Health care exchanges

I think this post is most appropriate here, as it's something that affects all of us.  I agree--HUGE trainwreck!  So many people who are uninsured now will still be shut out and many of us, such as myself, will end up paying more for less. 

As for how companies are handling the increased costs, both UPS and Delta, which are locally based corporations in my area, are finding ways to cut costs--reducing employees' hours to part-time so they don't qualify for health insurance anymore and/or dropping spousal coverage.  You are totally correct.  I find this particularly sad--people who are hard-working and paying their own way are going to be punished by earning less money and having no health insurance.  It makes absolutely no sense. 

I am not a fan of big government taking over peoples' lives.  I'll leave it up to you to figure out who I voted for in the last election.

Marynb said:

Martha
Actually, Romney was my Governor when I lived in Mass. and was a damned good governor! He established universal health insurance coverage in Massachusetts, which works very well and unlike Obamacare, it did make insurance more affordable. It is the best system in the country. He also made Massachusetts number 1 in education performance.

Sadly, during the election, Romney distanced himself from his biggest accomplishments,health insurance reform and education reform, in order to please Republicans.

That being said, something has got to be done to correct this disaster. The latest is that companies and governmental agencies are seeking permission to terminate contracts with retirees who were promised continued health insurance. All these retirees will be forced onto the exchanges until they qualify for medicare. So, anyone thinks that they are immune from this dreadful situation, check out the costs on your state's exchange.

I just saw a news report the other evening that named IBM as a company that is either reducing or eliminating coverage for retirees.  It's inconceivable to me that the O-administration did not see these things coming.  Corporations are going to take whatever steps are necessary to protect their bottom line.  It won't be long before unemployment will rise again and so will the number of uninsured. 

I do not care for Romney's personality, but he is a shrewd businessman and I think very smart.  I believe he understood that if Corporate America goes under, so does our nation.  We are headed in the direction of becoming a welfare state now.  It has to be turned around.

Marynb said:

Health Insurance exchanges ......ugh!!!
Well, I jusr have to vent to alleviate stress. I just got off the phone from the new Health care exchange. If you think going to the state Registry of Motor Veh. is a noghtmare...you ain't seen nothing!!!

OmG. The man on the line could barely speak comprehensible English. The answer to thr most basic questions is, " we dunno yet". There will be no verification of income. If I estimate my income and it ends up being more, they don't really have a way of verifying. Soooo, taxpayers will be paying subsidies, huge amounts, for people based on the honor system. Right!

They "dunno" what counts as income . They were trained for a week! They "dunno" the specifics of the plans...we will find out after we select one! WTF???

This is a nightmare beyond my wildest dreams! Stress, stress, stress!

It's going to be a disaster, plain and simple.  Too many unanswered questions.  The people in charge don't know the answers, so how are we to know?  There will be so much opportunity for fraud in this program and who is going to pay for that?  You and me.   

I must say, I applaud you for your efforts to learn the ins and outs of this.  And I also applaud you for admitting that you regret your vote in the election.  I am on Facebook and I had a couple of people who nearly drove me crazy with their constant accolades for the incumbent and bashing of the opposition during the campaign.  Now where are those people?  They are definitely not singing praises for the current administration, at least on that social media site. 

I tend to be a middle of the roader, but these healthcare changes are pushing me off of that center line towards the right.  I believe that until we go back to encouraging small business start-ups and making it possible for large corporations to turn a profit while employing people and providing benefits for them so that they can take care of themselves, we are in a world of hurt. 

This is an old thread, true, but I just have to say that without healthcare reform, I could not have paid for any cancer treatment. Period. So far, the insurance company has not questioned anything the MDs have requested. There were many of us in this boat who likewise appreciate the changes. Many of the negative effects mentioned in above posts were insisted on by the Republican House of Representatives. Thank them.

I don't remember the exact number (sorry), but the last poll I saw a few months ago found that well over 50% of Republicans (I believe) are happy with their insurance coverage. So, I'm not the only one. B^)

sephie said:

negative result for me

glad it helped you but i had to reply to this because i have worked and paid for individual health insurance for myself for 30 years..... it made my insurance rate go way up......i always had an increase each year but this jumped way up. and it does not cover the same as it did before and it does not cover my prescriptions as well.... since i have been treated at MD Anderson, i wanted to keep this insurance..... it also made my deductible higher....i think it helped those who did not have insurance and it hurt those who already had been paying for it...... sephie

 

"i think it helped those who did not have insurance and it hurt those who already had been paying for it."

stephie: That's a blanket statement. There are many previously insured people who not only have better insurance now, but pay less for it. And, unfortunately, there are still far too many people who fell through the cracks and still do not have medical coverage. We are groping our way towards universal healthcare, but, sadly, it's very slow going. Look how long it's taken for us to get this far, to this imperfect place.

My big problem was that I had rheumatic fever as a kid and now have a group of deficiencies called rheumatic heart disease (atrial fibrillation, dysrhymias, mitral valve murmur, etc). Insurance companies wanted to charge me a lot more, if they wanted me at all. As for cancer patients, they used to quickly top out their maximum lifetime coverage and had to start remortgaging or borrowing or quiting treatment. Now the ones who are insured can follow through on their full treatment without going bankrupt.

Thank you for listening.