So you like your Obamacare?

I know this has been a hot topic, but I just can't sit back and not say anything. I work for an insurance broker, specifically group benefits. I have seen the damage the ACA has been doing and also what is to come. I am losing my job in about 5 weeks due to the ACA, and I fear a lot more are to follow. Just this morning I got a notice for a webinar concerning wellness programs for companies. Not an unusual thing you say? Well this one is. It's designed to show companies what to do if they don't get results. It's titled "Wellness for companies who demand results". Once they get the kinks worked out (provided it stays law for any length of time) you are going to see some things you never though you would.

You see, we all have these little cards we use at stores to get cheaper prices. Your purchases are tracked. They claim it is so they know what products to order based on consumer purchasing habits. So let's take that to the next level. You are on the ACA. You also have a chronic disease they claim can be controlled by diet (i.e. type 2 diabetes). They decide to see if your food habits are actually promoting the disease or not. They access your grocery database and find out that you are not following the right diet. Want to guess what comes next? That's right, they will stop paying for treatments until you comply with dietary guidelines. Smoke? No treatments until you stop.

As this gets more and more mainstream, you are going to see a whole plethora of reasons why you can't be treated. Obese? Yup, you too will be a target. And by obese, it means using the chart they have supported for years. And now they are talking about using talking shopping carts to tell you what you should buy to have good health. Ignore the cart and you lose your treatments. This is just the tip of a very big iceberg. And don't think that just because you have company sponsored insurance that you are immune. Once it catches on with the ACA, those plans will follow suit.

Welcome to the next generation of screw the masses!

a reply to: haarvik

Good topic and good info

We have been picking away at parts of this for a long time and hopefully people will wake up.

The whole thing is predictable.

And many of us know the intended consequences.

It seems they are trying hard to keep "just enough" people "satisfied". Enough to keep the fire burning and the "but it works for me" argument alive.

Imagine what it would be like if everyone and all political parties worked together to make a national healthcare system work instead of some doing everything they can to make it be a mess and not work.

Everything that's being said about this not working, was also said in Canada when they first introduced a national healthcare.

What state do you live in? Do you live in one like CA that supports ACA, set up there own state website, and is doing everything to make it work?

Or are you in one of thise states that is doing everything they can to make sure it doesn't work?

Ron Paul?

a reply to: Annee

What state I live in is irrelevant. The ACA affects everyone. I work in another state from where I live, and that state is pro ACA. And just like the ACA website, it too is screwed up. If you want to push left agendas, go right ahead. The rest of us intelligent Americans will keep the torch of truth burning.

a reply to: haarvik

Ok that is scary!!

I am not a fan of the ACA at ALL!

I don't have insurance through it but ALL my doctors have been very vocal with their dislike of it and how it is affecting their practice. I have been told by all of them it will only get worse! I have yet to see a doctor who likes it.

a reply to: Annee

Long way to go.

Many Socialized Medicine systems were "set-up" when the debts were low or not an issue.

The U.S. has picked the wrong time.

To much national and local debt.

And taxing the rich won't work either. Not enough there to take & pay.

The Democrats should have listened to the Republicans this time. Address one problem at a time may have actually worked.

Now they have to systematically dismantle to get anything to work.

originally posted by: haarvik
a reply to: Annee

What state I live in is irrelevant. The ACA affects everyone. I work in another state from where I live, and that state is pro ACA. And just like the ACA website, it too is screwed up. If you want to push left agendas, go right ahead. The rest of us intelligent Americans will keep the torch of truth burning.

It is relevant which state. Some states are working positively to make it work. Some are doing everything they can to make it not work.

Would we need a Federal ACA website if each state set up their own? No.

I have a friend in CA who's an insurance agent. She's doing fine. No problem with ACA. She says it's pretty much same as Blue Shield.

My daughter went through this insurance agent to get her ACA. Had a choice of several plans. Chose the one she wanted. Is using it. No problems.

You are a Ron Paul supporter. That, by itself, "screams" your attitude toward the ACA -- without you even having to say anything.

OP...

You have just scratched the surface.

The outrageous invasion of Privacy is the Keystone of the Nanny State.

Our communication with our Doctors was guaranteed in our Constitution.

The entire Healthcare system was built on lies.

It should be removed root and branch.

a reply to: Annee

That's what happens when a Congress and a President pass laws that are unConstitutional.

The Supreme Court found a few "problems" and struck down some parts.

The whole exchange/medicaid thing was deemed coercive if I remember.

Check it out.

a reply to: Annee

originally posted by: Annee
Imagine what it would be like if everyone and all political parties worked together to make a national healthcare system work instead of some doing everything they can to make it be a mess and not work.

It really isn't as complicated as that.

Want to fix healthcare in this country? Do three simple things:

1) Force insurance companies to compete on a national basis. No more state protected monopolies;

2) Enforce contractual obligations to the insured; and

3) Require the healthcare community to disclose in advance (as much as reasonably possible) pricing for services.

The consumer will take care of the rest.

Would it be a perfect system? No.

But I'd be willing to bet it would be a vast improvement over what we had/have or will have.

