Obamacare/Trumpcare Horror Stories

[Blarg]

Back on the phone to wait another two hours...

 

This is friggin crazy.

 

I'm a patient man, but really...

 

You are no patient without insurance.

 

 

[fan_since79]

So, Eric, what you're implying is that people are going to die as a result of this mess.

 

This woman has lost her oncologist (who has so far provided her with quality cancer treatment) and now will have to settle for substandard care from another oncologist whose (cheaper) treatments her insurance company will cover.

Edited February 5, 2014 by fan_since79

[fan_since79]

Wow, got through to Anthem with only a 10 minute wait on hold. Problem resolved (I hope). 

[Blarg]

People with good insurance die every day due to the complexity of the human body and the ability for doctors to properly diagnose their real affliction.

 

I can't say what will happen other than people will be inconvenienced, pay more, have fewer health care provider choices and with that a smaller pool of trained medical personnel along with medication restrictions. I just don't see the odds stacked in patients favor when you keep eliminating resources and narrow the scope of what care they can receive.

 

The other side of the coin is if they never could afford health care previously their choices were limited more so. So a little is better than none but if you had good insurance and lost that policy you have plenty of reason to be concerned that these Bronze, Silver and Gold plans will provide you with anything comparable.

 

So, Eric, what you're implying is that people are going to die as a result of this mess.

 

This woman has lost her oncologist (who has so far provided her with quality cancer treatment) and now will have to settle for substandard care from another oncologist whose (cheaper) treatments her insurance company will cover.

[fan_since79]

Congressional Budget Office: Obamacare Will Lead To 2 Million Fewer Workers In The Labor Force By 2017

 

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cbo-obamacare-lead-2-million-154956476.html

 

 

“Over the longer run, CBO finds that because of this law, individuals will be empowered to make choices about their own lives and livelihoods, like retiring on time rather than working into their elderly years or choosing to spend more time with their families. At the beginning of this year, we noted that as part of this new day in health care, Americans would no longer be trapped in a job just to provide coverage for their families, and would have the opportunity to pursue their dreams.

~~  White House Press Secretary Jay Carney

 

 

Yes, he actually thinks it's a good thing that 2 million jobs will be lost as a result of Obamacare. 

Edited February 5, 2014 by fan_since79

[Tank]

Wow, brand new problem, and it's a huge one!

 

This is what I just saw on my Anthem online billing account page:

 

"Our records show you are currently on an automatic recurring payment option where your premiums are automatically debited from your chosen account. You will not be able to utilize the online payment service to make your premium payments as payments will be automatically debited when they become due. To change your current premium payment option or if you have any questions, please call us at the number listed on your ID card."

 

 

I AUTHORIZED NO SUCH THING!! I make my payments every month online, but I am in charge of it!

 

Those little bas*ards!!!

 

man, i'm so sorry you're having to go through this. hopefully everything gets worked out soon enough and you're good to go.

 

honestly, i figure most of us are headed for the same thing eventually. i think the whole country is going to be using obamacare, in time, and i think that's been part of their plan all along.

[Spirit]

Not sure if this lawsuit has been discussed here before.  What a goat rodeo this whole thing is!  

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-f-will-four-words-in-the-aca-could-spell-its-doom/2014/01/29/e26a33cc-884a-11e3-a5bd-844629433ba3_story.html

[fan_since79]

Harry Reid: Workers who lose their jobs over Obamacare will become "free agents".

 

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/02/04/reid-obamacare-doesnt-cost-jobs-it-turns-workers-into-free-agents/

 

You can't make this stuff up.

 

Free the workers who are chained to their jobs! LOL

Edited February 5, 2014 by fan_since79

[mtangelsfan]

Harry Reid: Workers who lose their jobs over Obamacare will become "free agents".

 

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/02/04/reid-obamacare-doesnt-cost-jobs-it-turns-workers-into-free-agents/

 

You can't make this stuff up.

 

Free the workers who are chained to their jobs! LOL

 

Awesome Harry. 

[Blarg]

Good God, how does this idiot manage to brush his teeth in the morning with the intelligence of a fruit bat?

 

On one side we are looking at the potential of 2.3 million homeless people and he looks at as being free agents. Someone please strip this idiot of his assets and job and let him discover all the possibilities of free agency with no prospect of employment.

 

This entire system has adopted the Let Them Eat Cake doctrine and deserve the rewards bestowed upon the original author of that plan.

[HaloMagic]

Yes, he actually thinks it's a good thing that 2 million jobs will be lost as a result of Obamacare.

2 millions fewer workers in the labor force is not the same as 2 million fewer jobs. I'm not sure I believe the report but it is saying that 2 million people will opt to leave their jobs and not seek other employment. It explicitly States that this will be almost entirely the choice of the employees. There may be a reduction in jobs due to Obamacare but that isn't what this report is talking about at all.

[Tank]

Not sure if this lawsuit has been discussed here before.  What a goat rodeo this whole thing is!  

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-f-will-four-words-in-the-aca-could-spell-its-doom/2014/01/29/e26a33cc-884a-11e3-a5bd-844629433ba3_story.html

"If courts, perhaps ultimately including the Supreme Court, disallow the IRS’s “interpretation” of the law, the ACA will not function as intended in 34 states with 65 percent of the nation’s population. If courts allow the IRS’s demarche, they will validate this:

By dispensing subsidies through federal exchanges, the IRS will spend tax revenues without congressional authorization. And by enforcing the employer mandate in states that have only federal exchanges, it will collect taxes — remember, Chief Justice John Roberts saved the ACA by declaring that the penalty enforcing the mandate is really just a tax on the act of not purchasing insurance — without congressional authorization.

