Obamacare/Trumpcare Horror Stories

[fan_since79]

LOL, when I got through yesterday to tech support (after 30 minutes on hold), I spoke to a young lady with a pronounced Indian accent and asked her why I couldn't print a temporary ID card from Anthem's web site. She put me on hold again for a while, then came back and said, "You don't have permission for that function, sir."

Yes, those were her exact words.

Then she suggested I email my concerns to Anthem, as I might get a response from someone.

 

I give up. I surrender, Anthem! You broke me, finally. 

 

This company is a living nightmare. I've never been more thankful to be in good health and not need their "services". Medicare is the light at the end of the tunnel right now. Still some years to go, however. Pray for my continued good health.

Edited January 31, 2014 by fan_since79

[nate]

Anthem is raising premiums by as much as 25% on older policies not affected by Obamacare.

 

For one family quoted in the story, their premium went up to $1,822/month. A 25% increase for them on top of a 53% hike since 2010. Premium increases are wildly outpacing inflation.

State regulators are looking into this closely.

 

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-anthem-health-rates-20140131,0,5252164.story#axzz2rzxQcgFo

 

Yep.  Has everything to do with no more underwriting and insane increases in mandates.  Has nothing to do with inflation.  Obamacare doubled the mandates.

 

The mess from the govt gets bigger.  3/1 members are not being sent over due to a new defect.  Still never get a response from the government on any issues.

[fan_since79]

Covered California still has not begun the verification process on the documents I submitted to prove my citizenship. Driver's license, Social Security card: both of them faxed, emailed, and snail mailed almost two months ago. No action yet on their part, documents still "unverified" on my online profile.

I got my SS card when I was 16, and have paid taxes for over 35 years using this number.

 

There are at least 100,000 Californians affected by this screw-up on their part. I'm wondering now if I'll be cancelled after my 90-day "conditional" policy expires in March. 

 

A living nightmare, that's what it is. 

[Blarg]

According to the State of the Union address three million Americans have signed up for healthcare through the government agencies but as FanSince79 points out you can sign up, pay your premiums but still have no idea if you can file any claim.

 

Obamasham needs to get scrapped before those 3 million people march on Washington demanding a refund for services not rendered.

[nate]

By the way, that 3 million number is such a farce.  3 million signed up, probably about half of them actually paid.

 

Also, the majority signed up for the bronze plan which is basically the same as taking your money and flushing it down the toilet.  They would be better off putting that money in savings in most instances.

[fan_since79]

There's a giant flaw in the Bronze plans. According to the plans on Covered California, the $5,000 deductible applies not only to medical, but also to prescriptions. One must cough up $5,000 before a $19 copay kicks in for generic medications. Not even the worst plans that were available before Obamacare had this extreme burden.

 

My experience with prescriptions has been that almost all medications have a full price of at least $100. Copays tend to be in the range of $5-20 for generics.

So these people with the Bronze plans will be paying at least $100 for any generics their doctor might prescribe. That is, until they meet their $5,000 deductible for the year.

 

So yes, the Bronze plans are worthless except for protection against catastrophic loss. 

Edited January 31, 2014 by fan_since79

[nate]

Yep, only thing it protects you from is if you become very very ill, and you still pay 5k out of pocket before the benefits even kick in and even then they only cover at like 60%.  It still costs people anywhere from 100-250 dollars a month.  Imagine that.  It does cover three standard doctors visits a year at 100%... Those cost what 100 bucks each?

[fan_since79]

Yep, only thing it protects you from is if you become very very ill, and you still pay 5k out of pocket before the benefits even kick in and even then they only cover at like 60%.  It still costs people anywhere from 100-250 dollars a month.  Imagine that.  It does cover three standard doctors visits a year at 100%... Those cost what 100 bucks each?

 

Anthem Bronze plan for someone my age (59) in L.A. County costs $422/month. A $5,000 individual deductible for medical and drugs ($10,000 per family), three doctor visits per year at $60 apiece. $6,350 maximum out-of-pocket for one, $12,700 for family.

