We have a state site to use, so we don't have to use that big government site that's having all the problems. Is there a state site in Alabama? I've never been without healthcare, and I'm just trying to set something up by mid-December to be sure the new plan is in effect on New Years Day.
Are You Ready for Obama Care?
- Thread starter SeaBreeze
- Start date
That Guy
Homegrown Unknown
- Location
- Monterey Bay
Would have to do some research to actually get the story straight. But, I believe companies began offering insurance coverage as a benefit through good group rates and to attract employees.
Katybug
Senior Member
- Location
- Charlotte, NC
When you say you're disabled, I'm amazed that you are a Republican. I became a very proactive Democrat because of my cerebral palsied daughter. When they have been allowed, the Democrats have always been FAR more $$ considerate of her plight than Republicans, which is absolutely zero to nothing that I know of. I'm stating the facts as I've known them to be since she became an adult.
She married a Republican and I told him at the wedding jokingly....let's see how long you remain such a strong Republican. Took him about 3 years to see what I already knew, and now he's a stronger Democrat than I am -- and that's pretty damned strong.
There is not nearly enough compensation, I know, but I also know for fact which party has been far more generous to the disabled. I don't wish to debate, just wanted to comment. This is my last post on the matter.
rkunsaw
Well-known Member
- Location
- Clarksville, Arkansas,USA
That Guy
Homegrown Unknown
- Location
- Monterey Bay
Ready . . .
Well, I'm glad we had the ConnectforHealthColorado site, because that made it much easier for those in my state to enroll in a health plan. It's too bad that politics played a part in which states would have their own website, even powers that be who opposed to Obamacare should have had some consideration for the citizens who needed the service.
Anyway, I was not happy about having to first apply for Medicaid just to be rejected, because my income was not in that category...but that's how they're playing this game.
Good thing was, as soon as I filled out the application online and submitted it, I instantly got my rejection code number, which I needed to enroll in a plan.With the tax credits, the cost is much more affordable for us, as we really hardly every even go to see a doctor, not even those annual check-ups, etc. So, the new Affordable Care Act, although it caused me to have my Kaiser plan expire at the end of the year, did what I hoped, and saved me and my husband some money.
The costs of our healthcare went up each and every year, and the increases were unwarranted and out of control. They should really put a cap on what those hospitals, doctors and health care providers charge patients to begin with, IMO. Now we wait for something in the mail about the plan, and arrangement of the first payment. I can breathe easier now, because I should easily meet my December 15th enrollment, to have coverage on Jan. 1st.
I never have, and never intend to be without healthcare coverage. I'm of the mindset that if I need some serious life saving surgeries, or get into a terrible auto accident, I (or my husband) won't have to go broke paying over-inflated hospital bills.
Old Hipster
Senior Member
- Location
- Undisclosed
Boy this is sounding bad. What a pain in the arse and I agree I'd be absolutely terrified to be without medical insurance.
Washington State has an insurance site set up and running, well last time I checked anyway, for individual health insurance.
I think I'll just keep working, maybe longer than I figured, because we have good coverage and it's not going anywhere. The Mister has Medicare starting Dec 1st and his Medigap plan as well.
We had an investment counselor/retirement guy come to work recently, he said if you get really sick and have huge medical bills, and no insurance, the Uberment will take over, they can't take your house he said, and they will leave you $3,000 and 1 car.
Washington State has an insurance site set up and running, well last time I checked anyway, for individual health insurance.
I think I'll just keep working, maybe longer than I figured, because we have good coverage and it's not going anywhere. The Mister has Medicare starting Dec 1st and his Medigap plan as well.
We had an investment counselor/retirement guy come to work recently, he said if you get really sick and have huge medical bills, and no insurance, the Uberment will take over, they can't take your house he said, and they will leave you $3,000 and 1 car.
I heard on the radio just now, that President Obama will be announcing that health services can extend their plans for one more year, even if they don't qualify for the ACA. This is an attempt to save some people from having their coverage cancelled, and also having issues enrolling on the government site. I didn't bust my hump all these years and saving to be able to retire before I'm dead, to be left with $3,000 and a car...know how long $3,000 lasts nowadays. I had good coverage through all my working years, a good Kaiser plan for free or little cost, union job, Teamsters.
I had good coverage through all my working years, a good Kaiser plan for free or little cost, union job, Teamsters.
