What kind of plan is it? Gold silver or bronze? I am guessing this is for a single person? This is also my problem with Obama care, it does not really make it truly affordable for middle income families. It beats having nothing but more needs to be done.
Which doctors? These are private insurance plans by the same insurance companies that have been reimbursing doctors all along.
Researched plans, but did not sign up yet. My current PCP only takes the most two most expensive plans on the exchange.
Thanks for the valuable help and insight. I did not understand the concept before. Unfortunately this isn't about being a liberal or conservative and trying to convince everyone something is great or not great. It's about my real problem. And I am telling you that Obamacare sucks for me. Maybe it's great for someone else. But not for me. The only thing Obamacare will do for me is increase my taxes by 1% of my income. Thanks Obama! They are not the same plans. The doctors knows if a plan is coming from the exchange or not. And there are doctors who are not taking any plans from any exchange. The exchange plans aren't that great. Super high deductible and premiums aren't that low. A group insurance plan is still far far better. As an individual, I can get a platinum insurance with no deductible for $500 with MetroHealth - I called around and couldn't find a single doctor who takes it. So you take a hit there. What's the point if you are going to go with a plan that sticks you with the most desperate of doctors? No thanks. It does not. I don't just need catastrophic coverage. I need something that can cover my regular medical bills. I get it now - how Obamacare works. It doesn't get you preventive care, it doesn't get you day-to-day health coverage. It's just catastrophic coverage. But that's not what most people need. Most people need check-ups to prevent them from needing catastrophic health services. I don't need to go to the ER. I need to make sure my cholesterol is in check and that my arteries are clear. I need to make sure my blood work is doing well. I think I'd rather put my money into better quality food and exercise classes. Might be a better health plan than Obamacare. Insurance companies are making such gross profits off of this. It's pretty ridiculous.
This has nothing to do with the exchanges. There have always been smaller insurance companies that have small networks, or big insurance companies with low saturation in certain marketplaces in terms of doctor access. 100% false. 1) All plans must cover certain preventive care procedures at 100% with no copays. This includes an annual physical, colonoscopy, etc. 2) Only bronze and some silver plans with certain companies are high deductibles. False again. There profits are now capped by law and despite what people think, there is no work around on the books. It's not even a profit cap, it's a literal % of premiums paid must go to pay claims with no write offs for overheads, profits, agent commissions, etc. Your ideas about the law (that I oppose) are largely false and seem to echo other false reports that get echoed by biased media and elected officials.
Something if off. I live in NY. It was only a few years ago that I had no deductible insurance for $450 a month. Now? $5000 deductible plus the same premium? I'm sorry - the no deductible plans are ridiculously high premiums or offer horrible doctor coverage. And they are all HMO's! I was on a PPO plan. Insurance companies are making record profits - that is indisputable. They squeeze people more, and they pay doctors less. We need a single payer system. People can't afford preventive care with Obamacare - these ridiculous deductibles are going to make people prevent getting care.
A few years ago i paid 1500 premium, CoPay $10 for family doctor and $30 for specialists, $300 for hospital stay. I think we spend less than $500 for my daughter's birth. Now we pay $2300 premium with 3500 deductible, at least my employer is kicking in 1200 for HSA. I believe the employer was paying $15000 now they pay $18000. At this rate, sooner or later no one will be able to afford health insurance. If everyone is on Obama plan, maybe they will have to fix it to make it better in the future. I do hope we get a single payer system like in EU.
I think Rand Paul hit the nail in the head, most liberals have a big heart but a small brain. They want to help the bunch of less fortunate but in the end they screw everyone, especially middle-class. My employer switched our health plan to high deductible this year, my plan's deductible went from $300 to $2500, for the whole family, out of pocket maximum increased to $10000 from $3000 and the premium also went up. Pretty horrible.
Funny, my employer plan saw a tiny yearly increase, but it was much smaller than in previous year to year increases.. You might want to look into if your employer is using Obamacare as an excuse to screw you out of coverage.
So you'd rather pay for emergency room visits for the poor than preventive care? Which one does your brain tell you is a better investment?
