How's That Obamacare Working Out?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 1:57pm

As was predicted by sane people, the deductibles are so high, people can't use the insurance. People are finding out it's cheaper to ditch Obamacare and use the money to pay for healthcare.

And you know when the New York Times is ripping Obama, it's really worse than anyone could ever imagine.


If You Like Your Doctor, You Can Keep Your Doctor

Updated On: 10/18/14 at 01:57 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 2:06pm

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 2:32pm

Healthcare saves lives. Millions of people who were scared to go to a doctor for years due to the cost now get to go. It's a good thing and it's working, despite what Rush Limbaugh/Ted Cruz/Bitch Palin tells you.
Not FOX News

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 2:32pm

Please feel free to use reason to debunk what the article says. It is the New York Times after all.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 2:38pm

I don't think there's anything to debunk. Obamacare is far from perfect. I don't think any reasonable person would debate that. There are still a small percentage of people who have fallen through the cracks and will be subject to the tax penalties because they make "too much" for assistance, but don't make enough to afford a plan after considering their cost of living (I know a few people like this) and there are people on these lower tier plans who cannot afford the deductibles of those plans. These are issues that need to be dealt with in the years ahead as Obamacare evolves, but the fact that Obamacare hasn't worked well for some people, does not negate the immediate positive effect it has had on the lives of millions of others who previously were uninsured. Come on, even you can figure this one out, Goth.

Updated On: 10/18/14 at 02:38 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 2:48pm

The facts were in the article I posted. It even has charts! Perhaps reading actual facts about the Affordable Care Act might help. Then again, Republicans and the truth don't really go together. As soon as you are proven wrong, you run away from the discussion.

Like this one.



Updated On: 10/18/14 at 02:48 PM

[KC91WFU]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 4:12pm

There is another way to look at a large deductible. Maybe it feels like you don't have insurance now, but if you get in a car accident and wind up in the trauma ICU for two weeks with a $50,000 medical bill....suddenly owing only $5000 out of pocket seems like a pretty great deal. These types of plans quite often cover a physical and screenings and vaccinations...but sick care is out of pocket until you reach the deductible. However, if you are very sick or badly injured it ends up being a very good investment. You are covering yourself for a catastrophe...kind of like we do with car insurance. Furthermore if you have a chronic illness like diabetes AND you chose to take care of it properly...you would probably ultimately save money before the end of the year. Obamacare has its problems, but the overall intention is good. It is at least a step in the right direction.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 4:43pm

I recently began receiving coverage after nearly 4 years of being uninsured because the affordable care act expanded eligibility for certain low cost health coverage plans that I'd been previously denied because I didn't meet their requirements. I can now see a doctor without having to pay $45 dollars out of pocket and who knows how much more for any tests or prescriptions. Now, it's all covered and I can use that $45 dollars to ensure that I have enough money for the bus and enough food on the table. It's unfortunate that the bill isn't perfect and that not everyone is satisfied but it's a step in the right direction and it has been a big help to me.

Posted: 10/18/14 at 5:49pm

It literally saved my life. Unemployed and paying $780 a month for COBRA coverage that left me with over $2000 in co-pays and at least that much n deductibles each year, I was able to use the exchange to get much better cheaper coverage.

I had two hospitalizations and four surgeries in 2014. It was a rough year but without Obamacare I'd be dead.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 5:59pm

Holy smokes, Joe! Sorry to hear that, but glad you're still with us!

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 6:14pm

My niece shattered her ankle recently. My sister says she has no idea what they would have done if she hadn't been covered by Obamacare.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 6:47pm

KC91WFU sums it up nicely. Yes, I resent that I'm still paying a monthly premium and getting little in return at the moment.

But (a) that monthly premium is half what it was before and my deductible is 1/3 of what it was before, and (b) I have the catastrophic coverage without which I could lose my home in the event of a severe illness or injury.

The problems with Obamacare are largely due to the lack of price controls on insurance companies and Big Pharam, flaws that were mandated by the GOP.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 6:52pm

"My niece shattered her ankle recently. My sister says she has no idea what they would have done if she hadn't been covered by Obamacare."

"It was a rough year but without Obamacare I'd be dead."

"but it's a step in the right direction and it has been a big help to me."

"I LOVE the Affordable Care Act! Without it, my 27 year-old daughter would be uninsured."

I think your question is now answered, Goth.






Updated On: 10/19/14 at 06:52 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 7:06pm

My wife lost 2 doctors she has used for 30 plus years

She can no longer have her tests done at a facility she has used for quite awhile as well

Despite having 2 small pensions and Social Security taken at 62 instead of 66 she does not qualify for subsidies. She has to pay about $600 a month.Those who crafted this law and make on average $ 160,000 plus a year do get subsidies

Updated On: 10/18/14 at 07:06 PM

[trentsketch]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 9:31pm

I have insurance for the first time in 8 years. I was wrongly kicked off of my parent's insurance plan before I was supposed to be (we're not talking extra schooling, we're talking kicked off halfway through sophomore year at age 20). Parents filed the appropriate paperwork and were told to eff off repeatedly before we all gave up on it.

