Author Topic: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance  (Read 5877 times)

Soul Crusher

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Some families to be priced out of health overhaul (Obama's hands tied by how law was written)
 WTOP ^ | 01/31/2013 | RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

Posted on Thursday, January 31, 2013 3:42:49 PM by SeekAndFind

WASHINGTON (AP) - Some families could get priced out of health insurance due to what's being called a glitch in President Barack Obama's overhaul law. IRS regulations issued Wednesday failed to fix the problem as liberal backers of the president's plan had hoped.

As a result, some families that can't afford the employer coverage that they are offered on the job will not be able to get financial assistance from the government to buy private health insurance on their own. How many people will be affected is unclear.

The Obama administration says its hands were tied by the way Congress wrote the law. Officials said the administration tried to mitigate the impact. Families that can't get coverage because of the glitch will not face a tax penalty for remaining uninsured, the IRS rules said.

"This is a very significant problem, and we have urged that it be fixed," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, an advocacy group that supported the overhaul from its early days. "It is clear that the only way this can be fixed is through legislation and not the regulatory process."


(Excerpt) Read more at wtop.com ...

Emmortal

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Thankfully they had to pass the bill so they could then read it, apparently they are just getting around to reading it.

GigantorX

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Wait....I thought this shit was free?!!?!?!?!?

Straw Man

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I just switched from a group plan sponsored by a professional association to which I am a member to a private plan and I lowered my monthly premium from over $400 to $138

Who should I blame for that

tonymctones

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I just switched from a group plan sponsored by a professional association to which I am a member to a private plan and I lowered my monthly premium from over $400 to $138

Who should I blame for that
awesome, way to address the shit bill the libtards and president shoved down the throats of the US public...

Straw Man

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awesome, way to address the shit bill the libtards and president shoved down the throats of the US public...


if it's so shitty how did I just cut my insurance premium

Soul Crusher

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if it's so shitty how did I just cut my insurance premium

What do you have to do w anything?  Are you insuring a family of 4?

Straw Man

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What do you have to do w anything?  Are you insuring a family of 4?

funny you mention that

I just referred my friend who has a wife and 3 kids to the same broker I used and he just called me telling me he cut his family's premium from almost 1k a month to less than $475 a month

He's on the same plan as me.

PPO plan with HSA and 4500 deductible

Even Kaiser was almost twice as much


Soul Crusher

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funny you mention that

I just referred my friend who has a wife and 3 kids to the same broker I used and he just called me telling me he cut his family's premium from almost 1k a month to less than $475 a month

He's on the same plan as me.

PPO plan with HSA and 4500 deductible

Even Kaiser was almost twice as much



I know you hate me - and thats fine - but can you pm me his contact info? 

GigantorX

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I know you hate me - and thats fine - but can you pm me his contact info? 

 :) :) :)

I love GetBig

Straw Man

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Re: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance
« Reply #10 on: January 31, 2013, 06:44:51 PM »
I know you hate me - and thats fine - but can you pm me his contact info?  

I don't hate you

I'd have to give a shit about you to hate you

I'm pretty sure the broker I went through is only licensed in CA

The actual insurance company is called HealthNet (not sure if they operate in other states)

The weird thing is I had to join the Farm Bureau (it only costs ~ $72 buck a year)

http://www.cfbf.com/countyservices/insurance.htm

I think many other states have the same thing so just look around

btw - I have nothing whatsoever to do with farming and I don't know how I'm allowed to join the FB but that's what I had to do to get on the plan and it's still an individual plan and not a group plan (i.e. I had to answer a bunch of health related question before I could get approved)

Even weirder, I had a group plan via HealthNet from ~ 2005  - 2007 via membership in a professional association (i.e true group plan so no issue with prior health or questions about it) and the premium for that plan was at least twice at much at that was 5-6 years ago

Soul Crusher

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Re: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance
« Reply #11 on: January 31, 2013, 06:47:27 PM »
I don't hate you

