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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe ACA: Unable to Meet the Deductible or the Doctor
Patricia Wanderlich got insurance through the Affordable Care Act this year, and with good reason: She suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2011, spending weeks in a hospital intensive care unit, and has a second, smaller aneurysm that needs monitoring.
But her new plan has a $6,000 annual deductible, meaning that Ms. Wanderlich, who works part time at a landscaping company outside Chicago, has to pay for most of her medical services up to that amount. She is skipping this years brain scan and hoping for the best.
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About 7.3 million Americans are enrolled in private coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, and more than 80 percent qualified for federal subsidies to help with the cost of their monthly premiums. But many are still on the hook for deductibles that can top $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for families the trade-off, insurers say, for keeping premiums for the marketplace plans relatively low. The result is that some people no firm data exists on how many say they hesitate to use their new insurance because of the high out-of-pocket costs.
<snip>
Deductibles for the most popular health plans sold through the new marketplaces are higher than those commonly found in employer-sponsored health plans, according to Margaret A. Nowak, the research director of Breakaway Policy Strategies, a health care consulting company. A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the average deductible for individual coverage in employer-sponsored plans was $1,217 this year.
In comparison, the average deductible for a bronze plan on the exchange the least expensive coverage was $5,081 for an individual and $10,386 for a family, according to HealthPocket, a consulting firm. Silver plans, which were the most popular option this year, had average deductibles of $2,907 for an individual and $6,078 for a family.
<snip>
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/18/us/unable-to-meet-the-deductible-or-the-doctor.html?_r=0
egduj
(805 posts)but was determined to be an acceptable consequence by proponents, in order to avoid lifetime debt for catastrophic medical circumstances.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)I have the bills to prove it.
The annual routine lab test rate doubled.
The Dr.routine Dr. office visit doubled.
Immediately after the law passed.
Luckily I have Medicare B, but my co-pay of course did increase.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)with a Part B and Part D that are subsumed under an Advantage plan.
My relatively trivial costs have gone down. I'm now getting my two prescriptions with no co-pay as I elect to have a 90 day supply mailed to me. I have zero co-pay for a regular doctor visit. So far have paid nothing out of pocket for blood tests.
zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)This problem predated the ACA, people with insurance that still couldn't afford health CARE. It was one of the reasons I found the ACA to be such a disappointment. It left one of the larger problems completely unaddressed and in fact expanded it by forcing people to purchase insurance they'd never be able to afford to use.
Not getting care for possible catastrophic medical circumstances, like brain hemorrhages or aneurysms, because one can't afford the deductible or copay, is certainly one way to avoid lifetime debt for care for those circumstances.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Means you don't have diddly squat left over pay check to paycheck.
scarystuffyo
(733 posts)Affordable insurance under the Affordable Care Act
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)scarystuffyo
(733 posts)Average cost is $1500 to $2000
Algernon Moncrieff
(5,790 posts)OK, owing $6K is bad, but it's a lot better than owing $20K or $50K or $100K, which is what was happening before. Before the ACA was passed, there were countless cases of people with no coverage, no hope of paying, and they system passing on the billions in unpaid debt onto those who could pay, which has been a big component of the medical inflation spiral. Mitigating that condition should, long run, help med inflation.
Also, $6K won't drive even the poorest into bonafide bankruptcy. It's an amount that the courts would have worked out through a long term payment plan, and that the provider could comfortably eat, if need be.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Unless they are quite well off they'll never get caught up.
This system might as well have been custom designed to get government premium support to the companies and make sure they don't have to pay out much on the poorer clients.
IronLionZion
(45,514 posts)choose plans. People with chronic conditions who use health providers regularly should get lower deductible plans, and there are options for that if someone had advised them and helped them find a plan based on their needs. Don't you remember red state governors actively blocking organizations from helping people?
The high deductible plans are closer to the catastrophic plans for healthy people who only want coverage for the big stuff. Most of them are usually paired with a health savings account. These plans were for those healthy folks who would try to go without insurance before, but will sign up for an affordable plan just in case something major happens.
Algernon Moncrieff
(5,790 posts)...or people with lots of cash laying around, or people who choose to use HSAs to cover routine doctor and dentist visits.