Unexpected Health Insurance Rate Shock-California Obamacare Insurance Exchange Announces Premium Rates

Setting aside the never-ending nonsense peddled by the opponents of healthcare reform, everyone from the Congressional Budget Office to numerous private actuaries have warned that premium shock could be expected to set in once the public began to see the reality of what Obamacare would mean to their pocketbooks. And yet, the only real jolt to the system being felt by these public and private prognosticators today is utter amazement over just how reasonable the California prices have turned out to be. www.forbes.com... s/

a reply to: Annee

Well, I guess Californians have a much lower wage average than the rest of the country. Aren't you lucky. When I looked at what it would cost for my family of 4, it was well over $1,000 a month for the cheapest coverage offered. Insurance premiums should not be the same as my mortgage!

a reply to: Annee

LOL

The article is from May 2013 before the exchanges even opened for "business".

And of course the deductibles are what will force people into bankruptcy, not the clever little "premiums".

Not to mention the things that aren't even covered.

originally posted by: loam

But I'd be willing to bet it would be a vast improvement over what we had/have or will have.

My daughter works freelance production in Hollywood. There are thousands working freelance production in Hollywood?

You'd think they would have some sort of worker insurance. But, they don't unless you qualify by working a certain amount of hours on specific type movies. She does mostly music videos.

If you didn't get insurance through a company, you were pretty much screwed. Even if you worked for a company, sometimes you were rejected. My husband was rejected for weight. He's a big boned solid on the ground Swede. But, body type is not considered in standard charts.

I know new laws have been enacted on rejecting. I'm not sure if it applies to all insurances. I do know it applies to the ACA.

Is the ACA perfect? No. Would those opposing it fight against any program put forth to insure everyone? YES! I don't see ACA as the problem.

originally posted by: xuenchen
a reply to: Annee

LOL

The article is from May 2013 before the exchanges even opened for "business".

And of course the deductibles are what will force people into bankruptcy, not the clever little "premiums".

Not to mention the things that aren't even covered.

I always check my dates when posting articles. I'll accept FORBES as a qualified source on the information from this article.

MY POINT IS ---- WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE SOMETHING WORK.

The opposition to a national healthcare system creates unnecessary expenses. Especially when most of the opposition is fabricated.

a reply to: xuenchen

Not to mention it was just an opinion article...

But let's look at more recent headlines:

California probes Obamacare doctor networks at Anthem and Blue Shield

California regulators are investigating whether Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California have violated state law in connection to patients struggling to find doctors under Obamacare.

Officials at the California Department of Managed Health Care said they are looking into whether consumers were misled by inaccurate provider lists and the difficulty some patients are still having at locating a physician in narrower networks statewide.

...

Many consumers have vented for months about the smaller networks that insurers stitched together for the start of Obamacare coverage. The complaints have touched on a number of different issues.

First, insurers and California's health exchange confused people by publishing erroneous lists of network providers. Consumers often relied on that information to choose which health plan to buy.

Then patients got conflicting answers from insurers and doctor's offices as to whether a physician was accepting their plan.

In other cases, patients received treatment only to find out later that their insurer considered the provider out of network and wouldn't cover the bill.

So what about the premium rate issue in California?

Brace for the next round of Obamacare rate shock

...one factor that's been keeping rates from soaring even higher is that insurers have responded to all of the new regulatory requirements by reducing the choice of doctors and hospitals offered in their plans. This Obamacare-accelerated trend toward “narrow networks” actually triggered a consumer lawsuit against Anthem Blue Cross, California's largest for profit-health insurer.

Nice little rat's nest, huh?

a reply to: Annee

Those problems exist because insurance companies have government protected monopolies of a sort. That problem existed before Obamacare, and are made worse by Obamacare.

Allow consumers to buy healthcare from any insurer in the country and you'd see many of these issues disappear.

a reply to: loam

Good info

More to the truth of the matter as well as the realities.

I think the *Realities* have many people actually feeling that *Big Lump" in their throats now.

As I stated earlier, ACA has "just enough" "success" stories to keep people sucked in.

We've seen some of it already in this thread I think !!

a reply to: Annee

MY POINT IS ---- WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE SOMETHING WORK.

Thank the Democrats for not doing that.

From the onset and through all the delays and exemptions and exceptions all the way to today.

a reply to: loam

And here's the new FORBES.

For me it's still about working together to make it work. Anything new has a trial and error period and will require tweaks, updates, etc.

I am of the "work out the kinks" supporters.

The ACA opponents, especially the Ron Paul crowd aren't going to accept anything that's government mandated for everyone. Won't matter what it is.

The average increases are in excess of 11% in the small group market and 12% in the individual market. Some state show increases 10 to 50 times that amount. The analysts conclude that the “increases are largely due to changes under the ACA.” The analysts conducting the survey attribute the rate increases largely to a combination of four factors set in motion by Obamacare: Commercial underwriting restrictions, the age bands that don’t allow insurers to vary premiums between young and old beneficiaries based on the actual costs of providing the coverage, the new excise taxes being levied on insurance plans, and new benefit designs. www.forbes.com... lame-obamacare/