Obamacare/Trumpcare Horror Stories

[fan_since79]

This reporter's plan was cancelled, and a replacement Obamacare plan will cost her family $7,750 more each year in premiums, not to mention higher costs for doctor visits, tests, and X-rays:

 

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/2014/03/cohen_thanks_obamacare_my_health_costs_spiked

 

 

[Adam]

Fake and False!

[Jay]

This reporter's plan was cancelled, and a replacement Obamacare plan will cost her family $7,750 more each year in premiums, not to mention higher costs for doctor visits, tests, and X-rays:

 

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/2014/03/cohen_thanks_obamacare_my_health_costs_spiked

 

It might be cheaper for her to quit her job and go on Medicare.

[fan_since79]

Fake and False!

 

Millions of Americans lying for the hell of it! An epidemic of lies!

[Blarg]

The government should round up all these liars and separate them from society for the good of the country.

[fan_since79]

A bill passed the House yesterday by a large margin to make the penalty $0 this year for violating the individual mandate.

Twenty-seven Democrats joined all but one Republican in voting for it.

 

It should be interesting to see how this plays out. Obama said he will veto it.

Edited March 7, 2014 by fan_since79

[HaloMagic]

He wont need to veto it. The Senate won't even take that up.

[fan_since79]

Here's another liar from Oklahoma who claims he lost his insurance due to Obamacare and now owes $100,000 in medical bills:

 

[Don]

Quick question about the subsidies, as I haven't been able to find a reasonable answer anywhere. I know I should be able to qualify for an insurance subsidy, but do I have to pay the non-subsidized premium every month, then wait until tax season to be reimbursed, or do I have to pay what the premium would be after the average monthly subsidy? I.E. $200/month, with $1800 coming back to me next year, or $50/month straight up? I only ask because this will pretty much determine whether or not I sign up in the next two days.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Don Tomlinson

[nate]

The subsidy is monthly so you only have to pay the amount you are responsible each month.

[fan_since79]

Right. They take the subsidy off your premium, so you only owe the reduced amount every month. That's what the bill will indicate.

[Don]

Thanks guys. Finally got enrolled. $83/month with no primary care copay, and $25 specialist copay. Frankly, it's a bit more than I wanted to pay per month (though I totally get that it's a good deal), but it's the cheapest plan I saw with reasonably good coverage.

[Blarg]

$83 per month and you are bitching about the cost?

[Jay]

Sounds pretty cheap to me.  I wonder if there are any doctors participating in that plan.

[nate]

Yikes, that Bronze plan is real garbage, I would suggest considering the Silver plan.

 

Everything is still a gigantic mess.  On top of it all they are breaking all of the rules to get people enrolled, probably because they are trying to get enrollment numbers up.  It really is amazing how much they are ignoring the rules.

[Don]

$83 per month and you are bitching about the cost?

Quite the opposite. I realize it's a great deal. It's more than I wanted to spend though, as I'm very poor at the moment.

[fan_since79]

Here's a man in Nevada who signed up for Obamacare in November and has been paying his premiums every month since then. His insurance company has now denied coverage for his emergency triple-bypass operation, and he owes $407,000 in medical bills.

 

The funny thing is that Harry Reid (who would otherwise consider him a liar) is actually trying to help him:

 

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/obamacare-leaves-las-vegas-man-owing-407000-doctor-bills

Edited March 18, 2014 by fan_since79

[Adam]

He should send the bills to Obama. Unreal. 

 

$407K for a surgery is ridiculous, btw. 

[Jason]

He should send the bills to Obama. Unreal. 

 

$407K for a surgery is ridiculous, btw. 

So next time I have surgery I'll make sure to request they use a blade instead of a laser. Old school all the way.

[Amazing Larry]

http://washingtonexaminer.com/average-premiums-jump-39-to-56-under-obamacare-2604-a-month-in-california/article/2545766

[DowningRules]

I tried (again) to sign up for ACA on coveredcalifornia.  Still getting no where.  The website still doesn't work.  I get so far and then it freezes when I try and tell the f'ing website that I have no one else in my household.

