Not so affordable healthcare

[Teysa]

Let me start by saying that I was actually excited about the Affordable Care Act. Well, I was until I found out that it's not affordable at all. My state is one of the ones that didn't expand medicare which means I'm on my own as far as paying goes. When I looked into how much it would cost to insure my husband and myself, the cheapest I found was about $350 a month. That may not seem like a lot but I only average about $600 a month take home pay. Admittedly that will go up over the summer, but that's only for the summer. It's still a big chunk of change. This doesn't even count the deductible. They want something silly like $12000. I don't get sick that often. Neither does the hubby. His problems are more of the mental health variety. Fortunately, our state does have a good program to take care of his needs in that area.

Frankly, I would have much rather paid a bit more in taxes and been guaranteed coverage. As it stands, it will be cheaper to pay the darn fee.

[TheHuckster]

I have encountered the same issue as you. Not only are my premiums very high (even for a healthy 30-something as myself), but it has a $10,000 deductible. The only benefits I really have is paying the insured rate, instead of the uninsured rate, which is still very expensive.

A few years ago I got pink-eye while not insured. I went to a clinic, and all the nurse did was take my blood pressure, take one look at my face and say, "Yep, you got pink-eye. Here's a prescription for anti-biotics."

Prescription: $50
Clinic Visit: $450
Some other fee that they seemed to make up: $300

Total Cost: $800

That's basically $800 for a 15 minute visit to a clinic for a very common and easy-to-treat illness that required no surgery, or invasive diagnostics. Hell, I'm almost convinced that $300 fee was for putting my arm through that sleeve to take my blood pressure.

As far as I can tell, the cost for that has not changed since the Affordable Healthcare Act was enacted. Whether or not that cost is taken care of by taxes, my insurance, or out of my own pocket, the fact of the matter is, we are paying for that kind of very high expense in one way or another.

And, yes, I know insurance companies negotiate lower prices for the same treatment. Even if they only pay 50% of the price I did, $400 is still an obscenely high number for such a simple treatment. The real punchline is, while being uninsured for a few years is very risky, I still saved a shit-ton of money by not insuring myself and simply having a rainy day fund for unexpected emergencies instead of paying hundreds of dollars a month for coverage that I don't even see until I first pay $10,000.

I'm all for affordable healthcare, and I think it's important as a society to ensure everyone gets treatment for their illnesses and diseases without going bankrupt. However, as far as I can tell, the Affordable Healthcare Act doesn't actually make healthcare affordable. Healthcare is still unnecessarily extremely expensive.

[s_stabeler]

My state is one of the ones that didn't expand medicare

That's your problem- the ACA was designed so that those that would be too poor to afford the premiums even with subsidies would get medicare instead.

oh, and TheHuckster, are you SURE you can't get a cheaper plan?

[TheHuckster]

oh, and TheHuckster, are you SURE you can't get a cheaper plan?

Not for my wife and I. I shopped around, and among the limited healthcare plans I've seen, the one I have now is comparable to the other similar plans. And I should note that my plan is not even a good one. A $10,000 deductible is one level up from catastrophic-level coverage, and I'm not at an income level which qualifies for subsidies or discounts.

[s_stabeler]

ouch. Sounds to me like it's a question of not enough competition- currently, there are situations where some places don't have many insurance companies offering policies yet. I agree that that policy of yours sucks, though.

part of the problem is because it IS new, though: insurance companies are being cautious in where they're offering policies, because they don't yet know the risks. I'm guessing that given a few years, you'll see cheaper policies.

[Teysa]

You may be right there. Of course that doesn't help much now.

[Greenday]

I thank God for good benefits. Since I file single, I don't pay a cent for my insurance through work and that includes medical, dental, and vision. My co-worker from North Carolina got screwed over though. His premiums went up for him and his family.

[Sleepwalker]

Ouch. Have you spoken to a navigator? Some of the choices are counterintuitive, like silver being cheaper than bronze if you are eligible for a subsidy.

[D_Yeti_Esquire]

Quick question: if your take home pay is only 600 a month, why did you not qualify for subsidies? Part of the ACA act includes subsidies for people whose ability to pay doesn't quite match the market.

I get all the gripes about deductible plans though.

[Teysa]

I thought I would qualify for subsidies too. According to the website though, I don't because Texas chose not to expand medicare. The turkeys.

[HYHYBT]

Georgia didn't take them either, I take home more than 600/month, and I got a subsidy. Do either of your employers offer anything, even if it's worthless and expensive? Or maybe your combined income is too much... I don't know.

Definitely don't vote for whoever decided your state shouldn't take the money

[lordlundar]

I've noticed that the locations where a lot of the "ACA is more expensive" complaints come from are locations where the GOP has control and rejected the systems to make it work well. They're using the methods to try to make the public think it's an abysmal failure in hopes to get it repealed.

Sad part is it seems to be working.

[TheHuckster]

I've noticed that the locations where a lot of the "ACA is more expensive" complaints come from are locations where the GOP has control and rejected the systems to make it work well. They're using the methods to try to make the public think it's an abysmal failure in hopes to get it repealed.

Sad part is it seems to be working.

That's not true where I live.

[Sleepwalker]

About half the states have yet to expand medicare. Mine is currently attempting to get a supermajority to get it past the (Republican) governor's veto. Shitty position to be in, living in one of these states.

[Teysa]

Today is my last day at my current job. They like to keep the hours as low as possible probably so they don't have to provide insurance. The seasonal job doesn't offer insurance. However, now that I think about it, that may have changed. I'll have to check into that.

Oh and HYBYT, my governor isn't running again so he can focus on running for president. Be afraid. Be very afraid.