this past year, I have had zero opportunity to use my Affordable Health Care

[sportage]

This is going nowhere.
In some instances the state comes into play as well. And that means politics.
And remember, the average employer plan also has a high yearly deductible. Especially for any hospital stay.
The average kidney stone lithotripsy treatment (non-invasive shock wave to break the stone up) is usually not actually done in a hospital but still billed as if done in a hospital.
This out-patient procedure costs around $20,000 per treatment.
So... with ACA or employer based, your yearly out of pocket $3000 deductible is going to be eaten up in one medical swoop.
Until we have true universal healthcare, there is no "free" healthcare regardless of employer or ACA or even Trumpcare.
What we need is a vast new system under universal healthcare where congress tinkering is banned, politics is banned and disallowed, and the system ran entirely by a board of doctors and specialist not affiliated to any drug company nor special interest.
This system after creation to be totally separated and removed from the greedy hands of politics.
Kind of like social security was meant to be, however even with SS the politicians have figured out a way to "borrow" from the SS system, or better said steal from it.
Remember, Al Gore spoke of a "lock-box" system for SS. No access, no screwing around with. An SS lock-box only for the use of SS.
We need that same idea in an universal healthcare system.
Greed from the drug companies totally blocked. A system geared to results and not to ongoing cost.
No one need be reminded of the hundreds of TV commercials we see every day to drug-up the country.
A pill for this, a pill for that, a pill for everything.
If the drug companies were to be blocked from the money pool in healthcare, people might actually get cured from aliments instead of forever drugged-up until they die.

Thank god polio wasn't a disease of today.
We would have no cure but instead the drug companies would have developed some "polio control" via meds but no cure.
People with polio would be forced to drugs for the rest of their lives. Endless treatment, never a cure.
Isn't it a little strange that today we have drugs which can halt many cancers in their tracks, but yet never an actual cancer cure?
Drug companies only see the profit from forever and ongoing treatments. A "cure" has no profit for them.
The "cure" they never focus on in the lab, even if that cure is right in front of their face, instead they proceed to the treatment goal.
When a drug patent expires that drug becomes affordable or almost free, the drug company stops production of that drug, repackages it with a new name and new patent, and that same drug is back on the market under a new patent again sold at an outrageous cost guaranteed for years to come.
And after that new patent expires the process repeats. Endlessly.
We need an universal healthcare system that stops and ends this greed once and for all.
Up and down the line of healthcare and treatment, we need a system immune of politics and greed. A system blocked of any outside interference.
A system that simply treats, cures, then sends the patient on their happy healthy way.
Devising a universal healthcare system like this would actually allow people to be healthier and live longer because greed and profit would be removed from the equation.
But..... could they do it? Would they do it? Congress that is? Republicans? Democrats?
Well, they could and should, but first we'd need to find and elect politicians and presidents that have morals and were immune to the greed of lobbyist influence and lobbyist money.
LoL... good luck with THAT.

 

[Thebobo]

This is going nowhere.
In some instances the state comes into play as well. And that means politics.
And remember, the average employer plan also has a high yearly deductible. Especially for any hospital stay.
The average kidney stone lithotripsy treatment (non-invasive shock wave to break the stone up) is usually not actually done in a hospital but still billed as if done in a hospital.
This out-patient procedure costs around $20,000 per treatment.
So... with ACA or employer based, your yearly out of pocket $3000 deductible is going to be eaten up in one medical swoop.
Until we have true universal healthcare, there is no "free" healthcare regardless of employer or ACA or even Trumpcare.
What we need is a vast new system under universal healthcare where congress tinkering is banned, politics is banned and disallowed, and the system ran entirely by a board of doctors and specialist not affiliated to any drug company nor special interest.
This system after creation to be totally separated and removed from the greedy hands of politics.
Kind of like social security was meant to be, however even with SS the politicians have figured out a way to "borrow" from the SS system, or better said steal from it.
Remember, Al Gore spoke of a "lock-box" system for SS. No access, no screwing around with. An SS lock-box only for the use of SS.
We need that same idea in an universal healthcare system.
Greed from the drug companies totally blocked. A system geared to results and not to ongoing cost.
No one need be reminded of the hundreds of TV commercials we see every day to drug-up the country.
A pill for this, a pill for that, a pill for everything.
If the drug companies were to be blocked from the money pool in healthcare, people might actually get cured from aliments instead of forever drugged-up until they die.

