I think I understand why they selected the day after Halloween as the enrollment day
for Obamacare. After being visited by all the ghouls and goblins at your doorstep,
you probably have a higher tolerance for scary shit. If not, you can always
self-medicate with candy.
I wrote about this topic back in 2010 and again in 2013,
during my angrier days, so my position has always been clear. I was very
critical of it and said why in these two posts: Health
Care Reform & HCR:
Why Do I Have A Problem With This, but I wasn’t alone on this topic. A lot
of folks, including Dr.
Barbara Bellar were also critical. Turns out, we weren’t wrong.
Now, I am one of the lucky ones, as I have coverage through
my former employer, so this really doesn’t impact me. However, I thought I
would share this comparison with you because it is pretty telling. I’m not
going to get into the minutia, because that’s just stupid. Numbers speak for
themselves.
From 2010 – 2015, I had BC / BS EPO. I had moved out of New
York, so I needed a plan that would give me nationwide coverage. With this plan
there were ZERO deductibles, just a co-pay. I went to whatever Dr. I wanted and
any facility / hospital I wanted. The monthly price in the beginning was just
under a $1k ($12,000 annually) a month. This covered EVERYONE in my family. In
2015 that monthly amount had gone up to just over $1,400 ($17,000 annually) and
we were notified to expect an increase. Obviously I don’t have thousands of
dollars to waste every year, so we switched back to our old insurance.
Now I pay only a few hundred, but the problem is that it is
NYC based medical, everything is out of pocket and I have substantial
deductibles. I guess if anything major happens it will be cheaper to fly back
to NY to get it taken care of.
Today, just for a laugh, we decided to check out the awesome
plans available to us through the ACA.
I would suggest that you grab that leftover bowl of candy
and a drink, preferably a (strong) alcoholic one, as you continue to read.
Remember the plan I had back in 2010 – 2015. I assume, based
on coverage, that it would be considered either a Gold or Platinum plan. That
is important to remember.
After we entered ALL the pertinent information we were
happily notified that we had several plans to select from. For the sake of this
post, I’m going to stick with the cheapest plan (Bronze) and not bore you with
the rest.
Long Story Short: For the incredibly low rate of only $1,800
a month ($21,600.00 annually), my family can enjoy the amazing benefits of medical insurance, which will all be
covered, AFTER we meet our annual family deductible of only $14,000.00.
Seriously?
I have to get a job making over $35,000.00 a year just to
pay for my medical insurance?
WTF?
I’m sorry, but you mean I could go back to my old (Gold /
Platinum) plan, see who I want, when I want, with a minimal ($15.00) co-pay and
pay thousands less than the Obamacare (Bronze) plan with a ZERO annual deductible………
???
Are you people in D.C. smoking Crack ???
This is what you get kids, when your elected representatives
don’t read something before they sign it into law. It is the reason that 70% of
Americans want this repealed. You were lied to.
I can’t wait to see how they spin this one.