For the $6K per year difference, even with a preexisting, you can probably find a lower deductible plan. Also, look t play the other angles-- see if assistance is available for drug costs.
Chuuku Davis
(565 posts)DID design a lot of the ACA
IronLionZion
(45,514 posts)and no longer being able to turn away the more costly patients because of pre-existing conditions and lifetime caps or charge more for women. They would have done it on their own but were just waiting patiently for someone to sign that into law.
IronLionZion
(45,514 posts)and now they have something. It has to start somewhere.
Skink
(10,122 posts)Sign up for affordable dental coverage.
Hopefully the medical becomes affordable in the future.
Response to scarystuffyo (Reply #9)
Name removed Message auto-removed
treestar
(82,383 posts)for a better plan than that. This is precisely the situation where the ACA helps - people not so poor they qualify for Medicaid but not making enough for a policy or having a job that provides one.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)And he still wouldn't have the cash for a copay.
davekriss
(4,627 posts)Someone making $20,000 a year or less (your $9.75 per hour example) would hit the maximum allowable out of pocket limit long, long before having to pay $6,000.
Go to the kaiser foundation subsidy calculator. A 30 year old making $20k has a MAXIMUM out of pocket expense - which covers deductibles and co pays - of $2,250. That's still a desperately high chunk of change for $9.75, but way short of the policy's $6,000 deductible. Once your friend paid that amount, the ACA pays 100% of charges thereafter.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Roselma
(540 posts)Go to www.healthsherpa.com. Put in the zip code, then answer all questions (takes 10 seconds or so). I put in for a Dallas-area zipcode (I am from another state and don't know where you are from). I put in for a 61 year old smoker who earned $20,280 ($9.75/hr/40 hr wk/52 wk/year). I found 2 silver level HMO Blue Cross plans with low deductibles (one was $500 and one was $1500). Both had annual maximum out-of-pockets of $1500 with low doctor copays and zero cost ($.0) for generic prescriptions. These amounts would be different in other areas of the state as they are based on available providers in a market. I think your friend may have erred in 1) entering data, or 2) understanding the resultant information. Your housemate likely is unaware of subsidies PLUS for low-income individuals like him/herself, the ADDITIONAL "cost sharing" provided by the federal government. Yes, the max out-of-pocket is much lower than your housemate was able to discern for him/herself due to the ADDITIONAL "cost sharing" for low income people.
GummyBearz
(2,931 posts)Big insurance wins again!
If only I could place bets on them in Vegas, I might be able to pay their ridiculous fees
Control-Z
(15,682 posts)for doctor's visits, mosts tests, prescription coverage, specialty doctors, Urgent Cares, ER visits and numerous other things. There is no required expense to use most benefits.
It is applied for surgeries, hospital stays, extensive procedures and tests like MRIs.
Cal Carpenter
(4,959 posts)Insurance isn't very helpful if you can't afford to use it when you need it.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)My housemate's employer supplied policy covers diddly squat until the deductible is met.
A $50 copay is out of reach for someone living paycheck to paycheck
Of course here in TX you get the shaft no matter what.
kcr
(15,318 posts)It's a high deductible, too.
scarystuffyo
(733 posts)davidn3600
(6,342 posts)MRIs, colonoscopies, lab work, etc... those wont be covered until a deductible is met.
You have any idea how much those tests cost?
scarystuffyo
(733 posts)that most of the cost is covered until they find a polyp and it's removed during the exam.
Then it becomes a procedure and you get billed out the ass ( pardon the pun) for the deductible .
It's all bullshit
LeftOfWest
(482 posts)scarystuffyo
(733 posts)justice1
(795 posts)Medpage Today, powered by Everyday Health Inc., is a trusted and reliable source for clinical and policy coverage that directly affects the lives and practices of health care professionals.
Mariana
(14,860 posts)when my husband has a colonoscopy. He called the insurance company and they told him exactly that - when they removed the polyps it became a treatment instead of a screening. Slimy bastards.
