Obamacare / Affordable Care Act : classic or dud?

obv the more healthy people that do sign up, the better it will be as far as premiums/deductibles go. Which is why the efforts to sabotage that aspect of ACA rollout specifically is so heinous.

those efforts will fail, tho, especially as the law begins to just be part of the netting of the state's support systems. plus the admin built protections into the law, to prevent a cost "death-spiral" in the event that fewer-than-needed "healthies" signed-up early in the process.

anyway, i agree: a single-payor system (or, absent that, a public-option) is better than the ACA. but the ACA is better than what we had before. it's a big, big deal.

oh for sure, I agree. It's laughable that a) ACA is being painted as a "government takeover" of healthcare and b) that an "employer takeover" of healthcare (which, if you want to stretch things characterizations in the same way conservatives are so fond of doing, the prior system was) is preferable!!

the ACA is also having the effect that a number (not sure how significant overall) of people are actually filing income tax returns in order to qualify for subsidized care who previously just did not file.

is it helping your business? I hope so!

when i took my continuing education last fall, one of the main units was about the ACA and taxes and the opening infographic said "congratulations, you are now part of the health care industry!"

ballpark dollar figure on all the effort wasted trying to discredit the ACA? hundred$ of million$? billion$? ten$ of billion$? hundred$ of billion$? good thing we have fiscal conservatives around to keep costs down

Hey, without spending that kind of money, where would we get the kind of top talent we have now?

with so many Republican southern states opting out of the Medicaid expansion.

well this is the crux of it, isn't it? the ACA was counting on this not being an option. but the Supreme Court said states could opt out. so suddenly there's no provision for people between the cut-off for existing Medicaid means-testing and the lowest rung of the bronze plans.

in tennessee there was a bill that would have made it against the law for schools to provide information to parents about the ACA. it almost passed.

i love how states have the right to ensure that more of their own citizens needlessly suffer and die

if there was a dude with a giant gun roaming the state killing thousands of people he'd be a legendary mass murderer, but when it's politicians refusing to pass legislation their adoring fans beg them to run for president

Hey, let's not bring the fossil fuel companies into this.

jesus hated the sick and the poor. vote GOP

So, I sent off my ID to the local processing center a month ago. I was told I should expect to hear back from them in 2 weeks.

Still haven't heard a peep.

how all the bastards let their healthcare industry overlords write it

In one TV ad, Obama blistered Tauzin for the kind of inside corruption that's made Washington famous.

"The chairman of the committee, who pushed the law through, went to work for the pharmaceutical industry, making $2 million a year," Obama announced to the camera, his sleeves rolled up for action. "That's an example of the same old game-playing in Washington. You know, I don't want to learn how to play the game better; I want to put an end to the game-playing."

A year later, he would find that game not so unpleasant after all.

After he became president, Obama would indulge Tauzin in the same closed-door dealings he once lambasted. The drug industry agreed to taxes and rebates involving $80 billion in savings over 10 years. In exchange, Obama reneged on three crucial promises: to speed generics to market, to allow the importation of cheaper drugs, and to retain the right to negotiate Medicare drug prices.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2014/04/obamacare-sabotage.php?page=all

maybe when we elect hilary, she'll enact single-payer, right guys?

fuck presidents and forget em

Bill did!

My girlfriend (soon to be graduate student, just completed community college supplemental ed for said grad school, works at a restaurant) was able to get a solid plan for 20$ / month since she makes $10-12K per year. I spent several years in my earlier 20s uninsured (in a similar situation as she is now) with no decent healthcare options available for less than 150-200/ month. I wasn't pleased with the limitations of the ACA (would have preferred a public option to compete with private healthcare) but I am really happy that she doesn't have to live without a healthcare safety net. It really is a scary way to be, uninsured

So has anyone else sent in hard proof and never heard back? I sent in my driver's license months ago and haven't gotten a single thing in the mail. Each time I call the number, I end up getting someone new, who seems to have never encountered a case like mine before. WTF? I just want to buy health insurance! On top of that, I just got sick, and instead of going to the doctor I'm just going to have to sit around at home and hope I don't get my roommates and friends sick as well. :(

I'm pretty sure credit companies were in the room w the drug & insurance industries when writing this bill.