Thank god polio wasn't a disease of today.
We would have no cure but instead the drug companies would have developed some "polio control" via meds but no cure.
People with polio would be forced to drugs for the rest of their lives. Endless treatment, never a cure.
Isn't it a little strange that today we have drugs which can halt many cancers in their tracks, but yet never an actual cancer cure?
Drug companies only see the profit from forever and ongoing treatments. A "cure" has no profit for them.
The "cure" they never focus on in the lab, even if that cure is right in front of their face, instead they proceed to the treatment goal.
When a drug patent expires, becomes affordable or almost free, the drug company stops production of that drug, repackages it with a new name and new patent, and that same drug is back on the market under a new patent again sold at an outrageous cost guaranteed for years to come.
And after that new patent expires the process repeats. Endlessly.
We need an universal healthcare system that stops and ends this greed once and for all.
Up and down the line of healthcare and treatment, we need a system immune of politics and greed. A system blocked of any outside interference.
A system that simply treats, cures, then sends the patient on their happy healthy way.
Devising a universal healthcare system like this would actually allow people to be healthier and live longer because greed and profit would be removed from the equation.
But..... could they do it? Would they do it? Congress that is? Republicans? Democrats?
Well, they could and should, but first we'd need to find and elect politicians and presidents that have morals and were immune to the greed of lobbyist influence and lobbyist money.
LoL... good luck with THAT.

I read that and my eyes hurt paragraphs please. But you did make some good points. I think we are making the slow journey to universal health care. Just not fast enough for me.

 

[momeNt]

Congratulations, you made the pool healthier and added some actuarial optimism for next years rate adjustment.

You stayed healthy and paid taxes. Would you rather have had cancer this year?

 

[soulcougher73]

Get rid of the profit motive from healthcare and watch the prices drop

 

[senseamp]

I paid $1k for car insurance this year and got nothing out of it. At least someone should have the decency to total my car to make it a better deal. Or the state should stop requiring me to carry insurance. Why should I carry something that I paid $1k for but which paid me nothing this year?

 

[hal2kilo]

3060 dollars per year for health insurance and you are complaining because you didn't get sick enough to hit the deductible? First world problems.

Hell, I've got good employer insurance but I had knee surgery with the total bill being just shy of 30000. I just paid a 1706 dollar co-pay, among many other incidentals. Not sure what he's beoching about.

 

[Thebobo]

I paid $1k for car insurance this year and got nothing out of it. At least someone should have the decency to total my car to make it a better deal. Or the state should stop requiring me to carry insurance. Why should I carry something that I paid $1k for but which paid me nothing this year?

you have full coverage? You can total both our cars if you want.

 

[Fern]

I paid $1k for car insurance this year and got nothing out of it. At least someone should have the decency to total my car to make it a better deal. Or the state should stop requiring me to carry insurance. Why should I carry something that I paid $1k for but which paid me nothing this year?

What's your deductible?

I'll bet it's a lot less than $8K or $10K

Fern

 

[Ken g6]

Are you sure you got nothing out of your insurance? I have a high deductible health plan, but I usually send health costs to the insurer anyway. Because they don't want me to reach my deductible, they often require doctors, labs, and pharmacies to charge me less than full price.

 

[senseamp]

What's your deductible?

I'll bet it's a lot less than $8K or $10K

Fern

I have a HDHP with HSA. The point of health insurance is to limit the downside and bargain as a group, not to prepay for care. So high deductibles make sense. And I bet you are far more careful and more likely to bargain over the out of pocket costs than if you had PPO with just a copay. My company offers both. It's actually cheaper to be on HSA after accounting for tax break and lower premiums, regardless of the spend, but we nickel and dime on HSA far more pre deductible. So if you want to reduce overall costs, in a private insurance model, high deductible is the way to go. Conservatives used to believe in this, but since Obamacare, they are now whining about deductibles.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I dont hate Barack. But his health plan did not help me at all. My monthly payments quadrupled. My insurance covered absolutely nothing.

It didnt work at most of my doctors. It worked at one place, except the insurance didnt cover the particular procedure I got. I only paid with cash or check this last year. The mandatory insurance was a complete money pit.

