lol if by "better" you mean absurdly and provably wrong, then why yes you did brilliantly!
This are some of my better ones. You make this easy for me.
The website was done by a contractor. The messups on the site had nothing to do with anything in the ACA other than being a frontend for people to see what was available. That company ended up losing the contract and it was given to another company (who fixed it). This was in Janurary. Why are you still talking about it? Its like some of these anti-obamacare people are running out of material.
http://articles.philly.com/2014-04-28/news/49440051_1_health-plan-obamacare-life-saving-surgeryDean Angstadt fells trees for a living.
He's a self-employed, self-sufficient logger who has cleared his own path for most of his 57 years, never expecting help from anyone. And even though he'd been uninsured since 2009, he especially wanted nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act.
"I don't read what the Democrats have to say about it because I think they're full of it," he told his friend Bob Leinhauser, who suggested he sign up.
That refrain changed this year when a faulty aortic valve almost felled Angstadt. Suddenly, he was facing a choice: Buy a health plan, through a law he despised, that would pay the lion's share of the cost of the life-saving surgery - or die. He chose the former.
"A lot of people I talk to are so misinformed about the ACA," Angstadt said. "I was, before Bob went through all this for me. I would recommend it to anybody and, in fact, have encouraged friends, including the one guy who hauls my logs."
In 2011, Angstadt had a pacemaker and defibrillator implanted to help his ailing heart pump more efficiently. Not long after, the almost 6-foot, 285-pound man's man was back in the woods, doing the Paul Bunyan thing.
But last summer, his health worsened again. It was taking him 10 minutes to catch his breath after felling a tree. By fall, he was winded after traveling the 50 feet between his house and truck.
"I knew that I was really sick," said the Boyertown resident. "I figured the doctors were going to have to operate, so I tried to work as long as I could to save money for the surgery. But it got to the point where I couldn't work."
Angstadt called Leinhauser. The political odd couple talked a bit before Angstadt mentioned he was having trouble breathing.
Leinhauser, 55, a retired firefighter and nurse, drove him to a doctor's office. "Dean only saw a doctor when he needed to because it made a big difference in his finances," Leinhauser said.
From time to time, Leinhauser would urge Angstadt to buy a plan through the ACA marketplace. And each time, Angstadt refused.
"We argued about it for months," Angstadt said. "I didn't trust this Obamacare. One of the big reasons is it sounded too good to be true."
January came, and Angstadt's health continued to decline. His doctor made it clear he urgently needed valve-replacement surgery. Leinhauser had seen enough and insisted his friend get insured.
"The only thing he was ever really adamant about was that Obamacare was the real deal," Angstadt said. "I trusted him to at least take a look at it."
Leinhauser went to Angstadt's house, and in less than an hour, the duo had done the application. A day later, Angstadt signed up for the Highmark Blue Cross silver PPO plan and paid his first monthly premium: $26.11.
"All of a sudden, I'm getting notification from Highmark, and I got my card, and it was actually all legitimate," he said. "I could have done backflips if I was in better shape."
Angstadt's plan kicked in on March 1. It was just in time. Surgery couldn't be put off any longer. On March 31, Angstadt had life-saving valve-replacement surgery.
"I probably would have ended up falling over dead" without the surgery, Angstadt said. "Not only did it save my life, it's going to give me a better quality of life."
Angstadt faces a long recovery, but his conversion to ACA supporter is done. The political storm around the ACA, he said, is the political parties "fighting each other over things that can benefit people."
"For me, this isn't about politics," he added. "I'm trying to help other people who are like me, stubborn and bullheaded, who refused to even look. From my own experience, the ACA is everything it's supposed to be and, in fact, better than it's made out to be."
He has also thanked his good friend, Leinhauser, for caring enough to persuade him to buy insurance and have the surgery.
"He has thanked me a couple times," Leinhauser said. "I just wish he would reciprocate by eating his green beans."
