2.5 million Americans have lost their individual medical insurance policies sinc

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I am a democrat.  

I have some problems with how Obamacare has rolled out.  But I never expected it to be perfect.  Nothing the government ever does is.  

But it is better than the old system.  

[Dave Gray]

The website stuff seems to be a debacle, of course, and that's pretty tough to defend.  However, working in this industry, it doesn't surprise me at all.  And people losing plans isn't good, either, but I've yet to really see how much is being lost.

I know it will be more expensive for the young/healthy, and even I can see on my Facebook, those that are upset by the higher cost.  But in the long term, this is part of the design.  Over the course of your life, it goes down for everyone.

This isn't making excuses, but here's my opinion: This is a major change that will likely take tweaks and long-term data to determine savings and make judgment -- I'm talking 10 years at least.  So, let it ride.  You can undo this until you really see the long-term impact.

[masterfins]

My employer still pays for my coverage, which I am grateful for, but I just heard that my premium is going to be DECREASING by $25/ month starting Jan. 1st.  With rates constantly increasing for years, I have been expecting my employer to start making me pay towards my coverage, so this was welcome news.  I deal with a lot of small businesses in my job, and many have completely dropped coverage for employees or have had the employees pick up a larger amount of the tab; in addition to higher deductibles and copays.  In the long run I think the ACA is going to be a very good thing.

I am appalled at the very poor rollout of the website.  Granted the failure of individual states to setup their own exchanges exacerbated the problem, but this has been an utter failure even if that didn't happen.  I believe the last I heard the gov't knew the site couldn't handle more than 1,100 users at a time.

[CF DolFan]

If you already have employer-based coverage, you are not likely to see much change.  Your premiums might rise, but premiums have been rising for decades, so that isn't really a change (ACA is just supposed to slow the increase).

The primary people who are being affected by Obamacare are people who were/are buying insurance on the individual market (or couldn't/didn't have insurance at all pre-ACA).  This is why it's very important to frame the comparison properly: people with employer-based coverage aren't going to get their insurance cancelled if they get sick, but people who bought insurance on the individual market were having that happen repeatedly.  This action (rescission) is now illegal under the ACA.

So what kind of dollar value should you assign to a policy that is guaranteed vs. a policy that can be cancelled when you try to use it?

She's married in her mid 20s.  This was her response

"I called my health insurance company and I can keep my plan until sept of next year then I "have" to switch. Yeah that's (250.00 a month) the lowest plan they offer!! You can pay $330 for a "platinum" plan that they say covers everything but who has $660 a month to spend on just health insurance!

[Spider-Dan]

CF, does she get her insurance through her employer, or on the individual market?  Is $250/mo the price on the Obamacare website?  Is that for Bronze or Catastrophic (she can get cheaper Catastrophic coverage if she and her husband are under 30)?

Also, is $250/mo for both of them?  What were they paying before?

[CF DolFan]

I got the impression that its the Obamacare stuff but I don't know for sure. I  know that's the individual price as she doubled it when referring to her and her husband. She works part time for an interior design company while going to school so i don't even think they have comp insurance.

[pondwater]

I've been kind of tuning this crap out but it has been reported that more people have lost their insurance then have been able to sign up for insurance. The president has been caught in lies of "you will be able to keep your insurance" and then denying he even said that the dozen or so times he did.

Obviously the website was/is a debacle and things couldn't have gone much worse I don't think.  With more and more confusing things about this surfacing week by week has anyone changed their minds about Obamacare?

2.5 million Americans have lost their individual medical insurance policies since the Affordable Care Act became law

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2491792/Obama-says-sorry-healthcare-shambles-broken-promises-medical-insurance-cancellations.html#ixzz2k1CNWEcO

You think this is bad and getting worse by the day. Just wait until the employer mandate goes into effect. This is a walk in the park compared to how that is going to turn out. Why do you think that the Obama administration is choosing not to enforce the law as written until after the midterm elections? Because he knows, that once the proverbial employer mandate shit hits the fan, that every democrat that voted for this bullshit is going to be run out of Washington. There is no other reason to not enforce the employer mandate portion of the law as it is written. You always hear Obama supporters saying that Obamacare "is the law". Well, then enforce the law you asked, campaigned, and voted for. Or do only parts of the law only apply to certain people at certain times chosen by King Barack? Now, as has been spewed here in the past, the Treasury department has claimed that “We have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively.” More fucking time? They've had almost 4 years. How many years to they need to mandate that employers provide a certain level of coverage and enforce it? None, it's all a political scam by Obama.

Interestingly, due to the complete failure of healthcare.gov portal. We have actually in real life, seen concerns about the individual mandate and need for more time to implement them effectively. In a strange twist, the individual mandate is more and more looking like the portion of the law that should have been delayed instead of the employer mandate. Even democrats that were calling the republicans terrorists for wanting the individual mandate delayed have turned tail and said that the individual mandate should be delayed. Hypocritical? You bet your ass. And while I'm discussing the healthcare.com debacle. How does a Canadian company with an owner that was a classmate of "masculine Michelle" Obama get a $678 million no-bid contract to develop the disaster that is healthcare.gov? Never mind, you won't get a real answer here, only spin from Obama nuthuggers. Deep down we all know the truth though. Best thing to do is let it play itself out and then fire everyone in Washington and start over.