 

So that's $5,064 each year in premiums and you have to spend another $5,000 before any benefits kick in, except for those three doctor visits. And those visits don't cover lab tests, X-rays, etc. that might be required. Those are extra, and full price until the deductible is satisfied.

Edited January 31, 2014 by fan_since79

[nate]

Anthem Bronze plan for someone my age (59) in L.A. County costs $422/month. A $5,000 individual deductible for medical and drugs ($10,000 per family), three doctor visits per year at $60 apiece. $6,350 maximum out-of-pocket for one, $12,700 for family.

 

So that's $5,064 each year in premiums and you have to spend another $5,000 before any benefits kick in, except for those three doctor visits. And those visits don't cover lab tests, X-rays, etc. that might be required. Those are extra, and full price until the deductible is satisfied.

 

Yeah, they are usually subsidized though, depending on the income level.  The government kicks in 200 bucks or so.  So imagine that, the higher taxes you are paying on your health insurance are paying for people to have shit coverage that does them no good.

[fan_since79]

A single person making over $46,000 is not eligible for any subsidy. The family levels start around $68,000. 

 

Some estimates are that the subsidies and other costs of Obamacare will run over a trillion dollars in the next several years.

Edited January 31, 2014 by fan_since79

[TobiasFunke]

A single person making over $46,000 is not eligible for any subsidy. The family levels start around $68,000. 

 

Some estimates are that the subsidies and other costs of Obamacare will run over a trillion dollars in the next several years.

$68,000? I'm pretty sure that someone that makes that much a year usually has a decent full time job with benefits. But that's just me...

[nate]

$68,000? I'm pretty sure that someone that makes that much a year usually has a decent full time job with benefits. But that's just me...

 

Family that makes 68k?  That is 34k per person per year.  If they are self employed or work for a small business with 50 employees or less they are not required to be offered health insurance.  Couple coverage costs about 800 a month and family coverage can easily reach 1500 a month.  You think that is affordable on 68k?  We make almost double that and would have trouble paying that much every month living in WI.

[Jay]

The good news is the cost curve is bending.

[nate]

The wrong way.

[DowningRules]

I have tried to get a cost estimate on Covered CA website but the website does not let me put in all my information.  So I have no idea what my insurance costs would be and I can't sign-up even if I wanted to.  Anthem sent me a letter telling me they would extend my insurance for a time, but it would be at double the cost of what I was paying on my original plan.  So, the 'if you like your insurance you can keep it' lie is still just that...a lie, with no solution but plenty of lip service.

 

I don't have insurance now.  And it sounds like the 'bronze' plan is a waste of money.  It seems more cost effective to just not have insurance and pay out of pocket for prescriptions, etc.  In that case, what happens if something catastrophic happens to me?  Will obamacare bail me out? 

[Blarg]

The Bronze plan is the catastrophic insurance plan. It is the coverage that isn't there until you were looking at bankruptcy medical bills. Then is it only partial payment of any claim and so far, from what we've read from Fansince79, you may not even be able to file one since the entire system has no checks and balances.

[Blarg]

By the way, the supposed 6 million that signed up under the affordable care act are not necessarily new enrolments. There were something like $2.1 million that used the government website for an individual plan (Fansince79) the rest of that $6 million were signing up for Medicaid or more to the point, extending their previous Medicaid insurance.

 

The government really has no definitive number of how many on Medicaid were not already on it or just became qualified under the old rules and that was income up to 128% over poverty level or basically a little over $15k a year. These are not really new people signing up nor is it serving a cross section of America that wasn't already qualified.

 

So the numbers are deceiving and they certainly don't reflect how many Americans like DR are losing their pre-existing policies that they could afford and for the same costs or higher can only afford disaster medical insurance instead of a more rounded policy.

[nate]

Right, many small businesses and individuals were dropped by their insurance or elected to drop their insurance.  The number of uninsured was hardly improved.  And as previously mentioned the Bronze plan is worthless, its not saving anyone money.

