Obamacare Leeches: Can't get something for nothing, even if the gov't says so!

[AZRedhawk44]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/2013/02/15/cb9d56ac-779c-11e2-8f84-3e4b513b1a13_print.html

Closing the enrollment on people with pre-existing conditions who cannot get other insurance, because Obamacare's running out of money.

Gosh.  I never saw that one coming.


Actually... I didn't.  I figured taxes would go up, deficit borrowing would go up, or printing presses would ramp up and back-door tax it via inflation.

Still proves that there's no free lunch in medicine until/unless you dictate the fee schedules down to McDonald's value meal prices... at which point, you don't want a doctor that takes that particular fee schedule contract.  Unless you want chicken tenders where your spleen used to be.

[kgbsquirrel]

I think I'll just leave this here....

[Nick1911]

 

[Fjolnirsson]

I think my favorite part is the discovery about a week ago...See, employers are required to offer healthcare to those employees working 30 or more hours a week. Now, suppose your employer offers healthcare for salaried employees, and cuts you down to 29 hrs a week. No problem, you say, I'll just head on over to the insurance exchange to buy my healthcare. Nope. Sorry, bub. You can't buy from them, because your employer offers healthcare. You get to pay the penalty tax mandated by Obamacare. This is where I will be next year, since my employer, as a small company employing less than 50, isn't required to offer healthcare. Though they do, to their salaried employees. Yay, Obamacare!

[zxcvbob]

Nope. Sorry, bub. You can't buy from them, because your employer offers healthcare. You get to pay the penalty tax mandated by Obamacare.

Are you sure about that, since your employer doesn't offer healthcare to YOU?

[Fjolnirsson]

Well, to be sure, there's room for further investigation, because I did read this in MSM, and we know how they distort things. But yes, the article I read specifically mentioned that, because healthcare is offered by the company to SOME, it disqualifies all employees from the exchanges. I mentioned it to the boss, and she's got her guy looking into it.

[Tallpine]

Well, to be sure, there's room for further investigation, because I did read this in MSM, and we know how they distort things. But yes, the article I read specifically mentioned that, because healthcare is offered by the company to SOME, it disqualifies all employees from the exchanges. I mentioned it to the boss, and she's got her guy looking into it.

Interesting...

I'm a contract worker and AFAIK don't have any access to company health insurance.  But of course they have lots of full time direct people also.

And then there's the thing that when I don't have an active contract, no way in hell can I afford ~$1000/month premium.   

We should have our house paid off by the end of my current contract (Sept/Oct?) and I pretty much fully intend to "shrug" after that.  But there may very well be a major economic crash by then and there won't be many jobs anyway 

[Scout26]

People seem to think Insurance = Welfare.   Insurance is a tool used to manage risk.  Not simply to get someone else to pay your bills.

[zxcvbob]

Interesting...

I'm a contract worker and AFAIK don't have any access to company health insurance.  But of course they have lots of full time direct people also.

And then there's the thing that when I don't have an active contract, no way in hell can I afford ~$1000/month premium.   

We should have our house paid off by the end of my current contract (Sept/Oct?) and I pretty much fully intend to "shrug" after that.  But there may very well be a major economic crash by then and there won't be many jobs anyway 

That pretty much makes you self employed, don't it?  Do they give you a W2 or a 1099-MISC?

[Ron]

People seem to think Insurance = Welfare.   Insurance is a tool used to manage risk.  Not simply to get someone else to pay your bills.

Currently I hardly make any money at all compared to when I worked in the HVAC world.

A big part of why I keep current retail job (other than the awesome work environment and company policy of work/life balance) is my insurance package. My insurance is a big part of my compensation as far as I'm concerned. 

[Tallpine]

That pretty much makes you self employed, don't it?  Do they give you a W2 or a 1099-MISC?

W2

The company I work for hires me out to other companies for a project.  They get a percentage of course, but then I don't have to do the marketing.  Also, there is usually a group of us contracted out for a project so doing it freelance is not really a good option.

[MechAg94]

Currently I hardly make any money at all compared to when I worked in the HVAC world.

A big part of why I keep current retail job (other than the awesome work environment and company policy of work/life balance) is my insurance package. My insurance is a big part of my compensation as far as I'm concerned. 

It is up to you whether or not it is worth it.  How much is the insurance paying for that you don't have to?  How much risk are they absorbing?  For some, no insurance might be a viable option.  If you don't have any active problems, $1000/month or some such is a hell of a lot of money and adds up to a hell of an emergency fund after a few years.

[French G.]

My 10K/year part time job gets me the right to buy cheap insurance through Tricare which really isn't all that bad(note to all bitching .mil spouses out there) $80/ month cheaper than buying through work and while the full time employer does make an HSA contribution it amounts to about 4 months of premiums and the deductible ensures they pay nothing else unless you go inpatient. Prescriptions especially.

I regard insurance as a very important part of compensation. So did all the sad faces in the conference when we got taken off our old, much better insurance.

[Scout26]

It is up to you whether or not it is worth it.  How much is the insurance paying for that you don't have to?  How much risk are they absorbing?  For some, no insurance might be a viable option.  If you don't have any active problems, $1000/month or some such is a hell of a lot of money and adds up to a hell of an emergency fund after a few years.

5 Days at the Mayo Clinic (just doctor visits and lab tests)  $35,000.  Not including transportation, hotel, food, etc.




 

[MillCreek]

It is up to you whether or not it is worth it.  How much is the insurance paying for that you don't have to?  How much risk are they absorbing?  For some, no insurance might be a viable option.  If you don't have any active problems, $1000/month or some such is a hell of a lot of money and adds up to a hell of an emergency fund after a few years.

When I crashed my bicycle back in 1996 and fractured my left hip, when all was said and done, it came to just under $ 25,000 for the aid unit, ER, surgery, hospital stay, PT and post-op care.  I am in excellent health otherwise and visit the physician 1-2 times per year, and my only meds are a generic statin costing $ 10 for a 90 day supply.  But if I were to have another bicycle crash, or some other sort of trauma or a heart attack or stroke, the hospital care is going to eat up the money.