Roselma
(540 posts)link: http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-aca12.html
Here is the q/a wording:
"""""Q5: If a colonoscopy is scheduled and performed as a screening procedure pursuant to the USPSTF recommendation, is it permissible for a plan or issuer to impose cost-sharing for the cost of a polyp removal during the colonoscopy?
No. Based on clinical practice and comments received from the American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastroenterological Association, American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and the Society for Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates, polyp removal is an integral part of a colonoscopy. Accordingly, the plan or issuer may not impose cost-sharing with respect to a polyp removal during a colonoscopy performed as a screening procedure. On the other hand, a plan or issuer may impose cost-sharing for a treatment that is not a recommended preventive service, even if the treatment results from a recommended preventive service."""""
PeoViejo
(2,178 posts)with a local hospital run by Nuns. Last Year, I had a Colonoscopy with 6 Polyps removed. The total charge to the Insurance was under $400 with no co-pay.
That gives you an idea of what the real costs are when one takes away the profit motive.
Habibi
(3,598 posts)From looking over plans available in my area last enrollment period, the deductible applies to just about everything, with minor differences between plans.
Then there's the issue of "coinsurance" for, say, hospitalization, which several of the plans I looked at had. That means you pay a premium, a deductible, and if you're hospitalized, a percentage of the costs of that as well.
WillowTree
(5,325 posts)Deductibles and copays don't apply to routine well care visits and tests, but they most certainly can apply to treatment of illnesses, and definitely to specialist care. "There is no required expense to use most benefits" is just not so under most plans.
LWolf
(46,179 posts)I've seen a doctor for that my deductible did not apply for in the last 10 years, pre- and post-ACA, is my annual flu shot.
And there are a bunch of things I haven't seen a doctor for simply because of that fact. I can't afford the fucking deductible after paying the premium.
KG
(28,752 posts)i'm sure a loyalist will be along shortly to straighten it all out for us.
scarystuffyo
(733 posts)woo me with science
(32,139 posts)after seeing yet another person struggling to afford health insurance receive a letter from the ACA provider notifying them of their impending twenty percent rate increase.
*Twenty percent.* Exactly as high as they can go....EVERY SINGLE DAMNED YEAR.
Actually, it's 19.67 percent. And they didn't even give the poor sap an entire year at the old rate before jacking it up. This will mean either going to a lower tier with even more exorbitant deductible, or more likely not being able to afford insurance at all...since Third Way governor Terry McAuliffe broke his Medicaid expansion promises and this person does not make *enough* to qualify for subsidies.
What an amazing coincidence, that the rate hike determined to be justified just *happens* to round up to the ACA-enshrined maximum!
Woo hoo for corporate health insurance. What a vicious scam.
_________________________________________________
*Remember, the ACA doesn't even require the company vultures to justify a hike until it goes over *ten* percent...When was the last time your salary increased by even half that much?
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)http://www.pnhp.org/news/2013/june/medical-debt-a-curable-affliction-health-reform-won%E2%80%99t-fix
The high frequency of medical bankruptcy was often cited by advocates of health reform during the debate over the ACA. Yet the debate largely ignored the fact that most medical debtors actually have coverage. In order to protect Americans from bankruptcy, coverage must be truly comprehensive, that is, it must cover virtually 100 percent of all needed medical care. Unfortunately, the insurance policies mandated under ACA are required to cover only 60 percent of expected health-care costs.
56 MILLION Americans under age 65 will have trouble paying medical bills.
Over 35 MILLION American adults (ages 19-64) will be contacted by collections agencies for unpaid medical bills.
Nearly 17 MILLION American adults (ages 19-64) will receive a lower credit rating on account of their high medical bills.
Over 15 MILLION American adults (ages 19-64) will use up all their savings to pay medical bills.
Over 11 MILLION American adults (ages 19-64) will take on credit card debt to pay off their hospital bills.
Nearly 10 MILLION American adults (ages 19-64) will be unable to pay for basic necessities like rent, food, and heat due to their medical bills.
Over 16 MILLION children live in households struggling with medical bills.
Despite having year-round insurance coverage, 10 MILLION insured Americans ages 19-64 will face bills they are unable to pay.
