norestforweary Asked March 2014
Has anyone (in U.S.) had any bad experiences with Obama Care?
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I have no idea how anyone can afford the insurances offered through ACA. My mother's insurance went from $380 a month for BC/BS, $20 copays, $0 deductible for preventative and routine visits, and $1000 deductible for catistrophic prior to Obama and ACA. Also, she had cancer in early 2000s and it remained the same coverage, same price, and she was not dropped. Then Obama was elected and her insurance premiums for the exact same coverage went up several hundred dollars a year. This went on for several years and she had to keep getting different insurance for worse coverage and was paying a lot more than the $380 she had been paying. By the time she was able to get Medicare, her insurance was $1240 a month for $10,000 deductible for catastrophic, $5,000 deductible for routine doctor visits before her insurance would kick in and then she would pay $35 copays.
ACA has greatly benefited the insurance companies. Their revenue jumped dramatically and their coverage is now minimal. Hats off to the insurance lobbyists who were able to push this through D.C.
The only way to have truly competitive and the best insurance is to make insurance companies have to compete for people to buy their insurance. Currently they have quassi monopolies divided by states. Policies should be truly free market. The free market works for the benefit of the buyer and government works for itself (politicians) and lobbyists these days anyways.
For myself, all I know is that as the ACA kicked in, my Medicare Advantagecare plan premium doubled. My co-pays are double what they were 3 years ago. Coverage no longer includes vision care or dental checkups or cleaning. I now have to pay a huge co-pay for x-rays, MRI and CT and ultrasound are even higher. Urgent care (which was supposed to fill in with the same co-pay when GP practice was not open now is three times as expensive as seeing your doctor in the office. I need physical therapy and had to drop it - who can afford $40 twice a week for a few exercise tips and a hot pack and stim?
I wish the congress would get off their self serving high horse and simply let the free market take over - allow insurance to be purchased across state borders. Nothing keeps prices down better than competition. For those who need help, we already have Medicaid - that wouldn't change. And how about investigating those getting things for free when they can really afford it, or do not qualify. That is driving prices up! The only thing the government should be doing is create an unbiased commission to investigate and calculate the REAL (and reasonable cost of medical care and drugs) and punish price gougers. (I had a CT scan in urgent care and the original bill the hospital sent to my insurance company was $5800! Something has to be done about that kind of highway robbery.) Why are they allowed to set prices 10x the actual cost?
Now, my premiums are $400 per month....but it covers everything after $3000 annual deductible.
So, you were lucky to have such great coverage. His company could still provide it..they just want an excuse to cut their costs...and gee, its easy to blame Obamacare....
For every story of coverage cost increase...there are just as many like me that final HAVE coverage at all
There are only 2 or 3 major insurance companies left, and they are licking their chops making profit hand over foot. Those three are powerful lobbyists that don't want Obamacare to go away. It's almost a monopoly.
Agree we need to be able to purchase insurance over state lines and increase competition as yes that's the way to keep cost of premiums down.
Sure it's good for those that had preexisting conditions and I don't think that was going to change in the last Republican plan. Even the Dems stated there is plenty wrong with the ACA this past July. But many of those people are train wrecks that never took the least bit care of themselves and it's not fair the middle class has to foot the bill. Sorry but as an RN I have tried to educate many people that know better but they choose to ignore their MD's advice & continue to make the wrong choices over & over again.
It will only get worse for all of us if Obamacare isn't repealed or replaced. No blame, just facts. A poorly written law "you had to pass it to know what's in it". Passed without one Republican vote. Ditto this last attempt- no Democrats voted for it this time.
Politicians need term limits - they have no clue what we middle class workers go through. We get to pay for everyone.
Yes also to cleaning out the ranks of those that are taking entitlement programs like Medicaid and SSDI that can clearly work.
It's frustrating for me. But the younger generations will bear the worst of it. I am pretty set with Medicare $ SS when I retire, what about them? There won't be those safety nets.
Not to make light on this, but I was wondering if the insurance companies were thinking I would OD on a loaf of bread.
I was self-employed at the time, so once a job opened up in the same career path which included benefits, I jumped onto it, and got excellent insurance. Then I was home free once I could get Medicare. And didn't have to worry about looking for a secondary insurance since the ACA allowed for pre-existing conditions.
I had better coverage under COBRA until it ran out. I was shocked to find myself paying more, even with the subsidy, with higher copayments and deductibles under Obamacare. Still, I intend to keep paying for it until I qualify for Medicare, in less than a year now. I too have pre-existing conditions, and my insurance in the private market would have been even less affordable, if I could have qualified at all.
It would have been smarter if the law had started out simply "insurance companies may not deny insurance due to a pre-existing condition" and then let the insurance companies figure it out, form risk pools, etc. That would have covered most of those people without insurance (who wanted it) Instead the government created a Frankenstein monster which is totally out of control, failing and costing a fortune, driving our doctors away and draining seniors' savings.
And that is the point. When politicians raise taxes on industries or businesses to supposedly support some government program (and of course not line their pockets at all) who ends up paying for the tax hike? The consumer. It has always been that way and will always be that way. Big businesses have to keep their profits up to keep shareholders happy to sell and trade shares etc. And small businesses can't afford to take financial hits caused by tax hikes. So all businesses pass the tax hike expense off to the consumer. And in the case of Insurance companies they have the added benefit of having quasi monopolies. So those things added together equalled government sanctioned price gouging. Again I say hats off to the insurance companies and politicians for really screwing the American people over.
For example, my dad couldn't find house insurance in his state for property in a flood zone that was affordable, so he bought it through a very reputable company in London at a much lower rate. True free market competition saved the day.
Of course insurance companies don't want true competition and enjoy the benefits of this quasi monopoly so they will keep buying off politicians to keep things going like this. Health insurance companies need to be called on their greed. And politicians need to be held accountable.