I dont hate Barack. Even though he ripped me off for 3060 dollars and put me at risk for going bankrupt if I had ever needed any real hospital care this last year.

Also, I am sure The Donald wont do shit to help me next year. In fact he spends too much time in Virginia and I'd like him to stop it. Somebody in Maryland please sell this guy a golf course. Please.

There is a reason liberals make these glass ceiling based systems that are entirely based on income thresholds and not based on actions....

The overall goal is to bring you down to those levels (regardless of how hard you want to work to NOT get there) - then they can bend you at your will because they are targeting you. Make more people that vote for you (through systems that YOUR political party literally makes) and you're effectively making a manufacturing plant for more base voters.

Think about it. Lower your income threshold so that you can get 90%+ of your healthcare plan covered. On top of that there were the subsidies to pay for the consumer costs (Co-Pays, deductibles) that Trump is trying to cancel. Add on food stamps, welfare, cell phone subsidy, Internet/TV subsidies.... Doesn't seem like such a shitty situation considering you will get to work less hours, but receive a huge line-up of things to "help" you.

 

[shortylickens]

Before signing up for your plan did you do any due diligence to determine if your doctors were covered by the plan you bought? That's a big problem with private health insurance, both before and after the ACA.

You've never looked at the healthcaregov website have you?
I went in and filled out all the info. I only qualified for about 3 things and they all sucked donkey ass.

 

[shortylickens]

That must be why it is more popular today than at any time since its inception?

Donald Trump is more popular than Hillary Clinton. That must make him a good person.

 

[OverVolt]

Same here buddy, now I got employer benefits, thank the nine!!!

 

[OverVolt]

You've never looked at the healthcaregov website have you?
I went in and filled out all the info. I only qualified for about 3 things and they all sucked donkey ass.

I made $16/hr back then with no benefits and I qualified for nothing. My rate doubled, deductibles more than doubled, coverage networked probably 1/8th the size, doctors half as good, coverage for what I needed was nonexistent.

But to be fair if I got super cancer I'm pretty sure I woulda been covered.

The thing is if you get super cancer and you make $16/hr you say screw it and go on medicare/medicaid. Its not like you're gonna be able to keep your no benefits fire at will crap job with cancer anyway.

 

[darkswordsman17]

But, shorty, I though you were done sharing your personal bitch stories? Evidently not.

Maybe it shouldn't be named the Affordable Care Act, when prices continue to skyrocket.
A solution was promised, one was not delivered. The fanfare as if it did, drove a lot of people angry.
A key difference is they'd be happy with the results of Medicare for all, even if they fight against its implement.

Plenty of the cause of the continued rising prices is due to Republicans intentionally sabotaging it in order to keep it from actually working as it was supposed to, which would have helped keep costs more in check. Instead of them grilling health care companies across the board on how to get costs under control, we get them doing horseshit hearings with people like Shkreli, where they don't change anything, but convince people they're doing something. They're not though. Democrats share in the blame there, but let's not even pretend that they're equally to blame for enabling this shit. Republicans literally made obstruction a tentpole after the ACA passed.

Sorry, but no one with any sense at all takes political promises at full value unless they're fucking idiots. Acting like people were duped is full on bullshit. Yes there was political grandstanding, but considering how many people hate "Obamacare" but like the components of the ACA, its less that people were lied to and more that Americans have a serious issue with being well informed.

And those people get angry about everything because they approach every situation with ignorance and then do nothing to change that and get mad because they were too stupid to actually learn shit to be able to make meaningful change. These are the same morons that thought Trump was some genius of business, "told it like it is" or "spoke his mind" yet are surprised that he continues to do exactly the same shit as President, and that he would change anything about politics or American society in a positive way.

Keep in mind, universal healthcare wouldn't keep people from needing to go to the hospital, which, not sure about you but I know very few people that are happy about health care because it by its nature involves things that tend to not be positive in your life. Universal health care doesn't just magically make everything better, we'd still be having issues with costs because even with universal healthcare we'd still be reliant on private companies for lots of the health care aspects and, sorry to be a broken record, but Republicans are openly refusing to do a damn thing about corporations screwing people other than sham congressional hearings, and that was before Trump and his corrupt cronies infiltrated and are literally trying to dismantle most of the federal regulatory bodies and organizations that provide oversight.