Got a letter in the mail saying my identity has been verified! Yay! I am on the site right now trying to log in.

FUUUUUUCK I'm getting the same "Your identity wasn't verified." page =(

So yeah spent a nice hour and a half on the phone w Experian, who told me to call a health care hotline, like they did several times before. I call that hotline and they say there is no documentation on me at all. I tell them I have a letter, in my hand, saying the southeast center received my driver's license and that I am OK to go. They don't see anything! They ask me why I think I should still be good for open enrollment and I search my mailbox for the first mail I got from Healthcare.gov. My Marketplace account was created 10/8/2013. They ask me when I mailed in my proof of ID and I tell them mid-March, weeks before the March 31st cutoff.

None of this matters. I do not qualify for enrollment, none of my documentation is in the system, etc. They have entered all my information (for the 4th or 5th time now) and sent it to their superior, whose department will contact me. "So the department will contact me? There is no number I can reach them at?" "No sir, the department will contact you. Please be advised it usually takes 30 days to process this information.

This is the same waiting period they gave me in March, when I mailed in my driver's license. I got the letter saying it was accepted IN MAY.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuu

I don't understand what is wrong. I WANT TO GIVE YOU MY MONEY.

mad sympathy for you, my experience wasn't nearly as bad but, unsurprisingly, Experian seems super confused by a dude who's changed his last name and it lead to some headaches

obviously I know the real answer, but as a rhetorical rage against the void, why in the holy fuck is Experian involved in a government agency confirming our identities?

signed up before the deadline, paid up the first month. never got a second bill. got my coverage canceled. found out about it 4 months later. thanks Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/federal-appeals-court-panel-deals-major-blow-to-health-law/2014/07/22/c86dd2ce-06a5-11e4-bbf1-cc51275e7f8f_story.html?hpid=z1

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/07/22/the-potentially-huge-cost-of-todays-obamacare-decision/?hpid=z1

D.C. Circuit opinion written by Thomas Griffith, Bush appointee from Brigham Young U in Utah

Two federal appellate courts handed down contradictory rulings Tuesday on the legality of a central part of the Affordable Care Act that provides insurance subsidies to millions of Americans in three dozen states that rely on the new federal health insurance marketplace.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the tax credits available under the 2010 health-care law may be provided only to residents of states that set up their own marketplaces. Less than two hours later, the Richmond-based 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a separate case that the law’s language was ambiguous so that the Obama administration was free to allow the subsidies nationwide.

The ruling by the D.C. Circuit affects 27 states, most with Republican leaders who oppose the law,and another nine states that partially opted out.

The government immediately announced it was seeking an “en banc” hearing in the D.C. case, requesting that it be heard before the entire appeals court. The question ultimately may end up at the Supreme Court. But if subsidies for half the states are barred, it represents a potentially crippling blow to the health-care law, which relies on the subsidies to make insurance affordable for millions of low- and middle-income Americans.

“We feel very strong about the sound legal reasoning of the argument that the administration is making,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. “... there’s a clear, commonsense case to be made here which is that intent of Congress was to be sure that every eligible American who applied for tax credits to make their health insurance more affordable would have access to those tax credits whether or not the marketplace was operated by federal officials or state officials.”

Hours later, another circuit court came to the opposite decision

Sloppiness aside, there's no ambiguity about the law's "overall statutory scheme." Other parts of the law make clear that its drafters contemplated subsidies in every state. This lower court judge agrees. You could make an argument that it's ambiguous, but that wouldn't doom the ACA either. Courts are obliged to apply a two-part test known as the Chevron test in cases like these.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118803/halbig-v-burwell-ruling-anti-obamacare-lawsuit-could-backfire-gop

the GOP's still gonna run on this in 2016 aren't they

what else are they going to run on? "we hate anyone who isn't a WASP!" "we hate gay people!" "...ronald reagan!"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/07/23/morning-plum-republicans-certain-obamcare-hasnt-helped-anyone-in-america/?hpid=z3

No shocka poll results

aaaand Dave Weigel on how the GOP hopes to hang this flaming tire around Dems' necks. I don't think it's gonna work this time.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2014/07/22/here_s_how_republicans_are_blaming_the_damage_from_the_obamacare_lawsuit.html

who would jesus heal?

