US Thanks, Obamacare

[ledboots]

I couldn't agree with your post more. I work in a nursing home and I often think: "the only reason I'm doing this is to protect the facility and company" I was going to write more but I figure I'd better keep my mouth shut.

Yes I understand. I didn't mean to start talking about it, and I sure don't want to legislate away the people's right to sue.

 

[Kitties]

Yup blues they will take the care but they don't want it in the U.S.. I've even heard people talk about friends and relatives who have national health and like it. But if you ask them if they want it here, they say NO! People need to stop watching fox news.

I'm pretty confused about the Obama Care though. If you don't have insurance through your employer and you have to buy insurance will it be based on your income? Or same price for everyone?

 

[ledboots]

Yup blues they will take the care but they don't want it in the U.S.. I've even heard people talk about friends and relatives who have national health and like it. But if you ask them if they want it here, they say NO! People need to stop watching fox news.

I'm pretty confused about the Obama Care though. If you don't have insurance through your employer and you have to buy insurance will it be based on your income? Or same price for everyone?

Medicaid will be expanded to serve about 30 million more, and then the new care will be free if you earn under a certain amount but over the Medicaid limit, and sliding scale after that, depending on income. The sliding scale is in the form of direct tax credits, as I understand it.

 

[beancounter]

It's the US, you can't take away someone's right to sue for injury.

What about the settlements the tobacco industry made with the gov't many years ago? I believe individuals don't have the right to sue them anymore.

 

[ledboots]

What about the settlements the tobacco industry made with the gov't many years ago? I believe individuals don't have the right to sue them anymore.

I should have said the individuals right to sue *should not* be taken away by the US Government. The inroads on personal liberties in the US in the past 10 years or so is appalling to me.

 

[Josh James xVx]

Yep.

The problem with socialism is eventually you run out of other people's money.

Funny. I was about to suggest that's the problem with unfettered capitalism.

 

[ledboots]

Yup blues they will take the care but they don't want it in the U.S.. I've even heard people talk about friends and relatives who have national health and like it. But if you ask them if they want it here, they say NO! People need to stop watching fox news.

I'm pretty confused about the Obama Care though. If you don't have insurance through your employer and you have to buy insurance will it be based on your income? Or same price for everyone?

There are apparently different plans you can choose from, as well. The one with cheapest premiums is a 60% payout, patient pays 40%, yikes. The one most people will probably get is 70-30, which is still worse than the 80-20 many people have now. I wish I could find a good guide to the new law, I'd like to understand it!

 

[Kitties]

Thanks ledboots. I don't really like the sound of that. What if people don't have the 30 or 40%. Get their wages garnished? It's something at least, but I'd like to see better coverage. Right now I have good insurance from my job. But I don't want to work as a nurse until I'm 65 just for the insurance. I'd just like to know I'm covered if anything catastrophic happened. I could still handle small things and dental out of my own pocket.

 

[ledboots]

Thanks ledboots. I don't really like the sound of that. What if people don't have the 30 or 40%. Get their wages garnished? It's something at least, but I'd like to see better coverage. Right now I have good insurance from my job. But I don't want to work as a nurse until I'm 65 just for the insurance. I'd just like to know I'm covered if anything catastrophic happened. I could still handle small things and dental out of my own pocket.

There is so much in this bill, it's difficult to figure out what's going to happen. All I know is that another local hospital is laying off 850 people, just announced. And all the big hospitals are building new facilities at a pace I've never seen. I'm not sure what they are expecting.

 

[Kitties]

Interesting that you say that. Our local hospital just opened a huge new wing. (They have the monopoly in the area after they swallowed up the community hospital a number of years ago) They advertize it like it's the place you want to be. My hope is to never see the inside of the place. Then they ask the community for donations for the helicopter. I know that helicopter as saved lives but they can pay for it.

 

[beancounter]

The effects of Obamcare can vary. I work for a large health insurance company, and our stock has gone up since the Supreme court ruling.

 

[ledboots]

The effects of Obamcare can vary. I work for a large health insurance company, and our stock has gone up since the Supreme court ruling.

Yes, The word on the street is that the small insurance companies will be swallowed up by the large ones, which will do well financially. Nursing homes will get screwed, with Medicare payout rates being slashed. This will hurt hospitals too, but not as much because the medicaid rolls will increase by so much, and the payout for medicaid patients won't be cut.

 

[das_nut]

There are apparently different plans you can choose from, as well. The one with cheapest premiums is a 60% payout, patient pays 40%, yikes. The one most people will probably get is 70-30, which is still worse than the 80-20 many people have now. I wish I could find a good guide to the new law, I'd like to understand it!

Why not get a plan with a high yearly deductable and 100% payment after that?

That's not a bad deal, if you have savings. For example, just looking on ehealthinsurance.com for me, I find a plan that's under $100/month, even though the deductable is pretty high ($5500).

If I wanted to go for a $15,500 deductable, I could get a plan for under $65/mo.

 

[Wolfie]

Not everyone has that kind of savings though. Once again it sounds like those who aren't well off but not "poor" enough or "childed" enough for Medicaid will get screwed.

 

[das_nut]

Not everyone has that kind of savings though. Once again it sounds like those who aren't well off but not "poor" enough or "childed" enough for Medicaid will get screwed.

True. That's the downside of being poor - it costs more.

Some of those people won't pay for health insurance. For example if I was making under $37k a year, I'd save money by just paying the penalty. The penalty is only $695/yr (indexed to inflation) for that income group, and that's cheaper than the most affordable health insurance available to me.

You could try to claim a hardship exemption. May work, may not. I'm not sure how the hardship exemptions will be phased in.