Old Hipster
Senior Member
- Location
- Undisclosed
That's my plan, to retire before I die. I've been busting my hump since I was a teenager and man I am getting tired!I heard on the radio just now, that President Obama will be announcing that health services can extend their plans for one more year, even if they don't qualify for the ACA. This is an attempt to save some people from having their coverage cancelled, and also having issues enrolling on the government site. I didn't bust my hump all these years and saving to be able to retire before I'm dead, to be left with $3,000 and a car...know how long $3,000 lasts nowadays.
My dad died when he was 50 and I was a teenager, and I still remember him talking about retirement and saying he hoped he would live that long. Sadly he didn't. He was a Teamster and they were good to him.
I know of a couple of people who waited past the point where they could have retired, maybe late 60s...then heard that shortly after they had a severe medical illness that kept them from doing anything, or they died. So sad. Hubby and I vowed when we were younger to retire while we could still go camping, boating, etc...we never were into a lot of toys, fancy clothes or jewelry, etc...so it's working out fine. Forever in blue jeans, and happy as a clam.
My condolences for the loss of your Dad, that's way too young to move on. :sentimental:
Hubby and I vowed when we were younger to retire while we could still go camping, boating, etc...we never were into a lot of toys, fancy clothes or jewelry, etc...so it's working out fine. Forever in blue jeans, and happy as a clam. My condolences for the loss of your Dad, that's way too young to move on. :sentimental:
Old Hipster
Senior Member
- Location
- Undisclosed
Thank you. I still miss him.I know of a couple of people who waited past the point where they could have retired, maybe late 60s...then heard that shortly after they had a severe medical illness that kept them from doing anything, or they died. So sad.
My condolences for the loss of your Dad, that's way too young to move on. :sentimental:
You and your husband sound just like us. We never wanted a fancy house or cars, or lots of "stuff" but we live to be able to go camping and just bum around.
That Guy
Homegrown Unknown
- Location
- Monterey Bay
Reminds me of a visit to my best friend up north. We were hanging out; him lying on the couch and me lounging in an overstuffed chair when he calmly proclaimed, "I love doin' nothin'."
Ozarkgal
Senior Member
- Location
- Deep in the Ozark woods
Well, folks on Medicare, get ready because in order to help fund Obamacare, they are cutting services or making them harder to get and raising fees. If you've read your annual Medicare booklet and compared it to last year you will see how out of pocket fees have dramatically increased.
Our ophthalmologist told Mr.O that if he planned to have the cataract surgery on his other eye he needs to do it before the end of December, because in January when all this kicks in the rules are changing to if you have one good eye, you will be considered good to go and Medicare will not pay for two cataract surgeries.
My gynecologist and I were discussing joint replacements, he has a hip replacement. He told me that under the new guidelines that if a patient is overweight, they will not be getting a hip or knee replacement until they lose weight. I doubt if the geniuses that thought that rule up have ever been faced with a joint replacement. Once you get to the point where replacement is imminent the pain is usually so debilitating you can barely walk, let alone exercise to loose weight, and in the meantime your body is loosing muscle mass because you can't move, making the surgery even more risky.
I have been on the federal pre-existing condition insurance plan since it came into effect in 2010. The federal government gave the states the choice to administer the insurance themselves or let the feds do it. Arkansas was one of the states that chose to run the plan themselves, administered by Blue Cross. This was a pre-cursor to Obamacare being fully implemented. The program will cease to exist on December 31st when Obamacare kicks in, and pre-existing conditions will no longer be an option for insurance companies. I will have to go on the exchange and choose another plan.
The pre-existing condition insurance program came at a fortunate time for me since hubby retired in 2010, and I lost my insurance under his policy. He was eligible for Medicare, but I was up a creek, as no insurance company would touch me with my pre-existing conditions, and except for my back, they were not anything chronic or debilitating. The premiums are steep and we struggle to pay them, in addition to the deductibles and maximum out of pocket expenses.
Then in June, the ball dropped, and I received a letter saying that Arkansas was turning the program back over to the federal government due to lack of funds to continue running the program. The letter also stated I would have to pay $3250 in further deductibles, on top of the maximum out of pocket expenses of $3000 I had already satisfied for the year. The premiums would be slightly less, but I would now have co-pays for office visits and my co-insurance would go from paying 20 per cent to 30.