From time to time, Leinhauser would urge Angstadt to buy a plan through the ACA marketplace. And each time, Angstadt refused.
"We argued about it for months," Angstadt said. "I didn't trust this Obamacare. One of the big reasons is it sounded too good to be true."
I wonder how many 'Muricans like this good old boy continue to suffer, because they don't know what the reality is.
It's no longer about cutting off your nose to spite your face, it's about losing your fucking life, because you are too scared of the socialist/gubnament boogie man.
Good job, conservatards - your scare tactics are harming and killing off your own, nothing more.
He could/should have gotten insurance before obamacare. So try all you want to parade him around it really doesn't help your cause. It also seems a bit odd that this guy has a $26 premium... But keep flailing those pompoms...
He could/should have gotten insurance before obamacare. So try all you want to parade him around it really doesn't help your cause. It also seems a bit odd that this guy has a $26 premium... But keep flailing those pompoms...
Bull shit. I know a lot of self-employed people and the majority had insurance - and most of those are now complaining about how much their premiums have increased. Health insurance is expensive even before Obamacare and people tend to get sticker shock once no one is helping pay for it if they don't do their homework.He's self-employed. Before Obamacare it was virtually impossible to get health insurance if you were self-employed, and if you did the premiums were so expensive it was almost always cheaper to go without.
If Obamacare did one thing right it let self-employed people get insurance. Many people want to start their own business but can't due to losing their health insurance.
Bull shit. I know a lot of self-employed people and the majority had insurance - and most of those are now complaining about how much their premiums have increased. Health insurance is expensive even before Obamacare and people tend to get sticker shock once no one is helping pay for it if they don't do their homework.
He's self-employed. Before Obamacare it was virtually impossible to get health insurance if you were self-employed, and if you did the premiums were so expensive it was almost always cheaper to go without.
If Obamacare did one thing right it let self-employed people get insurance. Many people want to start their own business but can't due to losing their health insurance.
Still pushing the $300 - $750 plans? Again, those prices are NOT afforable.
On the $26 point,.. still denying it? Go off on your own detective work and prove it is incorrect. Come back to us when you have something more than your creep-o denial attitude set on 11.
I know many self-employed people too, and they all had THEIR SPOUSE'S health insurance. I knew of no self-employed individual who had their own insurance prior to Obamacare. I'm not saying there weren't any, but I personally know of none.
Private health insurance was extremely expensive before Obamacare. Insurance works by having a large pool of people. Having a pool of a single person sort of defeats the idea of a pool.
The internet is full of stories of just how expensive and horrible private healthcare was, and of how little it covered.
Next time your talk to your self-employed friends ask them to compare their private health insurance costs to their Obamacare exchange costs. Chances are you'll find out that the majority couldn't afford private health insurance and either got it from their spouse or did without.
Wrong. It was not "virtually impossible" nor were the premiums "so expensive". I looked into it before starting my own company(ie losing HI and having to find my own). Obamacare via the exchange is MUCH more expensive than the private insurance I got. I get a kick out of people who think HI wasn't available or was too expensive before for self employed. Yes, it's more than a company sponsored plan(duh) but now with obamacare it is WAY more expensive. I've posted my numbers here before since I have actually gone through the process of looking for insurance due to starting my own biz. For anyone to suggest that obamacare made it better for people like me(30's, family, etc) to start a biz is F'n batshit crazy.
You're pretty quick to call a person a liar.I would ask you to present the benefits that were available in your private plan, but I think we all know where that is leading. You are likely comparing a catastrophic type plan with the comprehensive benefits of an ACA plan. You would then proceed to tell us that you didn't need a comprehensive plan, just like the guy from Philly didn't need health insurance until he did. If you try to tell us that your private insurance was comparable in benefits to the ACA plans and MUCH cheaper, well then we know for a fact that you are a liar unless you happen to live in a very distorted healthcare market, such as Mississippi or something.
