Vegas Free-for-All - did you say "affordable health care"?

pjstroh

Nov 16, 2014
8:14am

Quote

Originally posted by: malibber2

The premiums may be going down but as I looked through the plans today it seems like the befits have gone down too. For example where there used to be a flat charge for a doctor's visit like$25 now it says $35 + 10% co-insurance and the 10% stays there even if you have satisfied your deductible for the year.

Prescription drug co-pays seem to have gone way up too. I am seeing a $35 per-prescription +10% on a lot of plans. I take 5 regular prescriptions so that is like an extra $210-$300 a month month in and month out in addition to the premium. Sorry PJ it looks like Obama has been doing some creative math to make the numbers look better. It would be interesting to see what the plans would cost with the same benefits as last year, but since all the plans have appeared to cut back on last year's meager benefits any comparison of costs isn't accurate.

I have no doubt what you say is true. You live in rural Indiana and the law does not benefit areas like yours where competition is lacking. But you are playing the same game as Boilerman where you try to make a broad point based upon one story. And that's just not a thoughtful way to present any point on a collective level, is it? Less than 1% of the country lives in your locale.

Here's a nice piece that explains why prices vary greatly by geography.

I agree more should be done to make pricing more fair and uniform. Its not an easy problem to solve...and if you think single payer solves this problem I would ask you to compare a hospital in rural Canada to one in Toronto. (hint: Rural citizens get the shaft there too).

I've never said Obamacare is great...I've only sdaid its better than pre-Obamacare which allowed insurance companies to discriminate against sick customers and would-be customers. And I will gladly debate that with anyone.

Don

Nov 16, 2014
8:28am

Block User

On the other hand The Obama does seem to have conquered Global Warming:
"Highs temperatures from Washington, D.C., through New York City are forecast to stay near or below freezing on Tuesday, levels that would be considered below normal even during the heart of winter.
This arctic outbreak will not only be limited to the northern Plains, Midwest and Northeast, but will reach across into the Deep South.
Record lows will be challenged on multiple occasions through midweek from eastern Texas to the Carolinas with lows near freezing along much of the Gulf Coast.
Parts of northern Florida may even have their first freeze of the season as lows dip down into the 20s in cities such as Jacksonville and Tallahassee."
Ref: Harsh Cold to Freeze Northeast, Set Records in South

CowboyKell

Nov 16, 2014
8:29am

Block User

Well the real question here is, as a nation, are we better off with or without the ACA?
PJ seems to think we are better off with it.
I really don't know. I have never had health insurance and am exempt (Like most Congressmen).

I tend to blame the insurance companies as the root problem. But I think its to late now to change that.

Boilerman

Nov 16, 2014
8:49am

Block User

Wow, this data is far far different from PJ's posted cost savings. I'm still waiting for my $2500 family savings. Since PJ's link only listed a sliver of the picture, it was obvious to me that there is more Obamacare lies and twisting of the truth going on.

PJ, when will I get my $2500? When that happens, I'll know that Obama and friends are honest. Until then, he's a liar.

Quote

Originally posted by: DonDiego
From Price Waterhouse Cooper

rdwoodpecker

Nov 16, 2014
8:55am

Block User

Quote

Originally posted by: pjstroh
The policy you have at work has virtually nothing to do with Obamacare and it is influenced by the same set of variables that existed before Obamacare...
The ACA effects your employer paid plan by
1) Requiring a minimum set of coverages
2) requiring your insurance premiums be capped within a defined insurance company overhead

If your state did not expand Medicaid with the ACA then your insurance premiums will also include the trickle-down expenses of uninsured emergency care in your state (just like before the ACA). This is a massive cost savings to states that expanded Medicaid and a massive expense to the ones that did not. Which type of state are you in?

In any event, it is correct to say Obamacare did not solve all of the cost problems in our healthcare system. You can make an argument that a different kind of healthcare system would manage costs better. If your argument claims that pre-Obamacare was better at cost savings then you are simply wrong.

your graph does show my state of Nebraska as being somewhere in the plus 10% increase to 20%. I am on my wife's policy (she works at the hospital) and they switched from BCBS to Co-oprtunity. What I am seeing and experiencing is higher deductibles, higher scrip' costs and higher out of pocket. Don't see where they can call it "affordable"

rdwoodpecker

Nov 16, 2014
9:01am

Block User

A question to ponder.

It is supposedly against the law NOT TO HAVE health care. So, why do hospitals still see those who DO NOT HAVE it? Why can't they refuse to see someone who has no way of ever paying for the visit anyway. They should just be able to "refuse service" as these folks are "breaking the law".

drmilled

Nov 16, 2014
9:03am

Block User

Just how many times does it take seeing evidence that proves Obeymecare is more expensive than that liar in the white House stated? That is indisputable. Say what ever you want P.J., you are wrong. And that is also indisputable.

MIKEY7777

Nov 16, 2014
12:18pm

Block User

I decided to stay with the same premium paid in, now my deductible is $12,700 up from $4800. So I guess you could say my policy did not go up at all. But I love taking the extra $7900 in the ass. In fact all you dumb asses need to go on the marketplace before you talk through your ass!

Don

Nov 16, 2014
9:30pm

Block User

"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."
__Abraham Lincoln

It appears 37% of the people are still fooled, or perhaps just on the receiving end of The Obamacare Wealth Transfer Law, . . . but it is decreasing.

hoops2

Nov 16, 2014
10:19pm

Block User

If premiums didn't go up you can be assured that that the deductable went up or the copays, or both.

Interesting that nobody here has come forward to say that their health costs have come down.

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