So, possibly those people would be happy, but that wasn't politically feasible at the time. The ACA was considered quite radical, just look at how conservatives spun it as socialism/communism/etc, and people believed their lies. I've seen tons of people who are very open to it now, but if you brought up that back then, they were completely against it (I knew people who straight up started saying shit about overthrowing the government because Obama and the Democrats are changing us into communists and blah blah blah). In fact, I know multiple people that voted Republican for Congress specifically because they bought into the lies that the ACA was universal healthcare. And then those same people voted for Trump because it wasn't universal health care and gave everyone health care "for free" because people choose to be idiots.

Ditto, Aetna for over 2 decades as well, deductibles have gone up and medical gear deductibles have gone way up.

Yep, things largely continue rising about like it was. Its almost like that's exactly what people said would happen with regards to what has occurred with the ACA.

Many were harmed; few were helped.

Obamacare is insurance in name only for many now. With a high deductible you really don't have insurance coverage until that number is reached. So yeah, you've got a card that says "insurance" on it, but unless you're really unlucky with major medical problems it's useless.

As for going bankrupt - Obamacare can reasonably be seen as a Catastrophic Health Insurance plan. Won't guarantee against bankruptcy from major medical, but will certainly help.

Fern

If by a few you mean millions. More accurate would be "tens (possibly even hundreds) of millions ended up roughly the same" (not entirely a positive as that's why it was created in the first place because health care had problems, but the ACA has not actually worked as it was supposed to mostly due to politics; which has kept problems, which everyone expected there would be things needing changed/addressed, from being addressed), some ended up with significant rate increases forcing them to change plans (no idea if they were on actual optimal plans, so people might have been paying for insurance that wasn't good and were lucky they didn't really need to use it), and millions now have insurance that did not before (some of which are probably on plans that don't work very well, so yes, for some they're paying for plans that really only cover them under catastrophic circumstances and probably some basic stuff like a yearly checkup and flue shots and some reduced medicine prices).

For many of those people that's no different from what they had before, so acting like Obamacare drastically changed things is stupid. Not to mention most people are not on Obamacare plans at all. Most insured people are on group plans through employers, or via school systems, or their parents plans (FYI, I know several people that were significantly helped by them extending how long people could be on their parents health plans, and that alone is a significant amount that otherwise would be without health insurance coverage), or medicaid or medicare.

There's no due diligence for many of us. We have only one choice of HI provider on the marketplace.

Fern

And a lot of that was due to the shit Republicans pulled (like refusing to rollout exchanges, intentionally refusing Federal funding that would have helped more of their own constituents get health care, etc).

What's Trump got to do with? He didn't vote for Obamacare.

Fern

Damnit, I forgot that you're a willfully pretend "obtuse". He's actively tried to sabotage it, along with Republicans in Congress that have been trying to sabotage it for years. Hell his bullshit about not paying the ones fees alone directly led insurance companies to up their rates (they straight up said that even, that it caused "uncertainty" and thus they were going to raise rates, which was the intention of doing that even though it was almost certainly going to be shot down and even the Congressional Republicans were against it because they knew it wouldn't actually hold up).

Acting like you can't figure out how Trump could cause increased rates...next up you'll ask how Trump could affect the economy. After all, he didn't vote for NAFTA, so how could him calling for it to be "fixed" or thrown out affect anything?

Get rid of the profit motive from healthcare and watch the prices drop

That's unAmerican!!! You commie bastard! /s

Are you sure you got nothing out of your insurance? I have a high deductible health plan, but I usually send health costs to the insurer anyway. Because they don't want me to reach my deductible, they often require doctors, labs, and pharmacies to charge me less than full price.

That'd be too much work for shorty. Plus it'd derail his argument. But just wait, I'm sure shorty will throw a little tantrum and cry about how he isn't going to share any more of his personal details because people just point out how shit his reasoning is.

There is a reason liberals make these glass ceiling based systems that are entirely based on income thresholds and not based on actions....

The overall goal is to bring you down to those levels (regardless of how hard you want to work to NOT get there) - then they can bend you at your will because they are targeting you. Make more people that vote for you (through systems that YOUR political party literally makes) and you're effectively making a manufacturing plant for more base voters.