I would ask you to present the benefits that were available in your private plan, but I think we all know where that is leading. You are likely comparing a catastrophic type plan with the comprehensive benefits of an ACA plan. You would then proceed to tell us that you didn't need a comprehensive plan, just like the guy from Philly didn't need health insurance until he did. If you try to tell us that your private insurance was comparable in benefits to the ACA plans and MUCH cheaper, well then we know for a fact that you are a liar unless you happen to live in a very distorted healthcare market, such as Mississippi or something.
Still pushing the $300 - $750 plans? Again, those prices are NOT afforable.
On the $26 point,.. still denying it? Go off on your own detective work and prove it is incorrect. Come back to us when you have something more than your creep-o denial attitude set on 11.
Virtually everyone I know who is self-employed and on individual health insurance has the same story. Previously they were on HSAs (as am I.) Now they are on Obamacare-compliant policies which are much more expensive, have "free" benefits and extra coverage they don't need, and have even higher deductibles than did the evil free market HSAs. The only people for whom Obamacare is more affordable are those with pre-existing conditions and those for whom someone else is picking up most or all of the premium.huh? I posted last fall/winter(???) about it. My current plan is a 2013 plan not an obamacare plan. The plan I wanted to buy suddenly disappeared after obamacare rolled out(it didn't have prescription coverage - which I don't need based on the risk assessment I did) so I went shopping again and chose my current plan which is an HSA with a high family deductible. I'm basically insuring myself/family against broken bones or worse. The obamacare plans were MUCH higher premiums and had similar(or worse) deductibles and OPMs - basically bronze plans.
BTW, my current plan has an obamacare equivalent which is ~$400 more per month than what I pay. So while many people keep trying to claim it's different coverages or obamacare is cheaper, I know differently. I spent hours on the phone talking with reps, getting all the details while trying to find a good plan for my family while starting a new biz. I know I know... why do all that work when the .gov(who already knows better) can just tell you what to buy...
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/br...rick-scott-obamacare-20140429,0,5601325.storyGov. Rick Scott visited a senior center Tuesday to warn about cuts he said Obamacare is forcing in a popular version of the Medicare health program and to collect their horror stories.
What he found was a satisfied group with few complaints.
The 20 seniors assembled for a roundtable with Scott at the Volen Center were largely content with their Medicare coverage and didn’t have negative stories to recount.
And some praised Obamacare – a program that Scott frequently criticizes.
“I’m completely satisfied,” Harvey Eisen, 92, a West Boca resident, told Scott.
Eisen told the governor he wasn’t sure “if, as you say,” there are Obamacare-inspired cuts to Medicare. But even if there are, that would be OK. “I can’t expect that me as a senior citizen are going to get preferential treatment when other programs are also being cut.”
Ruthlyn Rubin, 66, of Boca Raton, told the governor that people who are too young for Medicare need the health coverage they get from Obamacare. If young people don’t have insurance, she said, everyone else ends up paying for their care when they get sick or injured and end up in the hospital.
Eventually, Rubin said, Obamacare will become more popular. “People were appalled at Social Security. They were appalled at Medicare when it came out. I think these major changes take some people aback. But I think we have to be careful not to just rely on the fact that we’re seniors and have an entitlement to certain things,” she said.
Virtually everyone I know who is self-employed and on individual health insurance has the same story. Previously they were on HSAs (as am I.) Now they are on Obamacare-compliant policies which are much more expensive, have "free" benefits and extra coverage they don't need, and have even higher deductibles than did the evil free market HSAs. The only people for whom Obamacare is more affordable are those with pre-existing conditions and those for whom someone else is picking up most or all of the premium.
Obamacare's 'canceled' plans probably would have been canceled anyway
News reports did not account for 'normal market turnover,' study says
10:19 AM - April 28, 2014
Millions of insurance plans that were cancelled for failing to meet Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions likely would have been cancelled anyway as part of normal market turnover, says a new study in Health Affairs.