So half way through the year with my maximum out of pocket satisfied, I was now starting all over for the remainder of the year. I view this as insurance fraud, but when you're at their mercy, what are you to do. I toyed with the idea of telling them to stuff it until I ended up in the hospital shortly thereafter. Payback, I suppose for my negative attitude.
Oh and one other great item in the bill is that all your medical records will be linked and available to the Department of Homeland Security. I don't know if you've been to the doctor lately but the doctor is so busy entering your information on the computer he barely can talk to you. I commented on this to my doctor, and he said it was mandatory that all information about the visit be entered in the government record.
Pardon me if I have a very negative view of Obamacare being the answer to the country's medical "crisis". They are continually back peddling, denying and trying to fix things, lying and disrupting lives on a daily basis. All the problems should have been thought out before we had to pass the bill to see what was in it.
I guess we are now finding out bit by ugly bit what is in it. What may have been a crisis, has just turned into a major clusterkerfuffle, and we haven't seen anything yet!
Our ophthalmologist told Mr.O that if he planned to have the cataract surgery on his other eye he needs to do it before the end of December, because in January when all this kicks in the rules are changing to if you have one good eye, you will be considered good to go and Medicare will not pay for two cataract surgeries.
My gynecologist and I were discussing joint replacements, he has a hip replacement. He told me that under the new guidelines that if a patient is overweight, they will not be getting a hip or knee replacement until they lose weight. I doubt if the geniuses that thought that rule up have ever been faced with a joint replacement. Once you get to the point where replacement is imminent the pain is usually so debilitating you can barely walk, let alone exercise to loose weight, and in the meantime your body is loosing muscle mass because you can't move, making the surgery even more risky.
I have been on the federal pre-existing condition insurance plan since it came into effect in 2010. The federal government gave the states the choice to administer the insurance themselves or let the feds do it. Arkansas was one of the states that chose to run the plan themselves, administered by Blue Cross. This was a pre-cursor to Obamacare being fully implemented. The program will cease to exist on December 31st when Obamacare kicks in, and pre-existing conditions will no longer be an option for insurance companies. I will have to go on the exchange and choose another plan.
The pre-existing condition insurance program came at a fortunate time for me since hubby retired in 2010, and I lost my insurance under his policy. He was eligible for Medicare, but I was up a creek, as no insurance company would touch me with my pre-existing conditions, and except for my back, they were not anything chronic or debilitating. The premiums are steep and we struggle to pay them, in addition to the deductibles and maximum out of pocket expenses.
Then in June, the ball dropped, and I received a letter saying that Arkansas was turning the program back over to the federal government due to lack of funds to continue running the program. The letter also stated I would have to pay $3250 in further deductibles, on top of the maximum out of pocket expenses of $3000 I had already satisfied for the year. The premiums would be slightly less, but I would now have co-pays for office visits and my co-insurance would go from paying 20 per cent to 30.
So half way through the year with my maximum out of pocket satisfied, I was now starting all over for the remainder of the year. I view this as insurance fraud, but when you're at their mercy, what are you to do. I toyed with the idea of telling them to stuff it until I ended up in the hospital shortly thereafter. Payback, I suppose for my negative attitude.
Oh and one other great item in the bill is that all your medical records will be linked and available to the Department of Homeland Security. I don't know if you've been to the doctor lately but the doctor is so busy entering your information on the computer he barely can talk to you. I commented on this to my doctor, and he said it was mandatory that all information about the visit be entered in the government record.
Pardon me if I have a very negative view of Obamacare being the answer to the country's medical "crisis". They are continually back peddling, denying and trying to fix things, lying and disrupting lives on a daily basis. All the problems should have been thought out before we had to pass the bill to see what was in it.
I guess we are now finding out bit by ugly bit what is in it. What may have been a crisis, has just turned into a major clusterkerfuffle, and we haven't seen anything yet!