Richard Posner turns anti-ABA lawyers to mincemeat:

http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/09/16/71454.htm

"You're suggesting a breathtaking expansion of jurisdiction, aren't you?" he asked. "You're suggesting that anyone with a potential economic injury from a law can bring a suit. Where would you stop?"
"The stopping point is if someone is not being regulated by a particular statute," plaintiff's attorney Andrew Schlafly replied. "This is a regulation of the medical field, not some remote tax."
He then argued that people forced to buy insurance will never seek out cash practices in order to avoid paying for healthcare twice.
This did not satisfy Posner. "That's like saying people who get food stamps don't pay as much for groceries."
"We don't try to trace through all levels of the economy," Judge Frank Easterbook added.
Schlafly tried again: "In a concurring opinion by Justice Potter Stewart ..."
"Concurring opinions and $2.50 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks," Easterbook laughed. "I'm asking if you know of the Supreme Court ever allowing someone to sue for someone else's tax!"
As Schlafly floundered, Posner seemed skeptical: "The Act has had substantial economic consequences. Many people are better off, many are worse off. There are millions affected by this law. How do you have standing to sue? Is your proposition that anyone adversely affected has standing to sue?"
Schlafly began to cite another case, but Posner cut him off: "Yes or no?"
"Depending on the issue ..."
"No!" Posner shouted. "It doesn't depend on the issue. It depends whether they're hurt."

THAT andrew schlafly? lol

Got to see what's available in MS for 2015 -- Blue Cross just increased my premium by 25% for the 2nd year in a row, the fuckers.

based on my new job duties, highly urge everyone to scrutinize their bills from insurance comp. Esp if they qualify for a subsidy and esp esp if they ever make ANY sort of plan change during the year (eg add dependent...even address change). Shit gets all fucked up, it's a mess.

got my official letter last week saying that I can no longer keep my plan, and that my new "comparable" plan offered by Aetna would be almost 3x higher in monthly premiums.

if you don't mind me asking, what are the specifics of your current plan? I'm curious about real world examples of plans that don't meet ACA imposed standards.

the monthly premiums on my bare bones plan w/ BCBS TN creep up ~$15 every year. this happened before ACA, too.

I'm not really sure what wouldn't meet ACA standards but Aetna has been warning me about my plan likely not going to survive ACA for a couple of years now. And my premiums have been rising steadily for seven years on Aetna (despite no changes in coverage) by 5-10% each year. And I just did the math again and luckily the new Aetna alternative plan is only 177% more expensive (not 3x).

I'm sure that the alternative plan is "better" on some levels, but it's still very basic ($12.5k deductible, no dental, etc.) I need to decide before the end of the year if I'm going to stay with Aetna or find an alternative.

so long, romneycare!

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/mitch-mcconnell-obamacare-repeal-reconciliation

like, unless yr paying 100 bux a month for insurance (and looking @ a 1.77x increase) then your current Aetna plan seems absurdly over-priced by what you're getting? I went platinum in NYS and pay 480-something (absurd) but no deductable + dental. It's supposed to go up to 570 next year so I'ma tier-down to the next level (prob around my same current price; mas o menos) which is something like a 2500 deductable but still dental etc.

‘People Are Going To Be In For A Shock': Penalty For Uninsured Not Signing Up For Obamacare To More Than Triple

i guess i better try to sign up again, sigh

americans are too stupid to understand? go get 'em, megyn!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hcu1S2GKf0

well, the NYS site's better than last year, but still really slow and complicated as hell

...and at 1 am in the morning, the website goes down for maintenance until 8am. this has happened to me at least a half dozen times over the last month. Also everytime this happens, you have to start the whole damn application over again, though it at least saves most of the information you put in. Sigh.