Heeeeeeere's Obamacare!

Emily Cat said:
I wish I had a pithy and clever line to put here... but I don't, so I'll stick with my interpretation of Truth (TM). I think it all started about the time the government removed the regulations on media that required them to provide equal time to both sides. I can't recall what the act was called, but congress in their infinite wisdom decided it was no longer necessary.

So now we've got talking heads and [airquotes] NEWS [/airquotes]

I mean seriously - you know something has gone severely haywire when I get a more balanced and fair news report from The Daily Show than I do anywhere else.
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Bwaaaaaaaaahahahahaha! These days, the British and Russian media provide a more balanced view than the New York Times or any of the old broadcast networks. Even Al Jazeera America, in it's search of any viewership at all, is testing a more balanced broadcast and analysis of the news than MSNBC and it's ilk.
 
balrog666 said:
Bwaaaaaaaaahahahahaha! These days, the British and Russian media provide a more balanced view than the New York Times or any of the old broadcast networks. Even Al Jazeera America, in it's search of any viewership at all, is testing a more balanced broadcast and analysis of the news than MSNBC and it's ilk.
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I'e heard that the BBC provides a pretty good source... but truth be told, I avoid news like the plague. It makes me angsty and irritable. i'm eminently selfish about things like that; I'd often prefer happy ignorance of the world outside my immediate surroundings than informed depression! I tend to get a good chunk of my "news" from forums like this - the things that people are actually talking about, and their views on it, as opposed to the media's circus and grandstanding for viewership.
 
Emily Cat said:
I'e heard that the BBC provides a pretty good source... but truth be told, I avoid news like the plague. It makes me angsty and irritable. i'm eminently selfish about things like that; I'd often prefer happy ignorance of the world outside my immediate surroundings than informed depression! I tend to get a good chunk of my "news" from forums like this - the things that people are actually talking about, and their views on it, as opposed to the media's circus and grandstanding for viewership.
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Try NPR sometime.

[/derail]
 
I have a friend that has no income that didn't even have to sign up on any website. This person received a letter and a phone number to get fast-tracked.
 
Wife and I get insurance through work, so we won't be using the exchanges. But I out of curiosity I checked that site linked above and according to that we would get insurance for as little as ....

... $609/month Gold HMO
... $807/month Gold PPO
... $511/month Silver HMO
... $611/month Silver PPO
... $575/month Bronze PPO
... $487/month Bronze HMO (odd the bronze HMO is cheaper than the PPO)

All that is before any subsidies.
 
Emily Cat said:
You can... but it's not particularly convenient. You have to go to each carrier's site independently. That's great if you've got the time, and you know who all the carriers are. There have been a lot of new entrants into the market with ACA, some of which are relatively small insurance companies. The likelihood of the average person knowing all of them is fairly small. Doing it brute force could leave you missing some new options to the old dogs.
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There aren't private websites that do the same (or better) then the government site?
 
bonzombiekitty said:
Wife and I get insurance through work, so we won't be using the exchanges. But I out of curiosity I checked that site linked above and according to that we would get insurance for as little as ....

... $609/month Gold HMO
... $807/month Gold PPO
... $511/month Silver HMO
... $611/month Silver PPO
... $575/month Bronze PPO
... $487/month Bronze HMO (odd the bronze HMO is cheaper than the PPO)

All that is before any subsidies.
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Not bad for covering two people. I may need to look and see if it is worth getting off of my wife's insurance and buying something on the open market.

I couldn't really do so before due to a pre-existing condition that hasn't caused me any concern or cost a single dollar in covered medical cost for over 20 years. (I say "covered" because I sometimes have to take a couple of advil because of it, like once a quarter.)
 
I am all for Obamacare, but it would actually increase my healthcare cost fairly significantly. I pay about $170 per paycheck, currently, for my benefits through my employer. According to that link I'd be paying closer to $700\month for anything above Bronze. Bronze would start at about $400\month, but I'd need more than that.

Oh well, if it ain't broke, done fix it.
 
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plague311 said:
I am all for Obamacare, but it would actually increase my healthcare cost fairly significantly. I pay about $170 per paycheck, currently, for my benefits through my employer. According to that link I'd be paying closer to $700\month for anything above Bronze. Bronze would start at about $400\month, but I'd need more than that.

Oh well, if it ain't broke, done fix it.
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That seems much higher than most people. Is that $700 just for you? Also, would you qualify for subsidies?
 
plague311 said:
I am all for Obamacare, but it would actually increase my healthcare cost fairly significantly. I pay about $170 per paycheck, currently, for my benefits through my employer. According to that link I'd be paying closer to $700\month for anything above Bronze. Bronze would start at about $400\month, but I'd need more than that.

Oh well, if it ain't broke, done fix it.
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Is there a reason why you wouldn't continue to go through your employer?
 
thaiboxerken said:
I have a friend that has no income that didn't even have to sign up on any website. This person received a letter and a phone number to get fast-tracked.
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With no income, your friend probably got a letter for Medicaid. ACA expanded coverage on Medicaid, and some states (the ones not run by !$@%$@$%) have been being pretty assertive trying to get people enrolled.

bonzombiekitty said:
Wife and I get insurance through work, so we won't be using the exchanges. But I out of curiosity I checked that site linked above and according to that we would get insurance for as little as ....

... $609/month Gold HMO
... $807/month Gold PPO
... $511/month Silver HMO
... $611/month Silver PPO
... $575/month Bronze PPO
... $487/month Bronze HMO (odd the bronze HMO is cheaper than the PPO)

All that is before any subsidies.
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Just out of curiosity, did you maybe mix up a label? All of your HMOs are cheaper than your PPOs, not just the Bronze. In my experience, this is usually the case - HMOs have only in network providers, and no coverage for out of network (along with some other really boring differences), so they only ever pay contracted rates. It *usually* results in lower costs... thus lower premiums. Although if you're comparing 2014 to 2013... there are other factors that coule be involved that make it an apples-to-bulldogs comparison.

Amazer said:
There aren't private websites that do the same (or better) then the government site?
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Not really. There's eHealth, but companies have to pay them to be on the site, and then also pay a commission to them for every sale that comes through that site. So they don't usually have ALL of the carriers in a given region. As far as better/worse, I can't opine. I think WA's exchange site layout is much better than eHealth, OR's is prettier but not better functioning. I don't know about other states, these are the only two I have responsibility for.
 
Emily Cat said:
I'm guessing he's a bit older than the average bear. Or he lives in Missouri or Montana or whichever "M" state it was that had really high rates. I can't remember.
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Or he gets his coverage through his employer and his employer pays a fair chunk.
 
I just looked at mine. In Missouri, came out to $140 for Bronze.

Then I checked the subsidy calculator. Twenty dollars a month. Now how do I tell my employer to cancel their plan and just pay me the amount they were paying for it?
 
ehcks said:
I just looked at mine. In Missouri, came out to $140 for Bronze.

Then I checked the subsidy calculator. Twenty dollars a month. Now how do I tell my employer to cancel their plan and just pay me the amount they were paying for it?
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You can't, you must* take your employers coverage.

* in most cases.
 
Emily Cat said:
Just out of curiosity, did you maybe mix up a label? All of your HMOs are cheaper than your PPOs, not just the Bronze.
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Yeah, sorry. I wrote it before my 3rd cup of coffee. The last PPO and HMO are backwards, the PPO is the cheaper one, and that's what I found odd.
 
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