ObamaCarelessness
The more I look at the utter disaster that is Obamacare, the more I am grateful for the NHS here in the UK and the way it is funded (through the general tax system). It seems to me that to provide adequate healthcare for a population you need to EITHER allow a completely free market for insurance and provide State provision for those below a certain income level OR you provide universal health care through the tax system and permit individuals to “top that up” with private “queue jumping” insurance if they desire.
But ObamaCare is an absolute disaster. It butchers the free market, makes insurance utterly unaffordable for many middle income families and has created a huge political backlash against dependency. With healthcare paid through a progressive tax system you feel that you contribute gradually more as your means increase. With ObamaCare you feel that as soon as you start to make any effort you are clobbered with an enormous bill just for deciding to work a normal average-paid job.
Just read some of these heart-rending stories and weep with me how this misguided attempt to provide health coverage is in fact removing it from the heart of the economic base of the USA.
My husband is an educator. He hasn’t had a raise in over 5 years. He finally received a raise this year, but the raise was to help offset the increased cost of health insurance premiums. Paying over $1000 a month for a family of 4, no copay, we must meet a deductible first. Since the school year has started, we have paid over $700 for 2 sick child visits, 1 xray and 1 ekg. My husband has tremendous shoulder pain but has been putting off going knowing that another huge bill is what we’ll end up with.
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Our insurance this past year has gotten a lot worse. Now prepping for this next year, we have found out we are paying $13 more EACH DAY!!! I am a SAHM, and my husband works.
There are a few things I need to get checked out with a specialist or OB, and my daughter needs to see an allergist so we can figure out her troubles as well as if she is asthmatic. We have an HRA, and can’t set the appointments up until next year because it’s just too expensive. Gone are the days of $20 co-pays under Bush.
What the hell are people thinking? There is no “free†healthcare…SOMEONE has to pay. WE are the SOMEONE’s… Obama Care does in fact make my family sick. LITERALLY.
Our insurance premiums have been 426. per month for the past six years, two adults. low deductible, the prescriptions for our blood pressure pills and my husbands acid reflux meds cost us ten dollars each time they are refilled. I have never been in the hospital except to have an emergency gall bladder surgery. I am a very healthy 60 year old who exercises daily.
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Bottom line, neither my daughter nor I will be able to “keep [our] health care plan†past December, 2014. Mild, thus far, compared to some stories I’ve read/heard, but unsettling nonetheless. What that means for us past that date, I don’t know, but having recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, I’m leery to say the least.
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32 yr. old small business owner… Wife stays at home with our 2 year old and 4 month old. I’ve had health coverage for the entire family through Anthem for the past 6 years purchasing it myself.
I was contacted by Anthem last week to let me know my premium will increase 94% starting August 2014, making our monthly payment $1,100.00 a month for my family of 4. (Mortgage is $805.00 a month) Direct quote from my Anthem Rep: “I mean if you don’t have a job and don’t have any coverage, this is a great deal. But the middle class small business owners will get hit the hardest.†She also said, “The healthy young males that never go to the doctor will get hit with this bill the most out of anyone involved. You guys will pay the price for everyone elseâ€
This is what you get with a law so vast, poorly written and rushed through Congress without anyone being allowed to read it. It was amazing that the Democrats that tipped the balance for it actually trusted the President to keep his word.
It really was amateur hour. The only thing that was clever was delaying implementation for a few years. If it was a year earlier then President Obama would have been staring defeat in the face. As such, he’s gained another 4 years for the shine to wear and even the press stop cheerleading for him.
Really confused. I thought the whole point in Obamacare was to make health insurance affordable. Am I just an idiot?
Am I just an idiot?
Please don’t ask me to answer questions like that. I get into terrible trouble whenever I answer questions like that.
:)
I mean, the clue’s in the name ‘Affordable Care Act’. And what are you supposed to do if you’re unemployed? What’s wrong with National Insurance? Yes, it’s really just another tax, but the great thing about taxes is you pay what you can afford when you can afford it. It’s really not that bad a thing if you’re getting a public service.
National Insurance these days is just income tax by another name. Fine, but at least you’re right that in the UK you pay in proportion to your income (and remember the NHS comes out of the tax budget, not the NI budget).
Yes, high earners pay more but as part of the overall tax system you feel you’re contributing to the whole Government bill, not being fleeced for a particular thing you don’t want.
I mean the insanity of the ACA – forcing MEN to pay for maternity cover. It’s ludicrous!
What’s maternity cover got to do with ACA? Maternity cover is paid by the employer, right?
No, I mean that the ACA forces men to insure against the costs of being pregnant and delivering their baby at a hospital. Think about it….
Sorry, I’m so dim. You meant maternity health insurance cover. Actually, I’d be pretty annoyed at having to take out insurance to cover an abortion. It would be like taking out travel insurance to cover extreme sports. I don’t need it!
No, you aren’t an idiot, that was the point of the law. However, given that no one had read the bill when it passed, it was an unwitting non-truth, not actual lying.
What I have heard so far indicates that for every one case where someone is suffering as a result of Obamacare, there are a dozen or more where people are benefiting from it – either because their payments have dropped, or they are getting better cover for the same money, or they have been able to get cover where insurers refused to look at them because of pre-existing conditions.
You’re right; the NHS answer is far better (though the marketisation of it is the best way to wreck it), but given the psychopathy of the American populace towards anything they regard as “socialist”, it’s about as good as it gets.
Oh, and however much you may be able to adduce in evidence, please don’t quote Ted Cruz, because he’s a liar, pure and simple.
One further thing: you might want to take a look at this. This sort of behaviour could easily account for some of the bad news stories that are coming in.