1.7 MILLION Americans live in households that will declare bankruptcy due to their inability to pay their medical bills.
Three states will account for over one-quarter of those living in medical-related bankruptcy: California (248,002), Illinois (113,524), and Florida (99,780).
To save costs, over 25 MILLION adults (ages 19-64) will not take their prescription drugs as indicated, including skipping doses, taking less medicine than prescribed or delaying a refill.
nationalize the fed
(2,169 posts)This whole "deductible" thing hasn't even begun to sink in. Because the ACA was the grand savior of Those In Need.
People have to now pay a monthly bill AND everything but catastrophic care. Most people won't even use what they are now required to buy.
I've been trying to find another nation that both requires insurance or a contribution to a government plan (like Germany) and still sticks the poor citizen with having to pay for medical care and so far I haven't found one.
Meanwhile, the Democrat who had single payer advocates arrested at a hearing is the new Ambassador to China. He's probably looking for ways to further help the middle class.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)The poor have to pay insurance that they for the most part can't use if they actually get sick.
A huge windfall for the insurance companies.
leftstreet
(36,111 posts)woo me with science
(32,139 posts)slipslidingaway
(21,210 posts)Zorra
(27,670 posts)I just went through my own new miserable experience with this deranged healthcare system, and ended up not getting the surgery I needed because of companies playing money games with my health.
Medicare for all.
Bernie Sanders for President.
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)she couldn't have gotten coverage at all.
So the ACA helped a lot of people but more still needs to be done.
We all know single payer is the ultimate goal but Obama deserves accolades for what he was able to accomplish.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)Do you mean stopping them? I don't think Obama had a chance of getting single payer through or he would have. Getting anything though was quite miraculous and the first time it has been done.
I don't see what blaming him for not getting single payer through will accomplish now. Except maybe getting everything he did accomplish wiped out. Is that what you guys really want?
Why not just work on improving it by getting single payer as the next objective.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Mandatory private insurance which many of the working poor cannot afford to actually use.
Nov 19, 2008.. After Obama was elected and before he took office I predicted mandatory private insurance would be the final plan despite the fact that Obama went so far as to mock the idea of mandatory insurance during the campaign.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4494168&mesg_id=4494251
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)And don't forget that many want to completely annihilate the gains that were made.
Important gains were made. People with previous conditions can now get insurance. And is many states, people that can't afford insurance can get Medicaid.
These are important milestones that we shouldn't let be irradiated due to our (perfectly righteous) demands for more.
Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)chance to work towards an actual health CARE system (as opposed to merely health insurance) if we are backed into the corner defending the taste of a crap sandwich with a smile on our faces while the stories of people such as in the OP stack up at our feet?
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)Do people seriously still believe otherwise?
nationalize the fed
(2,169 posts)Not surprising, most Democrats don't. Or, they have deliberately "forgotten" it. Because it's hard to blame the "Rethugs" for lack of single payer when the lead Democrat in charge of the hearings has them ARRESTED.
as in ARRESTED. Police. Mug shot. ARRESTED. Jeezus. WTF? There is no hope when people deny reality.
Uploaded on May 5, 2009
On May 5, 2009, eight activists were arrested at a health care hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, in the Dirksen Office Building, Room 106. As soon as the Committee Chair, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), opened the proceedings, the activists began in turns to stand and to make comments, like: "Why isnt a single payer at the table?" They were immediately "escorted" out of the room by the Capitol Hill police and placed under arrest.
The demonstrators' press release underscored "how 22,000 people die in the U.S. every year due to a lack of health insurance." This is seven times the number of victims that perished in the 9/11 tragedy.
Dr. Margaret Flowers, one of the eight arrested, added in the press release: "Health insurance administrators are practicing medicine without a license. The result is the suffering and death of thousands of patients for the sake of private profit. The private insurance industry has a solid grip on patients, providers and legislators. It is time to stand up and declare that health care is a human right." The activists are supporting HR 676 and S 703. For background and any updates, see: http://www.healthcare-now.org and
http://singlepayeraction.org and http://md.pnhp.org and
http://www.prosperityagenda.us/ and http://freshaircleanpolitics.net.