 

It may think that my wife is alive and that I should therefore have her in the household too.  But, I'm afraid to test that theory online because it will open up a whole other can of worms.  And I'll prob get penalized for some sort of fraud.  But then, I'm supposed to get a fine if I DON'T sign up too, so wth should I do?

 

As much as I am trying to boost Obama's enrollment numbers to his admin's goal of 6 million, I am unable.

 

Wait a minute...are we really going through all of this to sign up 6 million people who may or may not pay? 

[fan_since79]

I tried (again) to sign up for ACA on coveredcalifornia.  Still getting no where.  The website still doesn't work.  I get so far and then it freezes when I try and tell the f'ing website that I have no one else in my household.

 

It may think that my wife is alive and that I should therefore have her in the household too.  But, I'm afraid to test that theory online because it will open up a whole other can of worms.  And I'll prob get penalized for some sort of fraud.  But then, I'm supposed to get a fine if I DON'T sign up too, so wth should I do?

 

As much as I am trying to boost Obama's enrollment numbers to his admin's goal of 6 million, I am unable.

 

Wait a minute...are we really going through all of this to sign up 6 million people who may or may not pay? 

 

Have you tried using a different browser? I had trouble with Safari, but Firefox worked and I was able to complete the process.

[DowningRules]

Have you tried using a different browser? I had trouble with Safari, but Firefox worked and I was able to complete the process.

 

Yup. IE, Firefox, chrome...even a different IP.  But thanks for the suggestion.  I've called but get put on hold forever.  A man has his limits. 

[nate]

It would take me days to update you guys on everything, but one thing I thought you all would enjoy.

 

There are a couple of primary identifiers for members in our system.  Mainly SSN/Badge ID (essentially a number assigned in place of SSN for privacy reasons) and a member ID.  The exchange, like many companies/entities sends a badge ID or "exchange assigned subscriber ID."  This is how we look up, change, reconcile, pay claims, etc on a member.  As part of the enrollment process we also send a file back to the exchange every night with the member ID for all members we enroll, as well as any transactions we have processed (for example term for non payment, add dependent, new add, etc).

 

Well the file we send back to the exchange is being totally ignored.  They acknowledge that they receive it but do not update their system with the information we send.  So when ever they send their reconciliation audit files, it still includes all of the members we have termed/voided for non payment and it does not include the member ID that we have given them for reference.

 

Also, when someone goes to sign up on the website, cancels and then comes back, their system assigns a new subscriber ID to them instead of the old one.  This is a very basic issue that all companies/entities face and know to avoid... except for the exchange of course.

 

Anyway, they have this system they use to send us customer service inquiries that they cannot process on their file.  Basically members call the exchange and request a different effective date, or claim that their dependent didn't get added, etc.  It is completely separate from their enrollment system and they just have some minimum wage CSRs that enter the data into it.  The worst part is they don't include any IDs, just a name and the state of the member.  It is almost impossible for us to look up these members among the tens of thousands of members we have, and that is if the name is spelled correctly.  I would say at least a quarter of them the names are completely misspelled by the CSRs and almost impossible to look up.

 

Finally, they are basically approving everything, with complete disregard to the enrollment rules.  They were allowing people to be retro enrolled back to January because they had a baby in October.  Obamacare rules clearly state that you get 60 days to enroll when you have a newborn.  There are tons of other instances of things like this.  You could enroll your kid, regardless of age and they would just assume that they are disabled if they are over the max age of 26.

 

This whole thing is going to cost insurers, and in turn the members millions of dollars in increased healthcare costs.

Edited March 21, 2014 by nate

[fan_since79]

DowningRules has company in his misery:

 

Half of callers to Covered California give up as deadline looms

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-health-exchange-california-20140320,0,6093696.story#ixzz2wc0hj0jK

 

Nearly half of callers to California's health insurance exchange in February and March couldn't get through and abandoned their call, state figures show.

Those service woes could worsen as more people try to beat the March 31 deadline to get Obamacare coverage under the Affordable Care Act.