[masterfins]

Ya know something that irks me, well one of them anyways, is how Fox news and others make this BIG DEAL about people having to change their doctor.  You would think that there was only one good doctor in the whole country and you have them.  Granted some people that may be undergoing treatment may have a certain relationship with their doctor, but overall I file this under the heading of people just wanting to complain for the sake of complaining.  And another thing, as for Fox's "fair and balanced" coverage, I have yet to see them interview someone who hasn't been able to get coverage and now they will, and yes I am sure there are many.

[Phishfan]

How does a Canadian company with an owner that was a classmate of "masculine Michelle" Obama get a $678 million no-bid contract to develop the disaster that is healthcare.gov? Never mind, you won't get a real answer here, only spin from Obama nuthuggers.

Here is your real answer. Your facts are misleading. CGI did win $678M for various services but not all of that is for Healthcare.gov. CGI is an IT vendor that was one of 16 companies who were granted certification of a $4B (the companies I work with call it a vendor of record bid) opportunity as part of an upgrade to Medicare/Medicaid systems (you probably have no interest in knowing this happened back in 2007 before Obama was in office). Since CGI was already vetted and chosen (as one of 16 pre-approved vendors) there was no bid necessary for this extension of the project. The companies had already done their bidding process. New vendors (remember there are already 16 approved) are not allowed into the process.

In total there were 55 vendors involved with CGI being the main contractor.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/10/16/meet-cgi-federal-the-company-behind-the-botched-launch-of-healthcare-gov/

[Spider-Dan]

Why do you think that the Obama administration is choosing not to enforce the law as written until after the midterm elections? Because he knows, that once the proverbial employer mandate shit hits the fan, that every democrat that voted for this bullshit is going to be run out of Washington. There is no other reason to not enforce the employer mandate portion of the law as it is written. You always hear Obama supporters saying that Obamacare "is the law". Well, then enforce the law you asked, campaigned, and voted for.

[...]

Interestingly, due to the complete failure of healthcare.gov portal. We have actually in real life, seen concerns about the individual mandate and need for more time to implement them effectively.

It is hilarious to watch the right insist that the mandate be delayed at the same time they cry foul about the mandate being delayed.

Kind of like how they want to hold hearings to get to the bottom of why the federal website isn't working at the same time they are actively discouraging people from signing up.

Or how governors who are supposedly in favor of "states' rights" and insist that programs like these are better run at the state level choose not to set up their own exchanges and instead rely on the federal exchanges.

Whatever it takes to deny Obama a victory, at any level.

[Buddhagirl]

I was actually able to sign up. It took a few tries, but I finally got in a couple of weeks ago early in the morning.
I've paid for my own coverage for the past 7ish years. Each year it's gone up about $30-40. I now pay $348ish with $25 deductible for doctor, $50 for specialists.

As of Jan 1 I'll be paying $76 (with my subsidy) a month with $10 copays. $25 for specialists. Deductible remains the same, if I recall.

And, I couldn't be turned down for my previous rather serious illnesses.

[Buddhagirl]

Many insurers are cancelling their pre-ACA plans and "suggesting" replacement plans that are excessively expensive.  In the story I linked above, the 54-year-old subject of the story was offered a $591/mo replacement plan (for her $54/mo junk insurance that covered virtually nothing) from her insurance company Florida Blue.  However, based on her age and income, she could have gotten a much cheaper plan through Obamacare (which is still light-years better than her old plan) for $209/mo.

My current insurer did this. Mine rose about $40, but I found a much cheaper plan through ACA.

[Phishfan]

It is hilarious to watch the right insist that the mandate be delayed at the same time they cry foul about the mandate being delayed.

Kind of like how they want to hold hearings to get to the bottom of why the federal website isn't working at the same time they are actively discouraging people from signing up.

Or how governors who are supposedly in favor of "states' rights" and insist that programs like these are better run at the state level choose not to set up their own exchanges and instead rely on the federal exchanges.

Whatever it takes to deny Obama a victory, at any level.

Wow, we seem to go head to head so much that sometimes I forget how much we have in common.

[Phishfan]

I was actually able to sign up. It took a few tries, but I finally got in a couple of weeks ago early in the morning.
I've paid for my own coverage for the past 7ish years. Each year it's gone up about $30-40. I now pay $348ish with $25 deductible for doctor, $50 for specialists.

As of Jan 1 I'll be paying $76 (with my subsidy) a month with $10 copays. $25 for specialists. Deductible remains the same, if I recall.

And, I couldn't be turned down for my previous rather serious illnesses.

With Buddha's permission, wouldn't it be great to get this story published? I'm tired of hearing people complain about losing insurance that wouldn't cover an ingrown toenail!

[CF DolFan]

With Buddha's permission, wouldn't it be great to get this story published? I'm tired of hearing people complain about losing insurance that wouldn't cover an ingrown toenail!

I don't see $350 a month as a win. Anyone in my family who doesn't work for a company who provides health insurance certainly can't afford this. $14 an hour equates to about $29,000 a year or about $560 a week before taxes and whatever else. 350 is about 75 percent of their one week take home pay. I don't know anyone making that who can afford to give up anything let alone almost a check a month.