 

DR, the silver and gold plans are good.  Just cost more.

[fan_since79]

Well, it's February now, and I still have no ID card or any idea when it might arrive in the mail.

THREE premium payments made and cashed (costing me a lot of money) but no certificate of insurance or ID card.

 

And when you do manage to get through on the phone, you get different and conflicting answers. One person told me "sure, you can print out a temporary ID card on our site" (No, you can't), but the nice lady with the heavy Indian accent told me on another occasion, "You don't have permission for that function, sir".

 

It's like a really bad dream. 

 

At least I'm covered until April (I hope), but walking into a doctor's office without an insurance card is basically telling them, "Charge me full price!" 

Edited February 2, 2014 by fan_since79

[fan_since79]

The Bronze plan is the catastrophic insurance plan. It is the coverage that isn't there until you were looking at bankruptcy medical bills. Then is it only partial payment of any claim and so far, from what we've read from Fansince79, you may not even be able to file one since the entire system has no checks and balances.

 

And if anything goes wrong with your claim, expect to wait an hour or two on hold trying to resolve it.

 

Half the time you reach a call center in the Philippines and talk to people whose grasp of English and company policy are shaky at best.

[fan_since79]

I have tried to get a cost estimate on Covered CA website but the website does not let me put in all my information.  So I have no idea what my insurance costs would be and I can't sign-up even if I wanted to.  Anthem sent me a letter telling me they would extend my insurance for a time, but it would be at double the cost of what I was paying on my original plan.  So, the 'if you like your insurance you can keep it' lie is still just that...a lie, with no solution but plenty of lip service.

 

I don't have insurance now.  And it sounds like the 'bronze' plan is a waste of money.  It seems more cost effective to just not have insurance and pay out of pocket for prescriptions, etc.  In that case, what happens if something catastrophic happens to me?  Will obamacare bail me out? 

 

Not if you're not enrolled at the time of your medical emergency. Landing in the hospital for a few days could set you back $20,000 or more. At least the Bronze plan protects against that. The out-of-pocket maximums for individuals are around $6,000. 

 

Have you tried Covered California's cost calculator? Just type in a few basic numbers and it will give you cost estimates and different plan choices.

 

Here's the link:

 

https://www.coveredca.com/shopandcompare/#calculator

Edited February 2, 2014 by fan_since79

[nate]

Out of pocket max is more than 6k.  6k is the deductible.  So the first 6k comes out of your pocket no matter what.  Then it goes to co insurance, basically the plan covers say 60%, so you still pay 40%.

[fan_since79]

copied from the Covered CA site...Bronze plans

 

 

Maximum Out-of-Pocket For One

$6,350

Maximum Out-of-Pocket For Family

$12,700

 

The deductible is $5,000 for individual and $10,000 for family. 

 

I know, it's weird, but the out-of-pockets for all the plans are exactly the same, $6,350 for one person and $12,700 per family.

These are the numbers for those NOT qualifying for subsidies. Depending on income, the copays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket's could be less.

Edited February 2, 2014 by fan_since79

[Tank]

Anthem Bronze plan for someone my age (59) in L.A. County costs $422/month. A $5,000 individual deductible for medical and drugs ($10,000 per family), three doctor visits per year at $60 apiece. $6,350 maximum out-of-pocket for one, $12,700 for family.

 

So that's $5,064 each year in premiums and you have to spend another $5,000 before any benefits kick in, except for those three doctor visits. And those visits don't cover lab tests, X-rays, etc. that might be required. Those are extra, and full price until the deductible is satisfied.

So what's the point if having insurance if that's how much it's going to cost the consumer? What an absolute ripoff.

[fan_since79]

The Bronze premiums for younger people are much less than the figure I quoted for myself. A 29-year old making $45,000/year could get a Bronze plan for as little as $164/month, and a Silver one for $196.

 

They're trying to get the young, healthy people to sign up. This is vital for making the system work. They'll pay their premiums yet probably not need to use their benefits. They'll be paying for older people like myself who might actually need medical care.