Jackie22
Well-known Member
- Location
- Northeast Texas
Right wing cyber attacks on Healthcare.gov website confirmed
November 14, 2013
Yesterday, the House Homeland Security Committee published a video on their Youtube page highlighting a portion of the committee questioning Roberta Stempfley, acting assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Cyber-security and Communications, who confirmed at least 16 attacks on theAffordable Care Act’s portal Healthcare.gov website in 2013.
http://www.examiner.com/article/right-wing-cyber-attacks-on-healthcare-gov-website-confirmed
November 14, 2013
Yesterday, the House Homeland Security Committee published a video on their Youtube page highlighting a portion of the committee questioning Roberta Stempfley, acting assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Cyber-security and Communications, who confirmed at least 16 attacks on theAffordable Care Act’s portal Healthcare.gov website in 2013.
http://www.examiner.com/article/right-wing-cyber-attacks-on-healthcare-gov-website-confirmed
Ozarkgal
Senior Member
- Location
- Deep in the Ozark woods
I was wondering if anyone else on this forum is in a position to have to sign up for Obamacare due to having no employer health insurance and being between retiring and the age to receive Medicare, or having no other insurance available to you.
If so, what are your plans for signing up and experiences with it if any?
If so, what are your plans for signing up and experiences with it if any?
Last edited:
That's me, already enrolled in another Kaiser plan, as mine will be discontinued on Dec. 31st...just waiting for the final papers and payment plan in the mail. Went through the Colorado website, so it was less of a hassle as what people are dealing with on the government site.
Ozarkgal
Senior Member
- Location
- Deep in the Ozark woods
SeaBreeze, you're fortunate that Colorado has it's own exchanges set up. Here in AR we have to go through the federal website. I am scared witless of putting my personal information on their website as it is reportedly very unsecure. I know I have to get this done, but am taking a stubborn streak right now. Hopefully in a couple of weeks they will have things sorted out.
I cannot even for one New York minute think I am going to get by without insurance, as I almost learned the hard way. Murphy's law was based on my life.
When the insurance disaster I described above happened in July, I got stubborn and said I wasn't doing it. Two days later out of the blue, I ended up in the hospital as a lesson. Luckily, I was still on their computer as enrolled so I was covered. Whew...that was a blindsided bullet I almost took.
I cannot even for one New York minute think I am going to get by without insurance, as I almost learned the hard way. Murphy's law was based on my life.
When the insurance disaster I described above happened in July, I got stubborn and said I wasn't doing it. Two days later out of the blue, I ended up in the hospital as a lesson. Luckily, I was still on their computer as enrolled so I was covered. Whew...that was a blindsided bullet I almost took.
Yeah, numbers are not my friends, and it's been hard going through all this insurance stuff again. I am very fortunate, several hours and all was complete...now waiting for the final papers to close the deal completely. I've never been without insurance, right now since retirement, I have no dental insurance. Been paying that out of pocket, luckily it's been just a couple of fillings and cleanings/x-rays, etc. Don't know much about the Medicare side of it, but will soon enough, when hubby has to apply.
Ozarkgal
Senior Member
- Location
- Deep in the Ozark woods
That Guy
Homegrown Unknown
- Location
- Monterey Bay
Not in that situation at this given moment and don't know what the heck I would do. Have group insurance through my employer and the VA.
This debacle sure pisses me off, though. I just can't believe we're being subjected to such insanity.
This debacle sure pisses me off, though. I just can't believe we're being subjected to such insanity.
It's not that insane, IMO. Our Health Insurance system in the US is broken, someone had to get off their duff and make an attempt to fix it. My cost for insurance was going up higher in increasing and obscene amounts on a yearly basis. That's not fair that they leach all my lifetime hard earned savings for retirement, just to line their own pockets. I don't love Obama, but I have to give him credit for making a move. What he failed on, and should be ashamed of was, that crappy website that people have to deal with. Obamacare is law, and if the state leaders gave a crap about the people living in their states, they would have approved individual state sites to make it easy for the residents to enroll...but no, they had to throw their hissy fits because they didn't get their way, and as usual, the people suffer.
Easy for the others to play Monday morning quarterback and slam everything about Obamacare, but they brought no solutions themselves to the table. Also, those who are so much against Obamacare (or Obama), need to keep in mind that thanks to the Affordable Care Act, health care providers can no longer just drop someone's policy for no reason, they can no longer deny somebody coverage because they have a pre-existing condition, and now there is no annual or life-time limits on the coverage as before, etc. For someone with a serious medical condition, that means a lot.
