Obamacare / Affordable Care Act : classic or dud?

guys do be careful when enrolling for obamacare, i read recently that more than 700 fake websites have been created to defraud folks. apparently you can tell which sites are a bunch of baloney because they are easy to log on to!

make sure that you start out at healthcare.gov instead of healthfraud.xxx

lol on hold for an hour and as soon as i hear a dial tone the call ends. waited twice as long a couple nights ago only to connect to someone who seemed to have no idea what he was doing

how is this worse than before

For what its worth, when you get it as a benefit through a company, you're putting money in and they're putting money in. You just don't feel it the same.

I have never had health insurance through a job. At one point, when I was in my early 30s, I was paying like $700/mo. Now I'm at a "manageable" $470/mo. I was afraid I was gonna start getting reamed this year, having turned 40, but no.

I have trouble with the exchange/subsidies because my income varies wildly from year to year. If I got subsidized based on my income from last year, I would definitely have to pay that money back based on my income in the upcoming year.

Are you mostly/entirely self-employed?

I hassled my daughter into finally checking the ACA website and it looks like she's eligible for huge tax credits that will completely cover the cost of her coverage.

I am sometimes/mostly/entirely self-employed but occasionally hourly w4 employee and sometimes 1099 contractor and sometimes not making any money and sometimes making a normal amount of money.

I do have some family members that are in this middle class suck hole, where the cheapest thing they can get are plans with shit deductables and $800/month premiums for the three of them, which is allegedly three times what they were paying a few years ago. i feel for them but still.

I am sometimes/mostly/entirely self-employed but occasionally hourly w4 employee and sometimes 1099 contractor and sometimes not making any money and sometimes making a normal amount of money.

It makes it really convoluted -- because they base the subsidy/credit on some modified AGI, so it would be your net profit from self-employment/1099s, so in addition to timing expenses to reduce self-employment tax, you would also be doing it for the ACA subsidy/credit.

classic url here:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/scotus-king-obamacare-workarounds-doomed

"We're quite pessimistic. The operational, legal and political challenges here are immense," Nicholas Bagley, a University of Michigan law professor who co-authored the article, told TPM in a phone interview on Thursday. "The more I've looked at this, the more alarmed I've grown."

The problem is three-pronged: Legal, because the Affordable Care Act sets some very specific requirements for state-based exchanges; practical, because states might not have time or authority to act after the Court ruling comes down in June, as expected; and political, because Republican intransigence against Obamacare is currently one of the defining elements of American politics.

An adverse Court ruling in the King vs. Burwell case would invalidate the law's tax credits, received by nearly 90 percent of Obamacare enrollees in 2014, in at least 34 states that are using the federal website. Health coverage would likely then become unaffordable for many enrollees, and those who choose to keep paying the higher price are more likely to be sick and more costly, potentially sending the law into a dreaded death spiral.

praise jesus

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republicans-cut-and-pasted-their-new-obamacare-alternative/2015/02/06/def0d0a0-ae57-11e4-9c91-e9d2f9fde644_story.html

let it be easier once again for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than it is for a poor american to afford health care, the lazy bums!

Still stuck in "verify identity" hell. =( I think I have tried signing up 10+ times now.

I can now fully apply and then get to the "Sign & Verify" page and then it says "We will get back to you when we verify your identity". On the front page there is a little "Identity Verified" thing next to my name, yet it will not let me complete an application =(

My daughter makes so little in her shitty dollar-store job that she'll qualify for subsidies that pretty much cover her entire policy, if she'll only finish the fucking signup procedure. I don't believe she's finished yet, and I've reminded and nagged her all I'm going to. If she lets this deadline pass and pays a couple grand unnecessarily out of pure willful stubbornness, I'm going to be pissed. But it's her money.

If you fail to sign up for medical insurance it's not just a matter of going uncovered now. There is a minimum tax penalty of (iirc) several hundred dollars that you'll pay for the privilege of having no insurance.

Yeah that is like a nice kick in the nuts. Not only can I not get signed up for reasons nobody I talk to seems to know, I am going to have to pay a penalty because this shit still doesn't work.

The fee in 2015

If you don’t have coverage in 2015, you’ll pay the higher of these two amounts:

2% of your yearly household income. (Only the amount of income above the tax filing threshold, about $10,000 for an individual, is used to calculate the penalty.) The maximum penalty is the national average premium for a bronze plan.
$325 per person for the year ($162.50 per child under 18). The maximum penalty per family using this method is $975.
The fee for not having coverage in 2014

If you didn’t have coverage in 2014, you’ll pay the higher of these two amounts when you file your 2014 federal tax return:

1% of your yearly household income. (Only the amount of income above the tax filing threshold, about $10,000 for an individual, is used to calculate the penalty.) The maximum penalty is the national average premium for a bronze plan.

$95 per person for the year ($47.50 per child under 18). The maximum penalty per family using this method is $285.

The fee after 2015

The penalty increases every year. In 2016 it’s 2.5% of income or $695 per person. After that it's adjusted for inflation.

Looks like I need to just move to another damn country.

Is there anyone on this board who has successfully signed up and never owned a credit card? Cos I feel like that is the main thing holding me back and I refuse to participate in the credit card system.

Use a human insurance agent who is certified to assist people in signing up through healthcare.gov and let them wrestle with the shitty software for you. I'm guessing they should be able to use a paperwork back door of some sort.

