business deduction for premiums. Just a fact of life.

[PCIntern]

21. No...3200 is my family only

the single employees were about 730 each

[meaculpa2011]

22. WOW!!! n/t

[uponit7771]

28. +1

[spooky3]

37. Don't you report on Sch. C? Why wouldn't you

Be able to deduct premiums?

[meaculpa2011]

39. Yes I do, now...

but the special deduction for the self employed is relatively recent.

[meaculpa2011]

40. Until a few years ago...

the medical expense deduction only applied if expenses, including premiums, exceeded a percentage of gross income. Only that part that was over the limit was deductible.

In one or two of the last thirty years I may have deducted a few hundred dollars, but thankfully I never really went above the threshold.

[Bandit]

17. Why do you have to change policies?

The main reason for people having to change policies, from what I have heard is because your current policy does not contain all the required elements of Obamacare. Sounds like yours had everything plus a little, so why make the change?

[meaculpa2011]

18. I think that the ACA gave the insurers...

the perfect opportunity to cancel policies and substitute more expensive ones.

Something similar happened twenty years ago in NYS. State reform of healthcare insurance caused my premium to triple.

The legislature here was and is in the pocket of the insurance industry.

[Bandit]

19. But the REASON the insurance companies cancelled policies and provided more expensive ones

was because they did not meet the requirements of the ACA. You said your policy did all that but you changed anyway. I was just trying to understand why.

[meaculpa2011]

20. I did not say that my old...

policy met all the requirements of the ACA. I said that my new policy costs more and has higher deductibles and co-pays. I didn't change, my policy was canceled.

If a policy does not comply, even in a minor way, they don't bring the old policy into compliance. They cancel and issue a new policy with a higher premium.

The insurance companies have lawyers and lobbyists working full-time to get legislation and regulations that allow them to extract the maximum amount of cash for the smallest amount of benefit.

[uponit7771]

30. Your old policy didn't have to be canceled, it could've been amended in force and the premiums

... kept the same.

There's nothing in the ACA that says the HCI's ..... MUST..... cancel the policy vs amend it in force as they so often do.

They need profits, that's why they canceled your policy...

[meaculpa2011]

41. The net result is that my old...

policy was barely affordable and my new policy is unaffordable.

We are now looking for alternatives, including relocating out of NYS.

I did a quick tally yesterday. Because of arcane and restrictive insurance regs here, I have "contributed" more than $500,000 to the insurance cartel. Health insurance, car insurance, homeowners insurance, flood insurance...

Except for routine doctor visits and one minor fender bender, I've never made a major claim. Right now, I'm looking at $33,000 per year in insurance costs. Now add $13,000 per year in in property taxes and $10,000 per year in state income taxes.

Relocation seems to be the way to go.

[pnwmom]

25. That isn't accurate. You aren't really paying more for less coverage.

You were about to have NO coverage. And your policy, even before it expired, very likely had lifetime limits (almost all did) which you could have blown through after one serious car accident.

The true comparison wouldn't be between your expiring COBRA and your new plan, but between your new plan and what your REAL alternative was -- 6 months with NO coverage followed by a high risk plan with high risk premiums and fewer benefits.

[spanone]

11. k&r...

[mountain grammy]

13. My previously "uninsurable" husband will be insured on 1/1/2014.

About $250/month for pretty good coverage. The deductible is $6000, but there is an out of pocket limit. The point is, we are no longer afraid of the catastrophe of an illness or accident. Our expenses are predictable and cancer screenings are covered, not subject to deductible.
Color us relieved! Thanks, Obama! Only 16 months to Medicare.

[jimlup]

24. Perhaps... but I remain concerned...

I wish the Administration would fight harder for their own plan. They've been letting the conservatives set the news cycle and then playing a "prevent" defense (sorry it's an overused football analogy.)

I just read this in my local paper and was alarmed:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013312220045

And this from a reporter on OUR side. Talk me down please!

[pnwmom]

26. You don't think Obama knows how to use a veto pen? n/t

[progressoid]

27. Veto what?

Did I miss something in the linked article that needs a veto?

[pnwmom]

29. The previous poster is worried Obamacare will be destroyed.

But even in the unlikely event Congress voted to repeal, Obama would veto.

[progressoid]

31. Since states can opt out,

it's likely to be dismantled at the state level first IMO

[pnwmom]

32. If it was easy for states to opt out, they would have already done so. n/t

[progressoid]

34. Haven't a couple dozen already done so?

And then there is the issue of the insurance providers. They are supposed to be competing for our business. But with a grand total of 2 participating in my area, there ain't much competition (I get the choice of a shit sandwich or a shit burger). And there is no incentive for them to do business here. If after a couple years they decide it's not worth it and close up shop then what happens?

[pnwmom]

35. No, only on the Medicaid expansion. That's bad enough.

Most health industry analysts think there will be more companies entering the markets next year after things settle down.

What is so terrible about the policies that are available to you? They all must include the same Essential Benefits. There's no reason policies in your area should be so much worse than elsewhere.

If companies start deserting the markets, then that will open the door to a Public Option.

[progressoid]

38. well,

What is so terrible about the policies that are available to you?

We can have either a high deductible/out of pocket or high premiums. My wife requires a shot every few months to remain mobile. What used to cost us a quarter of our annual income will now be about a third of our income with the new plan (more if we have to stray from their approved network of providers). That's going to be kind of difficult since we're still paying off medical bills from a few months ago.

Ironically we wouldn't be looking at coverage from ACA but we lost coverage when my wife lost her job a few weeks ago - because of the new healthcare laws says her former employer. On the plus side, we were in ACA's infamous "family glitch". So I guess getting out of the glitch was a good thing?

There's no reason policies in your area should be so much worse than elsewhere.

Competition is the cornerstone of the Affordable Care Act. In places where there are lots of available plans, health insurance should be most affordable. But the health care hotspots in the 34 participating states may be surprising. The highest and lowest care policies -- platinum and catastrophic -- are relatively rare. The other three metals -- gold, silver and bronze -- vary from one or two plans per county to 169 policies offered in some parts of Florida.

...

Some counties in the U.S. have almost 30 times more choices of health insurance plans than others do, a stark example of the lack of competition in many parts of the country as consumers try to shop for affordable coverage on the new federally run exchanges.

Prices can vary widely depending on competition, however, which is why states running their own exchanges are trying to find ways to get more insurers to participate. Maryland requires insurers above a certain size to participate in their exchange if they already do business in the state. Colorado, New York and Oregon are trying waiting periods that would keep insurers out for a certain period of time after 2014 if they don't sell plans next year.

The paltry selection of plans in some states and counties covered by the federal exchange could lead to sticker shock for many of the working poor who aren't eligible for much or any financial help, but do need insurance. experts say. And it could undermine the idea that the Affordable Care Act will make insurance — affordable.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/12/healthcaregov-few-plans-some-counties-competition-lacking/3499869/

If companies start deserting the markets, then that will open the door to a Public Option.

That would be nice. In the mean time...

[SammyWinstonJack]

33. Isn't Georgia going that route? Or trying too? Saying that if more states follow their lead, the

Federal government won't be able to fund 'Obamacare' and it will be dismantled.

[pnwmom]

36. No. Some of the states have turned down Medicaid expansion

but they haven't been able to turn down the whole program. It's Federal law and it wasn't written to give them an out.