I'm self-employed and have been for a long time. I write, I teach music, and I teach theater. Instead of not being able to work for two+ weeks because I have a sinus infection or strep throat, I can go to my doctor, get medication, and be back on my feet in a few days. Instead of literally pulling my hair out and stabbing myself in the wrist and thigh with my fingernails to help cope with my OCD and anxiety, I now have a legitimate prescription that's allowing me to function in the real world. Shoot, having a basic eye exam covered meant getting a proper diagnosis for an eye issue I've been afraid to mention for years (afraid it would be too expensive to treat) and having it mostly clearly up with a week of eye drops and daily warm compresses.

I'm working more, I'm in better health, and none of it would have happened without the Affordable Care Act. Updated On: 10/18/14 at 09:31 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 9:34pm

There are success stories and horror stories. If you have been affected negatively like my wife you will not like it. If yours was a positive experience, you will like it.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 9:45pm

Once work is done on Obamacare and it becomes single payer and the Insurance Companies and their Lobbyists are out of the picture, it will be fine.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 9:50pm

Snaf - you're speaking as if that's an inevitability. Maybe, MAYBE that will happen if one day the Dems regain a majority in both houses, but even they are beholden to all the money and lobbying in politics.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 10/18/14 at 11:50pm

It will either go single-payer or it will be considered a failure, I think. Inflated costs to cover the much lower percentages that insurance companies pay do nothing but screw the individual. Eff it. Wipe out the necessary insurance. Charge cost plus reasonable profit. Charge the individual small co-pays until they reach a deductible. Base that deductible on income, if you want. The way it's working now is just ludicrous. Overcharge so that you need insurance and then charge the insurance companies a fraction of the initial costs?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 10/19/14 at 2:04am

I mean, I'm poor and still paying like $120 a month for my Obamacare, which for me is still a lot of money.

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 10/19/14 at 2:05am

"There are success stories and horror stories. If you have been affected negatively like my wife you will not like it. If yours was a positive experience, you will like it."

This quote from Mr. Roxy is so dumb and so stupid I might die from Ebola.

This quote is so GENERIC and stupid it describes EVERYTHING. I love this sushi place downstairs but my roommate had an awful experience, so she'll never go back. I love this bar in the Castro, but because my boyfriend doesn't like the bear crowd, he hates it.

I've wasted the rest of my natural life writing a response to Mr Roxy.

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 10/19/14 at 2:10am

I get fantastic insurance from my employer, plus matching 401(K), and other great benefits. A few hundred gets pulled from my paycheck, but its worth it.

I have medical, dental, vision, holiday, vacation, plus I can transfer to 60+ properties nationwide, not to mention opening new properties in the Bahamas, Napa Valley, or in Europe.

[madbrian]

Posted: 10/19/14 at 9:31am

I LOVE the Affordable Care Act! Without it, my 27 year-old daughter would be uninsured. She works several part-time jobs, none of which offer insurance.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 10/19/14 at 11:01am

Please read Joekv's response. The article points out some important problems with Obamacare. Problems that perhaps could have been resolved by having a public option, an option that, unfortunately, the right barred us from having. And problems which certainly would have been alleviated with a single payer system, which is what we should have, but which was never even an option given the political morass called the U.S..

But, as Joekv's response explains, that's not really the operative point of comparison. The optimum point of comparison is the condition of people such as those portrayed in the article before Obamacare. It was worse.

Moreover, the complaint that some find it would be cheaper to forego the plan and just pay for their deductible care they decide not to take because they can't afford on top of their premiums.... those people are gambling on their health, and, being people with a great deal of health issues, that's not very smart. I sympathize with them, of course, because they should have better plans they can afford, and that, of course, just means what we all know - the ACA can be greatly improved - but it does not mean that the ACA is worse than what we had before the ACA.

And speaking of that appropriate "before the ACA" comparison - here's the key fact" "before the ACA" you were also always at risk of losing your doctor because your insurance coverage could change. Many of us not on ACA have always been and will continue to be exactly in that boat.

Those of us with insurance plans through our employers are always at risk of having our plans changed and our doctors not participating as a result. Clearly, Obama never meant "you could keep your doctor" to mean "you could keep your doctor" moreso than anyone is guaranteed of that who already has insurance coverage. He meant "you could keep your doctor" subject to the same caveats that already existed for the conventionally insured in the free market as opposed to less than those that already exist for the conventionally insured in the free market.

Now if you want to criticize Obama for what he should be criticized for, including but not limited to his failures on the environment, immigration, Guantanamo, CDC's recently allowing that Dallas nurse to board that plane, and the surveillance state we live in, and PROTECTING THE CIA ON TORTURE, and the general failure to prosecute Wall St. for their crimes, please count me in.

But count me in as one who at the same time realizes that all American presidents have major problems, that Obama shares the blame on some though not all of these with the Bush administration, and that Obama is far from the worst of our presidents, has been outstandingly good for the U.S. economy (which - big surprise (he said ironically) - is still a disaster) and is the subject of gross, racist, unfair and dim-witted criticism from an obstructionist opposition (an opposition that makes his triumphs all the more impressive!) constantly.

There are those of us who try to be fair and to think critically about all public figures, including Obama. And you will find that those of who do so are also apt to be fair and think critically about what we read in the news, even if it is the Times.




Updated On: 10/21/14 at 11:01 AM

[sabrelady]

Posted: 10/19/14 at 11:23am

Nicely spoke Henrike.^^^^^