Hah yeah I've been through 3 people via that route. Acted surprised and bewildered, then told me I should really just go on the site cos they logged in as me and see all these cool plans.

I guess I could give it another shot.

yes. shooting them might help.

If you fail to sign up for medical insurance it's not just a matter of going uncovered now. There is a minimum tax penalty of (iirc) several hundred dollars that you'll pay for the privilege of having no insurance.

― Aimless, Saturday, February 14, 2015 9:23 AM (3 hours ago)

in the case of William's daughter, she might qualify for a low income/affordability exemption

Also, I believe you could add her to your plan, (depending on her age) and there would just be a few extra forms to fill out at tax time if she files her own tax return and is not your dependent.

She's 26, past the cutoff for being added to my insurance. She has health insurance and pays for it herself so she won't get hit with the tax penalty, I'm just cranky at her for not taking advantage of the ACA. She definitely qualifies for the low-income subsidy. She's done all the math, I just don't think she's finished the signup procedure. Maybe she's psychic and knows King vs. Burwell is going to go badly.

I was irritated that this year, the tax credit only applies to people that purchased insurance through the marketplace, as opposed to people that got policies by other means, which means I lose out.

Ok gonna give it ONE MORE TRY.

"Almost Finished...."

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Can anyone recommend healthcare in other countries? Can I fly to a country with real socialized healthcare and get help as a foreigner?

On the front page in green letters next to my name it says "Identity Verified". And yet it will not let me finish my application because "My identity has not been verified"

My bf tried it (self-employed) and got, "You can't choose a health plan until we verify these two documents. Please send or fax them to (xxxxx) before 5-31-2015" or something. So if the deadline for turning in his proof of citizenship is MAY, he can't be held liable for not having a plan by 2-15. Surely? We hope.

Hoping one place or the other hires me soon bc I didn't sign up and don't have the info to hand, but there's a 90-day grace period for getting health insurance by other means. C'mon full time job!

I don't think you need to go through the exchange website. When I was looking to switch from freelancers to Health First, I just called up Health First and was about to sign up. Maybe that's only if you're not going for subsidies? But you should be able to do that through the insurance company directly no? I ended up taking a job at the same time so it's a moot point, but I'm still fighting Freelancers over money.

Maybe that's only if you're not going for subsidies?

Yep.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a33865/diabetes-is-a-reason-to-repeal-obamacare/

"obamacare" has already contributed to saving an estimated 50,000 lives

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2015/04/01/obamas-claim-the-affordable-care-act-was-a-major-reason-in-preventing-50000-patient-deaths/?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_1_na

time to repeal this evil!

Two years ago I didn't have health care and the health care cooperative I now belong to did not exist, yet. Now I can afford to buy insurance and it was easy to compare policies and make a choice. Pure evil.

I just want to know if Adam Bruneau's 1 1/2 year odyssey to signing up for health care has met with success?!

Hah. No. I checked my trash to see if I missed anything and it was full of emails from Healthcare.gov, saying "It is almost your last chance to sign up!" "Hurry up!" and NONE of them were responding to my requests for help or any of the document uploads I had done or anything. Really looking forward to paying that fee, they are doing a bang-up job in Washington and deserve my money /s

So I lost my contract job that dictates my income level, leaving me with a rather high income level and no substantial current income (I still have plenty of work but it's not nearly at the level it was last year). I could buy private insurance but it seems like they would base my payments on what I made last year, and I couldn't afford it at the moment.

But hold on I am going to try again.

Ok the MY PROFILE page has a green "Identity Verified" with a green checkmark right under my name. At the top it says "You have messages".

In MESSAGES it says "You have a notice available about your identity verification. Download". I download the PDF.

The PDF is dated Nov 28, 2014. It asks for two proofs of ID, which I sent in and received a piece of paper in response to. The paper told me that my identity had been verified, which is what the website currently tells me and has told me ever since Dec of last year.

it seems like they would base my payments on what I made last year

I think you are misconceiving this.

Insurance premiums are set according to underwriting standards, such as your age, smoking habits, and a few other broad criteria. The only income-based adjustments are done by the federal government via tax credits, and the only way to qualify for tax credits is to sign up using a health care exchange such as healthcare.gov or your state exchange. If you buy insurance through the private market, you won't get any subsidy, and your premium will not be related to your income at all.

adam, gonna assume this is a dumb question, but i'll ask anyway -- have you called a government rep?

I have called a variety of numbers, including Experian (the number they first provided when my Identity Verification fell through) and several Health Insurance Marketplace reps. None of them had idea any what to do and just forwarded me to other numbers.

It looks like the private market is the way for me to go. Unfortunately it looks like there are no plans in my area under $200/mo. I will look into Medicaid.

Only women, children, and families.

I am 28 years too young for Medicare. =(

you can qualify for an exemption to the requirement for coverage if your income is low enough.

So far I've been cancelled three times because of obstinate data flow between Anthem and Covered CA. Right now I'm A-OK, but I feel like my insurance is basically ACME/Sirius Cybernetics.

On the other hand, my gf's experience with Obamacare in NY has been pretty good, but there's no way the bureaucracy would have cleared her for CA care.

I've heard (of) Dwight Twilley -- it sounds like a seventies ringer (it's what he is, no?) going New Wave in 1981.