'Canceled' plans get another two years—and other new ACA 'fixes'
Background on the canceled plans
Despite repeated assurances that Americans who liked their health plans would be able to keep them, millions of U.S. residents who shop in the individual insurance market received policy cancellation notices last fall. In interviews, the Obama administration said it did not purposely mislead consumers, adding that that many of the affected residents lost "subpar plans" and would be able to purchase lower-cost, more-comprehensive insurance on the exchanges.
The controversy eventually led the White House to let consumers renew plans that did not meet the ACA standards until 2016.
Study puts the cancellations in context
However, study author Benjamin Sommers, an assistant professor at Harvard University, argues that many individual policyholders who lost their plans would have discontinued them even without the law. To test his theory, he examined data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation to gauge the stability of non-group coverage before the ACA took effect.
The study found that from 2008 to 2011, fewer than half the people who started out with non-group coverage still had it after 12 months. It also found that 80% of those who switched policies acquired other insurance within a year; of those people:
50% got employer-sponsored insurance;
20% had reacquired individual coverage;
6% joined Medicare or Medicaid; and
4% purchased other coverage.
With so many insurance options, how will patients choose?
The numbers suggest that "the effects of the recent cancellations are not necessarily out of the norm," Sommers wrote. According to the Congressional Research Service, about 10.8 million people had individual plans in 2012.
Sommer's findings suggest that about 6.2 million Americans would have left their non-group coverage under normal circumstances. (News reports suggest that more than the 4.7 million Americans lost their health plans because they were no longer ACA-compliant.) The reports "are likely capturing a great deal of the normal turnover in this market," Sommers writes.
One group—white, self-employed Americans between ages 36 and 64—was more likely to lose a plan because of the ACA that they otherwise would have kept. This group was the most likely to maintain an insurance policy for three years or more, while only one-third of young adults kept their plans for longer than a year (Wheaton, Politico, 4/23).
I have a close friend, 62 years of age, who has had an individual policy with Assurant Health for the past 30 years. Each year he gets a rate increase. He just received his renewal notice for June: His yearly premium is $19,900 for a $6000 deductible plan that pays 90% after that. I checked the cost of Platinum ACA plans in Virginia, and the cost of a BC/BS PPO plan with 0 deductible, a $2000 yearly maximum out of pocket, and which pays 90% of the cost of claims is $13,200 a year; silver plans are MUCH cheaper than that (about $6000 a year). Of course my friend was a fool for not converting this year, but that's a hell of a lot of money he can save for a hell of a lot better plan.You mean everyone you read about on Breitbart & Newsmax, I think.
One of the things that the naysayers manage to overlook is their own changing risk assessment over time & their place in any insurance pool. Previously, it was easy to become uninsurable because pre-existing problems acquired over a lifetime made insurance unavailable. Premiums for near seniors were sky-high, as well. With the ACA, that's no longer true. Health insurance is available & affordable all through one's lifetime. That demands near universal coverage to work.
You're paying more now so that you can still have it later, regardless of what life throws you in the meanwhile. Previously, people who worked 30 years, paid their share of employer sponsored group plans were just left out in the cold under changing circumstances. Thanks for paying those premiums all the years you didn't utilize your insurance much, and, uhh, buh-bye now. Hasta la Vista. See Ya. Vaya con Dios, chump.
OTOH, if you're just a repeater node in a propaganda network, none of that matters, because you just parrot what you've learned from the usual right wing media manipulators.
I have a close friend, 62 years of age, who has had an individual policy with Assurant Health for the past 30 years. Each year he gets a rate increase. He just received his renewal notice for June: His yearly premium is $19,900 for a $6000 deductible plan that pays 90% after that. I checked the cost of Platinum ACA plans in Virginia, and the cost of a BC/BS PPO plan with 0 deductible, a $2000 yearly maximum out of pocket, and which pays 90% of the cost of claims is $13,200 a year; silver plans are MUCH cheaper than that (about $6000 a year). Of course my friend was a fool for not converting this year, but that's a hell of a lot of money he can save for a hell of a lot better plan.