I'd have to give a shit about you to hate you

I'm pretty sure the broker I went through is only licensed in CA

The actual insurance company is called HealthNet (not sure if they operate in other states)

The weird thing is I had to join the Farm Bureau (it only costs ~ $72 buck a year)

http://www.cfbf.com/countyservices/insurance.htm

I think many other states have the same thing so just look around

btw - I have nothing whatsoever to do with farming and I don't know how I'm allowed to join the FB but that's what I had to do to get on the plan and it's still an individual plan and not a group plan (i.e. I had to answer a bunch of health related question before I could get approved)

Even weirder, I had a group plan from ~ 2005  - 2007 via membership in a professional association (i.e true group plan so no issue with prior health or questions about it) and the premium for that plan was at least twice at much at that was 5-6 years ago

Ill check it out - i went from about 285 to 485 per month overnight for even worse coverage in NYC!

Straw Man

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Re: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance
« Reply #12 on: January 31, 2013, 06:49:36 PM »
Ill check it out - i went from about 285 to 485 per month overnight for even worse coverage in NYC!

there is a NY Farm Bureau

http://www.nyfb.org/membership/benefits_detail.cfm?ID=5

Soul Crusher

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Re: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance
« Reply #13 on: January 31, 2013, 06:53:02 PM »
there is a NY Farm Bureau

http://www.nyfb.org/membership/benefits_detail.cfm?ID=5

Ill check it out - thanks! 

I dont give a shit about the deductible - its the monthly premiuim i hate.   I want a high high high deducticle low premiuim plan

Straw Man

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Re: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance
« Reply #14 on: January 31, 2013, 06:54:22 PM »
Ill check it out - thanks! 

I dont give a shit about the deductible - its the monthly premiuim i hate.   I want a high high high deducticle low premiuim plan

get high deductible PPO plan WITH an HSA


James

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Re: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance
« Reply #15 on: January 31, 2013, 08:27:49 PM »
funny you mention that

I just referred my friend who has a wife and 3 kids to the same broker I used and he just called me telling me he cut his family's premium from almost 1k a month to less than $475 a month

He's on the same plan as me.

PPO plan with HSA and 4500 deductible

Even Kaiser was almost twice as much


get high deductible PPO plan WITH an HSA




Most HSA's (High Deducible) are not Obama-care approved (do not meet the minimum requirement) so get ready to pay the penalty starting next year for not having an Obama-care approved Health Plan.

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/05/18/hsas-could-bring-health-costs-down-too-bad-obamacare-destroys-them/

http://www.demint.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=freedom-on-call&ContentRecord_id=aa20266d-56ac-4595-845c-49284a547908&ContentType_id=e915486e-a0be-46eb-9fff-75dc61f28710&Group_id=78a5977a-062b-4259-ae04-d82a78579699

http://www.advisorone.com/2012/07/27/hsas-losing-luster-under-obamacare

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/item/11982-obamacare-putting-squeeze-on-health-savings-accounts

http://www.medicalprogresstoday.com/2012/07/what-happens-to-health-savings-accounts-hsas-now.php

Straw Man

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Re: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance
« Reply #16 on: January 31, 2013, 08:53:14 PM »
tell me what penalty you think I will be paying next year

James

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Re: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance
« Reply #17 on: January 31, 2013, 08:58:35 PM »

Straw Man

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Re: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance
« Reply #18 on: January 31, 2013, 10:14:42 PM »
I've looked at a few of your links and I can't really tell if you've read them yourself

it seems like you didn't

Roger Bacon

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James

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Re: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance
« Reply #20 on: January 31, 2013, 10:28:31 PM »
I've looked at a few of your links and I can't really tell if you've read them yourself

it seems like you didn't


21 years involved in the Health Insurance Industry, including Underwriting, Management and Sales, currently licensed in 30 States, and it is my job to know what is gong on.  Ask 240 (Rob) if I know anything about Insurance.

