Understanding Obamacare

Like any "commodity", fear and speculation will cause the rates to go up. Is it because of greedy insurance companies? Sure it is. The fear and speculation are from the ACA though. It's no different than oil. "OH NO, a fly sneezed in Syria, we better jack up the rates on oil!" Nothing has changed with the true price of oil, yet fear causes the price to go up. The ACA still plays a huge role, IMO.

 

Greedy insurance agencies or greedy investors? The whole thing is tied in together, just like any publicly traded company. It's standard business policy to expect continuing gains and growth. If you sit still then you're dead. Stockholders expect the market to rise. The market only rises if profits increase. Profits only increase if prices rise faster than costs. It's all a vicious cycle feeding on itself. In reality, the real world returns are actually decreasing for most people because the rising prices fueling your investment return offset the buying power of that same return. It's even worse if you're too poor to invest.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSjGouBmo0M#t=90

Shots for my 15 month old son, a 45 minute visit cost my insurance $1200 bucks.

 

Just got my rate increase letter...going from $335/month for my private shitty coverage to $885/month for the same private shitty coverage. That's a 164% increase for those keeping score.

 

They must have miscalculated. No way they intended for that to happen .... unless you are one of the filthy rich. If that's the case, Die Yuppie scum.

 

Dammit! I knew I shouldn't have been an architect and started a questionably successful architecture practice...we just make too.much.fargin.money!

Edit: Actually, I started two questionably successful firms...I am the 1%.

 

So I think I got this:

I'm expecting my insurance rates to go up ?

I have insurance because of motorcycles and want to make sure I am completely covered. If I'm understanding right then my VA coverage is good enough to exempt me from ACA requirements if I choose not to pay for medical insurance going forward.

No one complains that after a few years in the military that I have coverage for the rest of my life from really good doctors ? Pretty bad ass because I really thought that was one of the best deals I swindled out of the military.

 

So, the healthcare.gov site is down or broken or something and I cant find my official rates. I've used the estimator and it calculates over $9000/yr for my family of 4. I cant afford that.

I also think its odd that there is an Open Enrollment period. Starting today, closing March 10 according to the site. Why is there an enrollment period when you're forced to have it??

 

^^Same guy who squared off with the Occupy group on the streets a bit back. Also was trying to warn everyone he could about the mortgage crisis before it happened.

 

The sad part is there are lemmings that still think that this will be a good thing.

 

I'm curious to the the price if you take the primium tax credit during enrollment if eligible.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/The-Premium-Tax-Credit

Would the credit be lost if your premium was below 9.5% at the end of the year?

 

If 9k a year is greater than 9.5% of your income you get relief in the form of tax credits or stippend or something like that.

I'm really curious how the individual coverage will play out.

The insurance companies are laughing all the way to the bank with this.

 

OK; so it's day 1:

Who signed up????

 

No one.

 

The following is a column by Wendell Potter:

"I've often said that the Affordable Care act is the end of the beginning of reform. Starting October 1, 2013, that law will signify the beginning of the end of the health insurance industry as we know it.
As I've noted previously, my former CEO at Cigna said at a leadership retreat that what kept him up at night was the fear that big health insurance companies might someday be viewed as unnecessary middlemen , that their "value proposition" would come under scrutiny and be found wanting. That insurance companies would, to use his term, be disintermetiated.
That day has arrived.
Most of the attention this week will be focused on the glitches that will inevitably occur when the switch is flipped and the long awaited health insurance marketplaces (also called exchanges) finally go live.
Yes, there will be technological snafu's just as there will be some people upset to find out that the relatively cheap policies they now have will be unavailable next year because they don't meet the Affordable Care Act's standards. As of January 21, 2014, the law outlaws policies that pretty much guarantee that people will be underinsured if they get sick or injured-- underinsured because those policies have inadequate benefits and outrageously high deductibles.
So expect to hear plenty of squawking, especially out of those who have made a career out of opposing 'ObamaCare'. But before long, the snafus will be resolved and people will realize that the newly available coverage in the marketplaces will provide better coverage and actually cost them less after the tax credits and subsidies are factored in.
One of the things apparent right off the bat is that some of the best deals will be offered by non-profit health insurers, including the brand new co-op plans that will be available in about half the States. these plans will be lean and mean. They won't have the enormous overhead costs of the big for-profit insurance corporations that I used to work for, and they won;t have to charge extra for coverage just to satisfy the profit demands of shareholders. They won't have shareholders.
If you're wondering why Aetna, Cigna, Humana, and United Healthcare Group, four of the biggest for-profits are not planning to participate in many of the marketplaces, it's because they know they cannot be competitive and still satisfy the profit expectations of their shareholders.
Before long, both Wall Street and Main Street will catch on to the idea that the big for-profits are bloated Goliaths that can and will be taken down by the new Davids of the insurance world. The 'value proposition' held out by the bigs for years-- that their armies of underwriters, marketers, and medical management specialists are essential-- will be blown to smithereens.
The bigs have to know this, and it explains why we are seeing some of their desperation tactics. Like the letter Aetna is sending to some of it's policyholders encouraging them to renew early this year so they can avoid the 'big changes' that are on the way.
'New coverage requirements, additional benefits, and the many new insurance plans will leave many people with questions' Aetna's letter reads. 'You can do something right now that could help you save on your individual insurance premiums for next year. It's a one-time opportunity available right now'.
Aetna executives know, of course, that most Americans are not yet aware that they might be able to get much better deals on coverage in the new marketplaces. As you can imagine, Aetna's letter makes no mention of those marketplaces.
The real reason the bigs are engaging in such tactics is not to protect their policy holders from the possibility of higher premiums-- or financial ruin if they get sick-- but to protect their profit margins.
In addition to the new State marketplaces, private exchanges are springing up and attracting the attention of big employers who in the past have had no alternative but do business with the large insurers. New benefits consulting firms like Aon Hewitt are setting up their own private exchanges, which will force the big insurers to price their products more competitively. That, too, will lead to shrinking profit margins.
As 'The New York Times' reported last Friday, companies like GE are working directly with hospitals and physicians groups to reduce costs and improve the quality of care for their workers instead of turning that responsibility over to the insurance companies.
These are sea changes that will shift the power away from the big insurance companies, and thus erode the profits they make on both their individual and corporate books of business. It is just a matter of time before Wall Street recognizes that disintermediation has finally arrived and forces these companies to move rapidly into other, more profitable lines of business, like data management."


Basically, Mr. Potter shows that it is merely the desperate attempt to hold onto their profits that motivates these insurance companies to spend so heavily to buy politicians to stall the implementation of "ObamaCare" while they spend even greater sums of money of the propaganda to convince the gullible that the Affordable Care Act is going to do harm, not good.

Wendell Potter was formerly vice president of corporate communications for CIGNA. He resigned in 2008 because his conscience could no longer take the lies his job required of him. He is the author of 'Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out On How Corporate PR Is Killing Healthcare And Deceiving Americans'. It's a fantastic read and completely obliterates the talking points of all those who currently rail against ObamaCare and the best part, he saw all the lies coming and his book has proven to be prophetic and 100% accurate.

 

Time will tell and you'll probably still be wrong.

Did he give up his large pension as part of his new found conscientious?

Would only seem right as he acquired that through the lies he was willing to support for years before his enlightenment.

 

According to what I can actually find about what my rate would be on the "Exchanges" (because if you call it something stupid, it's automatically better somehow?) my health insurance rates would be more than my mortgage, and provide much less coverage.

Thanks for making it so affordable!

 

Anyone else watching that floppy eared lying cunts press conference? I can not believe that people are stupid enough to believe the shit he is spewing. What a pompous, arrogant asshole. He is the worst thing that has ever happened to the US.

 

I sure hope he isn't making any profit from that book.
Because, using both your and his logic, that would nullify the value and validity of his work.

Btw, you ever worked for the government?
Because you haven't seen overcharging for services while under-performing until you've seen those services provided by an agency that does not have to worry about the costs involved or being held accountable for poor performance.
Use your local DMV as an example of the stellar service you can expect from government workers.