Was it an individual plan? If so, it was a fluke. The NY individual market was a total wreck because it banned preexisting conditions but did not require coverage - it's the one state where Obamacare has led to a significant drop in premiums for similar coverage. http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/17/news/economy/obamacare-health-insurance-new-york/ http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2013/0...emiums-in-New-York.-Was-Obama-right-all-along Even this link, which shows a general Obamacare horror story, shows a huge drop in NY: http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapot...miums-by-avg-of-41-subsidies-flow-to-elderly/ Actually, it is disputable. Obamacare puts a cap on insurance company profits. They aren't abusing you. As justtx has pointed out, that's not true. Just because you have a high deductible doesn't mean nothing is covered until you reach it. You still get co-pays to visit doctors, you still get various forms of free preventive care, etc. Honestly, it sounds like you did very little research into anything you're claiming because it's all simply false.
via TPM "A free medical clinic, the 9th Street Ministries Clinic in Mena, Arkansas, is closing its doors citing a dwindling number of uninsured clients, due to Obamacare."
Let me clarify this for a moment. They may be making record profits, but it is NOT because they are gauging you on health insurance premiums. They literally can't do that anymore. It's not even a matter of them showing profits and losses. They literally have to show exact medical premium dollars in and exact medical claims dollars out. The ratio has to be 80 to 85 percent depending on the type of carrier and there are no workarounds. If they miss the number by even a dollar they have to issue MLR rebates to the membership. So they have either 20 or 15 % on medical premiums to use as payroll, advertisement and profit. Now, they do make money elsewhere. The insurance carriers have stepped up their ancillary offerings (dental, vision, life, etc.) and some have even invested in urgent care centers and preventive care programs to make money. It is possible to get a plan that as no copays when you go to a doctor or get Rx. There are bronze plans with a $6350 deductible and no copays for anything. However, preventive care has to be covered for free to the member. Agreed. I'd also like to point out that you are not limited to buying your plan on the exchange. A lot of carriers throughout the country did not put all of their available plans on the exchange because of the hassle of working with the exchanges and either their local or federal government. They still sell their products direct and in almost every state have a much larger offering. Those direct policies (or through an agent) have no extra cost to them and still have to comply with all aspects of the law. Here in Texas for example, most of the major carriers outside of Blue Cross chose not to sell PPOs on the exchange because working with the exchange is a nightmare. The only limitation you have if you buy a plan off exchange is that you can't get a subsidy. That's it.
Yes you get your yearly physical covered. But anything beyond that isn't covered. You get sick - not covered until you hit the deductible. You need to get a stress test - that isn't considered preventive care by an insurance company, but it sure is preventive if you are trying to avoid a heart attack. Not covered. So "preventive care" is a joke in my eyes. It's like saying you can get an auto mechanic to look for problems with your car for free, but if they find anything that needs to be addressed, get ready to pay up the wazoo. These high deductible plans are a result of Obamacare. I get it now. That is how the insurance companies pay for "no pre-existing conditions". Before Obama care, you could pay $450/mo with no deductible for an individual plan that most doctors accepted. I know this because that's the kind of insurance I had 3 years ago. That's ok. Now, just a few years later, you have a $3600 - $5000 deductible. So yeah, the premiums can go down, they just up the deductible to make up for it. So here you go saying how Obamacare drops premiums when it's really just giving us big fat deductibles. These articles are so ridiculously inaccurate for ignoring the deductible. YOu tell me about research, dude, I am the one looking for a plan. I have been through the exhange and have shopped for health insurance for years. You can't tell me living in NY I don't know the NY market, and you know it better because you googled an article that tells you something that is true for Albany for low income families and doesn't even account for the deductible. Give me a break.
What is your age and do you have dependents on your plan? Edit: By the way, your auto example was wrong. A better example would be to say that if you need an oil change and a fluid top off it is free but if you need shocks and struts worked on you have a deductible. Also, "not covered" until the deductible is met is the wrong terminology. It is covered, but it is your cost sharing portion first. If it weren't covered you would have to pay the provider the full price. You don't. You pay the negotiated insurance price.