240 is Back

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Re: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance
« Reply #21 on: January 31, 2013, 10:32:02 PM »

21 years involved in the Health Insurance Industry, including Underwriting, Management and Sales, currently licensed in in 30 States, and it is my job to know what is gong on.  Ask 240 (Rob) if I know anything about Insurance.

Straw,

I can vouch for James on this - He is telling the truth about his experience. 

Roger Bacon

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Re: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance
« Reply #22 on: January 31, 2013, 10:33:17 PM »

21 years involved in the Health Insurance Industry, including Underwriting, Management and Sales, currently licensed in in 30 States, and it is my job to know what is gong on.  Ask 240 (Rob) if I know anything about Insurance.

So what's the deal with this garbage?

James

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Re: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance
« Reply #23 on: January 31, 2013, 11:05:44 PM »
So what's the deal with this garbage?

Next year all health insurance will be guaranteed Issue for adults (children are already), large rate increases will follow, the rich will pay the high rates, the poor will get it via the expansion of Medicaid and State Exchanges, but many in the middle will get hurt with not being able to afford it and having to pay the penalty/tax for either not having any Health Insurance at all, or for having one that does not meet the minimum requirements.  Also some people that currently have group health insurance via full time employee status (or thought they would get group health insurance via full time employment) will be cut back to part time, as some employers will not be able to afford the high cost to provide health Insurance that they must provide to full time employees via the new law requirement, So not only will they not have Health coverage, but will have a reduction in income via the decrease in working hours, plus don't forget most Companies don't offer vacation time and other benefits to part time workers.


"Adjunct English professor Clint Benjamin, who has been teaching at the college for six years, pays out-of-pocket for catastrophic health care coverage only and had vague hopes of improved insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Not only is he now ineligible for such help, but the course load reduction will translate to up to $600 less in pay each month."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/20/ccac-obamacare_n_2165383.html

What the above article left out is not only does professor Clint not get the better Health coverage he was expecting from Obamacare, and not only did he get a reduction in $600 a month from the cut back in hours, but the Insurance that he does have currently  "catastrophic health care coverage only" does not meet the minimum requirement to be Obamcare approved, so professor Clint is going to have to pay the penalty come 2014.


More:
http://www.examiner.com/article/2013-small-businesses-cut-employee-hours-to-avoid-healthcare-insurance

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/item/13160-restaurant-giant-cuts-hours-to-avoid-employer-mandate

http://hotair.com/archives/2012/10/09/obamacare-transforming-america-into-part-timer-nation/

http://eater.com/archives/2012/10/10/olive-garden-red-lobster-to-cut-hours-instead-of-giving-health-insurance.php


BTW I agree with Straw Man about HSA's, they really are great product currently... unfortunately that wont be the case in 2014 as most wont meet the minimum requirement to be Obama-care approved and will force the penalty/tax on many that currently have them. Some Companies are trying to somehow redesign these plans to be Obama-care approved for 2014 but if that happens, eventually they wont be any better priced than non HSA Plans.

Soul Crusher

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Re: Obama BLAMING others now that more families priced out of health insurance
« Reply #24 on: February 01, 2013, 03:25:20 AM »
It is a well-known fact that nobody in Congress ever reads, or even skims, any law, and especially not the fine print, it passes until long after it has been enacted into law. It appears the same is just as true for the biggest pillar of support for the Obama administration: America's labor unions, whose liberal vote every election is instrumental to preserving the outflow side of America's welfare state. As it turns out, it was the same labor unions who enthusiastically supported the primary accomplishment of the Obama administration in the past 4 years, Obamacare, only to realize, long after it has become reality that, surprise, their healthcare plan costs are about to go up. And, as the WSJ colorfully summarizes, they are now "turning sour."