If the IRS can do neither, it cannot impose penalties on employers who fail to offer ACA-approved insurance to employees.

If the IRS can do both, Congress can disband because it has become peripheral to American governance."

interesting take. this is worth watching.

[Tank]

"Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council, told CNN that the CBO report was pro-family values — after host Wolf Blitzer called the report “very, very disturbing.”

“What this report said should not suggest this is going to cost jobs. What this report said is a rather obvious point, which is that as people have greater access to healthcare, there is going to be some two-parent families where someone says I’m going to work a little less because we can get healthcare and I’m going spend time raising my children. There is going to be somebody out there who because they can afford healthcare has wanted to retire and may retire earlier. This is about giving Americans more choices,” Sperling said."

 

sperling sounds like he's ready to make a run for congress. holy cow.

[HaloMagic]

Would not at all be surprised to see the court approve IRS collection of revenue. They've allowed it for a century despite shaky legal standing. The Supreme Court isn't going to save us. They aren't the White Knight in our government. They are subject to the same political winds that Congress is.

Oh, and LOL at Congress disbanding the IRS. Without it the Dems couldn't give free shit to poor people and the Repcons couldn't kill innocent brown people. The IRS isn't going anywhere.

Edited February 5, 2014 by HaloMagic

[mtangelsfan]

Would not at all be surprised to see the court approve IRS collection of revenue. They've allowed it for a century despite shall legal standing. The Supreme Court isn't going to save us. They aren't the White Knight in our government. They are subject to the same political winds that Congress is.

Oh, and LOL at Congress disbanding the IRS. Without it the Dems couldn't give free shit to poor people and the Repcons couldn't kill innocent brown people. The IRS isn't going anywhere.

 

Wait, who's the President right now?

[HaloMagic]

Oh, no. I don't mean to imply that Dems don't also kill brown people. They do. It's just not their big thing. Repcons also give away free shit. But again, it's not their big thing.

[mtangelsfan]

It's both their things.  Their thing is power, any way they can get it IMO.

[Tank]

It's both their things.  Their thing is power, any way they can get it IMO.

 

and anyway they can keep it, no matter who it hurts or what it costs.

[arch stanton]

man, i'm so sorry you're having to go through this. hopefully everything gets worked out soon enough and you're good to go.

 

honestly, i figure most of us are headed for the same thing eventually. i think the whole country is going to be using obamacare, in time, and i think that's been part of their plan all along.

Not the whole country. We're headed for a clear division between haves and have nots and this will be one of the dividing points. Sorry, you and your Hoi Poloi cancer are not welcome in our lovely clinic. Please take your poor ass to the state run shithole down the road and give them your sorry state-run insurance.

[fan_since79]

Not the whole country. We're headed for a clear division between haves and have nots and this will be one of the dividing points. Sorry, you and your Hoi Poloi cancer are not welcome in our lovely clinic. Please take your poor ass to the state run shithole down the road and give them your sorry state-run insurance.

 

I can't even go to the shithole down the road since I don't have a damn ID card!!

[nate]

We are seeing a pretty high volume of people that are voiding their coverage and requesting a refund.  All of them have claims on file.  The exchange is allowing them to do it as long as it is within 10 days.

 

In the end it will screw the providers, not us.  We have contracts with the providers where we get the money back on any claims we paid for people who are not covered.  The provider will now have to send the member a bill trying to recoup the full cost.

[fan_since79]

Number of Obamacare signups is greatly inflated

 

Byron York, Washington Examiner

 

excerpt:

Whatever the precise number, it appears that a large majority of the activity in Obamacare private coverage sign-ups is essentially a churn operation: The system throws people out of their coverage, and then those people come to the system to sign up for new coverage, and that is reported as a gain for Obamacare.

 

Put the two together — Medicaid and private insurance — and it's clear the response of the nation's uninsured to Obamacare has been far less enthusiastic than the administration claims. Which means that the Affordable Care Act has gotten off to a terrible start at its core mission, insuring the uninsured. 

 

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated there are 57 million uninsured people in the United States. Even if Obamacare worked perfectly, an estimated 31 million would remain uninsured when the law is fully in effect. And if Obamacare continues to sputter and fail as it has so far, that number of still-uninsured could be much higher. Was it worth roiling the nation's health care system to achieve such lackluster results? 

 

http://washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-number-of-obamacare-sign-ups-is-greatly-inflated/article/2543629

[Adam]

I don't believe the ACA's core mission is to insure the unisured

[fan_since79]

There are several goals of Obamacare, of course, but covering the uninsured is a pretty big part of it:

 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/09/16/affordable-care-act-helps-america-s-uninsured

 

Today, the Census bureau released new data on the number of Americans who went without insurance in 2009. The numbers are yet another reminder that the passage of the Affordable Care Act came at a critical time.  The data show that the number of Americans without insurance increased by 4.4 million since 2008, with a total of 50.7 million uninsured Americans.

 

The Affordable Care Act marks a crucial turning point for our health care system and will help make affordable, high-quality care accessible to millions of Americans. Under the Affordable Care Act, millions of Americans will be able to purchase better coverage in the new competitive private health insurance exchanges where individuals and small businesses will be able to choose coverage from a range of insurance options – the same options members of Congress will have. The law also helps cover millions of Americans who have been priced out of the market.  Taken together, the provisions in the law will expand coverage to 32 million Americans.  For more information on the new law please visit: www.HealthCare.gov. 

[mtangelsfan]

I think Adam means the unstated goal of the ACA, the true goal of the ACA isn't that.