Think about it. Lower your income threshold so that you can get 90%+ of your healthcare plan covered. On top of that there were the subsidies to pay for the consumer costs (Co-Pays, deductibles) that Trump is trying to cancel. Add on food stamps, welfare, cell phone subsidy, Internet/TV subsidies.... Doesn't seem like such a shitty situation considering you will get to work less hours, but receive a huge line-up of things to "help" you.

Spoken like someone that has no idea about actually qualifying for any of that. But hey, don't let that pop your bubble of willful ignorance.

You've never looked at the healthcaregov website have you?
I went in and filled out all the info. I only qualified for about 3 things and they all sucked donkey ass.

Lots of people didn't need to because they already have coverage elsewhere. You're in the minority. Seriously, the amount of people doing this are like 5% of the US population.

Are you sure you don't qualify for health care in some other manner? Hell, have you shopped insurance plans not using the exchange/marketplace site? Fairly sure you can still do that although not sure exactly with regards to the subsidies and whatnot. Have you tried contacting the military health care service? I have to believe they have some resources for helping you. Sounds like there's something preventing you from qualifying for subsidies.

Donald Trump is more popular than Hillary Clinton. That must make him a good person.

He is? He had less votes (literally he lost the popular vote), and uh, his popularity hasn't exactly increased since he took office. So either this is more of your complete shit logic, or the problem is you're being willfully stupid and then expecting us to put up with your bitching and moaning.

 

[ch33zw1z]

anyone ready for healthcare for all? or we just continue shoveling money into the Insurance corp's pile while we scrape by. some of us...literally.

 

[brycejones]

anyone ready for healthcare for all? or we just continue shoveling money into the Insurance corp's pile while we scrape by. some of us...literally.

Nope not everyone wants healthcare according to the GOP.

As for the OP did you not even get an annual physical? That is required to be covered by your ACA plan.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Peeps just gona pray it all away

the ACA did help many, theres people alive today because of it.

When the XO comes down to cut the CSR's, should be fun.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Don't know if it is a coincidence, but once the ACA was law my options went from four to one, and the one is a pretty middle of the road HSA with a much higher out of pocket. I'm not sure the ACA caused these issues for me, but it certainly doesn't seem to have helped me in any way, nor has it achieved its goals. Healthcare was a mess before in America, I'd say that's as true to more true today. Until costs are reigned in, I'm not sure if government or privatized matter, its a losing battle in either case.

 

[pauldun170]

Prior to ACA, I had a some family down in Atlanta that had 0 insurance because they couldn't afford it.
When ACA came along they were finally able to afford insurance. They loved it at first.
As time went on, Insurance companies did what insurance companies have done for ages and started jacking up rates.
Fortunately, they finally reached age where they qualifies for medicare and they were able to flip the bird to the insurance companies.

 

[shortylickens]

Nope not everyone wants healthcare according to the GOP.

As for the OP did you not even get an annual physical? That is required to be covered by your ACA plan.

Yeah but so what? All that does is tell me what I already know. I have kidney stones and diabetes and thats probably why I cant get reasonable insurance.

 

[Jaskalas]

Sorry, but no one with any sense at all takes political promises at full value unless they're fucking idiots. Acting like people were duped is full on bullshit.

No, it's about being aligned with what voters want, promising the very same, but then delivering the Republican / insurance company boondoggle instead. People wanted affordable care, they did not get it. Sweep the rug out from under Americans and Democrats have been getting kicked in the teeth since 2010. The lie crushed the party. It contributes to Republican agitprop on the subject.

As for Republicans not supporting the ACA, anything that requires their annual affirmation and support is destined to fail. Which brings us back to what more than a few people say about it as a stepping stone to single payer. Of course that was made a lot more difficult after losing the will of the people. Good thing for us, maybe, that backlash against Trump will send the people back our way. One wonders if even he is enough to overcome the political disaster that was pulled in 2010.

 

[senseamp]

Yeah but so what? All that does is tell me what I already know. I have kidney stones and diabetes and thats probably why I cant get reasonable insurance.

Get on your knees and pray for Obamacare, every night, before bed.

 

[pauldun170]

You've never looked at the healthcaregov website have you?
I went in and filled out all the info. I only qualified for about 3 things and they all sucked donkey ass.

What state do you live in?
https://www.healthinsurance.org/state-health-insurance-exchanges/