Any idea where this Democrat that had single payer advocates *ARRESTED* is now? He's the Ambassador to China. Rewarded for a job well done. No doubt trying to further his work for the middle class.
It's amazing that people would think that mandating the purchase of corporate insurance would make single payer more attainable.
Baucuss Raucous Caucus: Doctors, Nurses and Activists Arrested Again for Protesting Exclusion of Single-Payer Advocates at Senate Hearing on Healthcare
Advocates of single-payer universal healthcare the system favored by most Americans continue to protest their exclusion from discussions on healthcare reform. On Tuesday, five doctors, nurses and single-payer advocates were arrested at a Senate Finance Committee hearing, bringing the total number of arrests in less than a week to thirteen. We speak with two of those arrested: Single Payer Action founder Russell Mokhiber and Dr. Margaret Flowers of Physicians for a National Health Program. [includes rush transcript]
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/13/baucus_raucus_caucus_doctors_nurses_and
I can't wait for the next person to call me a "racist" for opposing the mandated purchase of corporate insurance when there is no public option as promised by Senator Reid and Barack Obama:
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)No more pretending about what we are really facing here.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12527647
Whoop, There It Is... 'Evidence Homeland Security Coordinated Occupy Crackdown' -
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002462465
ACLU discovers FBI is labeling peace activists as 'potential terrorists'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4500788
Protestors against Energy Company charged with terrorism
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024175848
DOJ's outrageously aggressive prosecution of internet activist, Aaron Swartz
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/22/al-franken-eric-holder_n_2934627.html
Bradley Birkenfeld, UBS Whistleblower, Finds Himself in Federal Prison
http://www.cnbc.com//id/41257962
Holder/DOJ sided with Rove in politically motivated prosecution of fr. AL governor, Don Siegelman,
Then, the person who handled the paperwork, got onto the Supreme Court.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Elena-Kagan--Willing-Acco-by-Michael-Collins-100622-971.html
scarystuffyo
(733 posts)TheKentuckian
(25,029 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)For one, thousands of lives will be saved because people are getting treatment. Because they have coverage. Along with MILLIONS of other people who were excluded before.
Not to mention the removal of pre-existing condition exclusions, lifetime caps, imposition of medical loss ratios upon insurance companies, expansion of Medicaid, etc etc etc.
Sorry that reality does not agree with your cartoonish view of the ACA, just as it fails to agree with the cartoonish view held of the ACA by the Tea partiers.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Coverage you can't afford to use as is pointed out repeatedly in this thread is as useless as no coverage at all.
But then you never fail to apologize for the establishment.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)Also, no one is making the factual argument that it is impossible to use coverage one pays for under the ACA. Indeed, that would be a shockingly ignorant and false and stupid thing to argue, as many, many people do use the coverage they get under the ACA.
What people are arguing is that there are still instances where the coverage is less than ideal. This is undoubtedly true.
But it is a silly logical fallacy to claim that because not everyone's problems have been solved that no one's problems have been addressed.
You can have the last word. Maybe you can even provide an actual fact or something. It would be a refreshing break from the reflexive bashing.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)goodbye, I don't waste my time trying to teach pigs to sing.
slipslidingaway
(21,210 posts)We cannot blame the repubs for every evil
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)If I get seriously ill, I will get care out-of-pocket/credit card or I will die.
When I had the "best" HMO in Massachusetts and I got seriously ill, I was told my dramatic weight loss (110 to 84 in weeks), night sweats, severe insomnia, fever/chills, recurring lump under one arm, afternoon blurred vision, exhaustion to the point that I had to lie down to rest before I could drive home from work, were "all in my head" by the HMO doc (who was being paid bonuses to not run tests).
A CBC would have told him I was seriously ill. My dentist put me on prophylactic antibiotics and saved my life.
My choice last year was to pay that same fucking insurance company $2,000/year that I don't have...or pay the penalty. I opted for the penalty. As a result, I have $2,000 sitting in my bank account right now -- the first real cushion I've had since 2008-2009 -- that I can use if I need antibiotics again.
Travis_0004
(5,417 posts)The IRS has no enforcement powers to collect it other than holding your tax refund. Adjust your withholding so you don't get a refund and tell the IRS to piss off.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)Maybe it's the state? I have a really low deductible and low out of pocket maximum.
