ACA Repeal

Rob57
Rob57 Member Posts: 25

Just wondering if anyone is worried about the repeal of the ACA by congress. I have insurance through my work and am fortunate to have it. But I was wondering how many people on this board or people with cancer in general will be affected by the potential loss of insurance or the removal of mandatory coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.

Comments

  • icemantoo
    icemantoo Member Posts: 3,361 Member
    edited January 2017 #2
    Don't blame me

    I voted for the candidate who got the most votes.

     

    Icemantoo

  • Jan4you
    Jan4you Member Posts: 1,330 Member
    YESSS!! ALL of us should be

    YESSS!! ALL of us should be contacting our legislators with our concerns. If they appeal the law, but not yet replace it, this will throw the Insurance industry into a tither and they can RAISE their contracted fees /premiums to the insurer.

    CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS!! Here's how to locate them:

     http://uspolitics.about.com/od/usgovernment/a/contact_congres.htm

    Jan

  • JerzyGrrl
    JerzyGrrl Member Posts: 760 Member
    edited January 2017 #4
    Went there... did that!

    Thanks for the reminder. I went to the individual websites for my senators and representative and used their e-mail "contact me" page to send them a comment. 

    If the ACA is repealed, I'm most likely going to have to be self-pay for a while. Excluding pre-existing conditions?  Probably the same. It won't be pretty.  Somebody had better hurry up and develop a low-cost at-home CT scanner that works with a tablet or laptop computer and links conveniently to a radiologist.  The downside:  If you have toddlers or cats in your home, your CT may end up photobombed with a babygram or kittygram. 

    Some years ago, long before I had any inkling of RCC and when I was quite healthy, I had to change insurances, and got double-clobbered with the pre-existing condition exclusion.  FIRST they refused to cover treatment for my pre-existing conditions. So I decided I'd do my best to get NO medical care for my pre-existing conditions for whatever the rediculous period of time was before they'd consider them no longer pre-existing. THEN when that time was almost up, they informed me that since people with my particular pre-existing conditions tended to rack up more health care costs in general, they were jacking up my premium payments.  They went from a little over half my income to 80% of my income. Then, thankfully, the ACA kicked in. 

  • mrou50
    mrou50 Member Posts: 389 Member
    edited January 2017 #5
    ACA

    It effects me directly I am using the ACA now.  I was mentioned by the Oregons Congress Woman Susan Bonamici this morning on the House floor and my battle with cancer and the need for the ACA.  I sent a earlier this week to my legislaters and so my district rep wanted my story I was happy my plea's did not fall on def ears, although it did with the majority party as they took the first step to repealing the ACA.  Contact your district reps people and let them know how you feel.

    Here is the link to my rep discussing my fight on the floor this morning, some facts were wrong but the main point is there

    https://youtu.be/5X2JHfSYFN4

    Mark

  • Bay Area Guy
    Bay Area Guy Member Posts: 618 Member
    I'm not concerned for myself,

    I'm not concerned for myself, but I am concerned for a couple of relatives, one of whom is in remission for nasopharyngeal cancer, a cancer that appears in the back of the throar and nose.  His treatment was not surgical.  It involved three months of daily targeted radiation therapy and four doses (once a month) of chemotherapy.  Because the radiation targeted his neck area, an area with a lot of nerves in it, he has pretty constant nerve pain that can only be addressed with gabapentin.  He was in between jobs at the time, so he was on a program that insured uninsured residents of the city in which he resides.  I'm concered that if the ACA is repealed and nothing is put in its place, then he might not be able to continue to receive ongoing monitoring scans (which he has every six months) and I'm also concerned that without the requirement that insurance companies must insure those with pre-existing conditions, some bad things could fester and explode into something serious.  One of the unforunate side effects of radiation therapy can be cancers in different areas due to the exposure to the radiation.  Trump has at least made noises about wanting to keep the pre-existing condition requirement, but who knows what the ultimate program will look like or if they'll even be able to pass one.

    The whole idea of the Republicans looking to repeal it and then work on something else seems very analgous to Nancy Pelosi's infamous "we have to pass it before we know what's in it" statement.  I'm not optimistic.

  • dhs1963
    dhs1963 Member Posts: 513
    My coverage is from work...but...l

    Obamacare looks like it will be repealed next week. When they started it, people like me -- ones who get their health insurance from work, the majority of americans -- were told that there would be no change. Only there were changes. Sure, prices went up, but so did coverage. Preventative medicine/procedures are covered 100%. Birth control is mostly covered...

    But, that is a relatively minor impact. For me, the impact that mattered the most is removing the life time limits. Before Obamacare, my company had a lifetime limit of something like $1,000,000 for an individual. That seemed like a lot of money. But, I have been at the same job for 21+ years. My lifetime medical expenses are approaching that number (I think). 

    So, without Obamacare, or specifically the lifetime payout, there is almost no way I would finish my life with medical coverage from my current employer.

     

  • Bay Area Guy
    Bay Area Guy Member Posts: 618 Member
    dhs1963 said:

    My coverage is from work...but...l

    Obamacare looks like it will be repealed next week. When they started it, people like me -- ones who get their health insurance from work, the majority of americans -- were told that there would be no change. Only there were changes. Sure, prices went up, but so did coverage. Preventative medicine/procedures are covered 100%. Birth control is mostly covered...

    But, that is a relatively minor impact. For me, the impact that mattered the most is removing the life time limits. Before Obamacare, my company had a lifetime limit of something like $1,000,000 for an individual. That seemed like a lot of money. But, I have been at the same job for 21+ years. My lifetime medical expenses are approaching that number (I think). 

    So, without Obamacare, or specifically the lifetime payout, there is almost no way I would finish my life with medical coverage from my current employer.

     

    Great point I had completely

    Great point I had completely forgotten about.  Those of us on this thread (and on this site in general) are far more likely to reach a lifetime maximum given our conditions.