2014***ObamaCare***2014

Now to be fair didn't you say your own group plan was just like an Obamacare policy?

A tear has arisen in DonDigo's eye.

Oh, wait. Never mind. The ragweeds are a'bloomin' somethin' fierce. Now DonDiego's nose is a drippin' onto his moustache.

Yes! Cigna silver. Almost everyone in my company has Cigna bronze, silver, or gold. I live in the city and my network is huge. The only noticeable difference I've seen in my employer plan from the previous system is that my annual checkup is now free.

The individual market in the previous system was flooded with snake oil. Many insurance plans were nothing more than coupon books for the hospital....and no matter how awesome your plan might have been your insurance company had the right give you the boot at the end of your annual contract in the event you got really sick.

So maybe you can argue companies get better insurance than individuals. The CBO says its likely a temporary problem. The 2 biggest problems with the individual market have been remedied by Obamacare. Just ask any of the million people that were rescinded from their insurance in the previous system.

What I'd suggest is while your group plan may be modeled on exchange plans in terms of co-pays and deductibles your provider network is in actuality much more expansive than an individual ACA policy. Indeed Cigna doesn't even sell individual polices on the Indiana exchange.

I'd also suggest the ACA individual market plans are snake oil because of the high out of pocket costs and the fact that there don't appear to be very many specialists in their networks. In other words if you get something that requires you to see a specialist there is a good chance your going to find in actuality you have no coverage because there are no specialists that will see you. And if you don't need a specialist most of your treatment probably isn't paid for because you haven't met your deductible. Other than the shiny bauble of three free GP visits not much else is covered.

But it is good the CBO thinks it is a temporary problem. I mean come on it is not like anybody is sitting around going blind waiting for a market correction that may or may not happen someday down the road.

Obamacare can be altered to require less out of pocket expenses but that would make the law cost more. (More taxes) I'd be for it - certainly in the context of lowering costs for low-income people if nothing else.

You (malibber) keep pointing out how the new law still falls short. You're right. It does. Its far from perfect. Your experience shows that to be true. What you seem to have a hard time admitting is that your new experience with healthcare (while still shitty) is far improved from what came before. Your high out-of-pocket insurance is better than no insurance isn't it? The fact that you have been able to get care outside of an emergency room is an improvement over emergency-only care isn't it? Cause thats where you'd be right now if John McCain won in 2008.

I know you advocate a single payer system where healthcare is a public service and not a privilege for those who can afford it. I'm with you. But open your eyes to the demographics of this country. Not even all Democrats are on that page as evidenced by recent history. There's still a ton of work to be done on healthcare. Ending discrimination against the sick was a massive step forward. So was expanding Medicaid to millions of uninsured people. I'm sorry you cant bring yourself to recognize that.

! ! ! MORE GREAT NEWS FOR OBAMACARE ! ! !

"The Census Bureau, the authoritative source of health insurance data for more than three decades, is changing its annual survey so thoroughly that it will be difficult to measure the effects of President Obama’s health care law in the next report, due this fall, census officials said."

"An internal Census Bureau document said that the new questionnaire included a 'total revision to health insurance questions' and, in a test last year, produced lower estimates of the uninsured. Thus, officials said, it will be difficult to say how much of any change is attributable to the Affordable Care Act and how much to the use of a new survey instrument."

“ 'We are expecting much lower numbers [of the uninsured] just because of the questions and how they are asked,' said Brett J. O’Hara, chief of the health statistics branch at the Census Bureau."
"In the test last year, the percentage of people without health insurance was 10.6 percent when interviewers used the new questionnaire, compared with 12.5 percent using the old version. "

[boldface added - DD]

Ref: The New York Times

The question of the law's impact on the uninsured population has already been answered. You can read DonDiego's link on the last page to get the answer. It contradicts DonDiego's prediction from this past fall.

Going forward, the biggest way to measure increased access to health insurance will be by counting the states that expand Medicaid. Here's my prediction: By the next Census you will be able to count states without Medicaid expansion on one hand.

* * * AND STILL MORE GOOD NEWS FOR OBAMACARE * * *

More insurance companies are poised to participate in the exchanges next year. Many sat out the first year to see how the law played out. Apparently they like what they are seeing. More free market competition (oops, I mean communism) is on the way.

More Insurance Competition lined up for 2015

The Census Bureau's change isn't really that big a deal. Each year's survey asks questions about the prior year's health insurance.

So the new questions that the Census is using this year will be about coverage in 2013, before people began using the exchanges.

And they'll use the same questions next year, after people have been using the exchanges.

What's being missed here is that the Obama administration will use the new survey questions to collect data for 2013, the year prior to Obamacare's health insurance expansion, a senior administration official says. The Census Bureau reports the health insurance rate with a one-year delay; in September 2013, for example, the agency reported the percent of Americans without coverage in 2012. It will most likely report the uninsured rate for 2013 sometime this coming fall. In other words: The survey will make it difficult to compare the uninsured rate for 2012, the last year for the old questions, and 2013, the first year for the new questions. But making the change now means that 2013 and 2014 -- the year before and after Obamacare's big programs started -- are using the same question set.

Sarah Kliff

Obama and friends tell us that unemployment levels are plumetting, but that's just a bull shit spin. I know, because I talk with thousands of folks at hundreds of companies each year. The rest of you who have your pulse on business also know the truth.

Now Obama and friends want to tell us that Obamacare is going to be great. There is no definitive proof at this point, but history tells us that it'll be a mess. Every major government project always is more expensive than promised, always is mismanaged, and always grows far beyond the early plans. That's what history teaches those who liste.