I talked to people on the phone and they guided me to the best plan. The value of the plan is way greater than what I pay due to the subsidies.
I had one med recently, a one shot deal, that was applied to the deductible, and that was expensive. But now there is not much left towards the deductible.
I went to the doctor and had a small co-pay. Small co-pay on my regular prescriptions.
These people may make a lot of money relative to me and so don't want to pay their share of the premium and so they pick a plan with a high deductible. I had that before the ACA and kept kicking up the deductible because they kept raising the premium. The ACA has solved that exact problem.
Maybe this is the red state phenomenon too, where they would otherwise get Medicaid. Quit blaming the ACA and blame the Republican majorities in their states and get out and vote in their state elections this year.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)leftstreet
(36,111 posts)LWolf
(46,179 posts)Insurance is not the answer. If you can afford the premium, you often cannot afford to get actual care because of copays and deductibles.
This is why I did not welcome the ACA as the answer to getting actual health CARE.
sendero
(28,552 posts)ALL health insurance plans are heading this direction. My company, involved in the health care world, offers ONLY HSA type plans with high deductibles, and has done so for several years now. I'm given to understand that in a matter of years that is what most companies will offer by way of health care benefit.
Why is this happening? Two reasons. The usual, greed, letting companies spend less on health care. But there is another reason, companies want to force the pain of these costs on to their consumers in the belief that many people use health services on a whim since it costed them nothing in the old way.
Do I like this or am I defending it? No. I'd prefer single payer. You know, what Obama promised us before the election and did not lift a finger to make happen afterward.
But if I have to choose between the ACA and nothing, well the ACA is clearly better than nothing.
scarystuffyo
(733 posts)That should work well
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)millions with insurance coverage.
and a stop to out of control cost increases.
it didn't solve every problem, but guess what no legislation could have solved all the problems.
sendero
(28,552 posts)... on anything, look at my posting history if you don't believe me.
I share your disgust that no matter who we elect and what we are promised we get crap.
That said, the ACA is truly better than nothing for the majority of Americans, and that is just a fact. And the latest polls show people warming up to the ACA once they realize that the liars on the right are, uh, liars.
Kingofalldems
(38,469 posts)Tweedy
(628 posts)You have a deductible and a co-pay. Sometimes, you have co-insurance. There is no ACA compliant plan I have seen where you have to exhaust your deductible before you get coverage. That is the old catastrophic care coverage model. What are her co-pays to see the doctor? This is what matters.
alarimer
(16,245 posts)I suspect those plans just barely passed muster with the ACA, but were cheap enough that people bought into them.
I can sympathize. I can't afford the usual copayments for doctor's appoints. I have a flexible spending account for that, but can't afford much more than $20 a month to put into or $240 per year. The last two years, I've used it for glasses (the first time I've had to have them). So any appointments have to wait until January.
justice1
(795 posts)Patricia Wanderlich does have a part time job as the office manager at Infinity Lawn and Landscape, which she started in March of this year. She also has a full time job, which she has held for the last 12 years, as an Administrator, for the Institute of Medicine of Chicago. She resides in a neighborhood, where the average household income is over $85,000, and she pays taxes of over $4000 on her home.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)Since I have not had to negotiate the world of health coverage under the ACA, I can't say too much, other than I've heard that a lot of people would be better off getting something other than the cheapest plan, because a better plan covers more tests, procedures, doctor visits, whatever, and in the long run costs a lot less.
I know I researched Advantage plans as carefully as I could when I went on Medicare earlier this year, and I'm extremely happy with what I have.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)You are acting like we are being forced to buy a product from a private company and can only use that product if we can afford to do so after gaining membership into the club. So, I have been told more and more that the clubs(private insurers) membership is skyrocketing and that is the point of it all. What is this healthcare you are talking about. This club is about insurance, not care.
The "You can't be serious" was light hearted.
You know how happy insurance companies are with this "new" revelation. They collect monthly premiums and don't have to pay out claims. Who in the government do I have to pay to get on their good side? I want some of this "tough love" that they dish out to massive corporations.