The whole point of this Obamacare was to make affordable health insurance available to everyone in the US. People cry that we are paying for those who get tax credits in the new plan, but we paid for all of those people who had no insurance at all anyway, whenever they showed up in the emergency room, at the doctors or the hospitals. In my opinion, we should just go to the Universal Health Care System that all the other civilized countries have, and are quite happy with. When the anti-Obamacare (Obama) folks cite some example of someone in Canada waiting months for an operation, they are just jumping on examples and exaggerating them to try to make their case. We have relatives in Finland that are very pleased with the system, and know some folks from Canada that have absolutely no complaints.
I'm not very political at all, but I'm a registered independent, and will vote for the lesser of the two evils running for president. I won't throw out my vote on a third party candidate. Honestly, both the republicans and democrats disgust me. Both parties have let this great nation swirl its way down the toilet, instead of using their power and money to make it flourish. They fight amongst each other like a bunch of spoiled brats, and neither party is doing what they're supposed to do, which is serve the American citizens and give a damn about the citizens that live here.
Barack Obama is president, the Affordable Care Act is law, people need to just accept that, get over it, and move on.
Easy for the others to play Monday morning quarterback and slam everything about Obamacare, but they brought no solutions themselves to the table. Also, those who are so much against Obamacare (or Obama), need to keep in mind that thanks to the Affordable Care Act, health care providers can no longer just drop someone's policy for no reason, they can no longer deny somebody coverage because they have a pre-existing condition, and now there is no annual or life-time limits on the coverage as before, etc. For someone with a serious medical condition, that means a lot.
The whole point of this Obamacare was to make affordable health insurance available to everyone in the US. People cry that we are paying for those who get tax credits in the new plan, but we paid for all of those people who had no insurance at all anyway, whenever they showed up in the emergency room, at the doctors or the hospitals. In my opinion, we should just go to the Universal Health Care System that all the other civilized countries have, and are quite happy with. When the anti-Obamacare (Obama) folks cite some example of someone in Canada waiting months for an operation, they are just jumping on examples and exaggerating them to try to make their case. We have relatives in Finland that are very pleased with the system, and know some folks from Canada that have absolutely no complaints.
I'm not very political at all, but I'm a registered independent, and will vote for the lesser of the two evils running for president. I won't throw out my vote on a third party candidate. Honestly, both the republicans and democrats disgust me. Both parties have let this great nation swirl its way down the toilet, instead of using their power and money to make it flourish. They fight amongst each other like a bunch of spoiled brats, and neither party is doing what they're supposed to do, which is serve the American citizens and give a damn about the citizens that live here.
Barack Obama is president, the Affordable Care Act is law, people need to just accept that, get over it, and move on.
Not sure if this has been posted yet. DH got a call from the ins. co, last week, and they set up an appt. for a home visit. I asked why, and he said they just 'want to check'....they take your blood pressure, and talk to you. This kind of stuff never sits well with me, and I said we can take our own blood pressure; we both see a Dr when needed, and what is the real purpose of a visit; this has never been necessary before.
Then, I found this article.
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/58176
I'm sure they'll now be checking on anyone that smokes, drinks, whatever..... Do you keep you house clean enough?? Can you handle your own laundry, and other work?? They even asked if we had a pet. Looks like anyone who has been in the military may possibly be subject to a home visit, also.
ETA: Seabreeze, our third-party votes will only be wasted as long as they convince us they are; if we don't do something to change our leadership, we're gonna keep sinking, no matter who gets in. I agree that both parties are useless to us as it stands now.
Then, I found this article.
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/58176
I'm sure they'll now be checking on anyone that smokes, drinks, whatever..... Do you keep you house clean enough?? Can you handle your own laundry, and other work?? They even asked if we had a pet. Looks like anyone who has been in the military may possibly be subject to a home visit, also.
ETA: Seabreeze, our third-party votes will only be wasted as long as they convince us they are; if we don't do something to change our leadership, we're gonna keep sinking, no matter who gets in. I agree that both parties are useless to us as it stands now.
SifuPhil
R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
- Location
- Pennsylvania, USA
If you pay the piper you have to dance to his tune.
Thank goodness I always stiffed the little sucker.
Thank goodness I always stiffed the little sucker.
True, tho we are not on any assistance; altho some consider SS and medicare as assistance. I can imagine that in the future, ins. co.'s will be able to do this for anyone with health problems, etc. The 'new' healthcare plan will surely include just about anyone.
SifuPhil
R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
- Location
- Pennsylvania, USA
Well, I consider SS to be merely getting back a portion of what you put into the system. Medicare is different.