From WSJ:

Union leaders say many of the law's requirements will drive up the costs for their health-care plans and make unionized workers less competitive. Among other things, the law eliminates the caps on medical benefits and prescription drugs used as cost-containment measures in many health-care plans. It also allows children to stay on their parents' plans until they turn 26.
So what are the Unions' demands to offset what they only now realize will push their overall costs higher? What else: Moar!

To offset that, the nation's largest labor groups want their lower-paid members to be able to get federal insurance subsidies while remaining on their plans. In the law, these subsidies were designed only for low-income workers without employer coverage as a way to help them buy private insurance.
 
Top officers at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the AFL-CIO and other large labor groups plan to keep pressing the Obama administration to expand the federal subsidies to these jointly run plans, warning that unionized employers may otherwise drop coverage.
But, but, they can't - that's the whole point, or didn't they read that part too? Doesn't matter - to them it is now unfair, nay "unacceptable":

"We are going back to the administration to say that this is not acceptable," said Ken Hall, general secretary-treasurer for the Teamsters, which has 1.6 million members and dependents in health-care plans. Other unions involved in the push include the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and Unite Here, which represents service and other workers.
So now that even the unions have understood that Obamacare is one big tax, maybe it is time to reevaluate its arrival at a time when the already strapped US consumer sees taxes rising, and has their savings extinguished.

Employers and consumers across the country will see big changes under the health law, which goes into full effect next year. Insurers will no longer be able to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. Most individuals will be taxed if they don't carry insurance, and employers with at least 50 workers will face a fine if they don't provide it. About 30 million Americans are expected to gain insurance under the law.
 
John Wilhelm, chairman of Unite Here Health, the insurance plan for 260,000 union workers at places including hotels, casinos and airports, recalls standing next to Barack Obama at a rally in Nevada when he was a 2008 presidential candidate.
 
"I heard him say, 'If you like your health plan, you can keep it,' " Mr. Wilhelm recalled. Mr. Wilhelm said he expects the administration will craft a solution so that employer health-care plans won't be hurt. "If I'm wrong, and the president does not intend to keep his word, I would have severe second thoughts about the law."
Wait, no, you mean that in order to get your vote a career politician... lied? Say it isn't true.

So what is an administration that has pandered to every demand for welfare increases ever, to do?

For the Obama administration, holding firm against union demands for subsidies risks alienating a key ally. Giving unions a break, however, would not only increase the cost of the law but likely open the door to nonunion employers in a similar situation who would demand the same perk.
 
Obama administration officials declined to answer questions about whether union-employer plans could qualify for subsidies under the law. A spokesman for the Treasury Department, which will administer the subsidies as tax credits, said: "These matters are the subject of pending regulations. We will continue to work with employers, workers, consumers and businesses to implement the health-care law."
 
Under the health law, households earning up to 400% of the poverty level—$92,200 for a family of four last year—will be eligible for tax credits to offset the cost of private insurance. The less a household earns the more generous the subsidy.
And while the political wranging is about to get heated, Unions suddenly find themselves facing a very existential problem:

The Sheet Metal Workers International Association helped push for passage of the health law. Mr. Beall said he still believes everyone should have health insurance, but worries the law is undermining the union's ability to offer coverage.
 
"If we're not offering our members insurance and pension, why would you want to be union?" he asked.
 
The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 of Countryside, Ill., which represents construction workers and insures about 65,000 people, is also examining whether some lower-earning workers would eventually be better off leaving the union-sponsored plan and instead getting federally subsidized insurance.
 
"I've told my members, as this evolves, your health care will not look like it does today," said James Sweeney, president and business manager of the local. "I have to cut it back."
What is most disturbing is that even the unions are starting to understand that there is really no such thing as a free lunch:

Central Blacktop Co., a Hodgkins, Ill., road builder that employs members of operating engineers Local 150, provides health benefits by paying $13.45 per hour that each member works, said Joseph Benson, the company's chief financial officer. That averages nearly $19,000 a year per worker.
 
"Ultimately any increase in expense to the fund is going to come from us down the line," he said.
It will, but not today. Today, the agenda is to just get more.

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