Obamacare Enrollments Plummet by 49% in January

Kangaruex4Ewe
It's like watching a car wreck over and over again. Obama is too prideful to call a mistake a mistake, so everyone else will just have to suffer through it. Pride cometh before the fall?? He can't fall near fast enough IMO.

Wrong, for president Obama, his signature plan has already been a huge success. He and those involved in creating this monster were only interested in initially enrolling millions of Americans primarily poor and uninsured as that is their insurance against any effort to fully repeal it. No one is going to want to be the bad guy that is attempting to take away healthcare coverage from needy people and people who have never had coverage before, or have been denied because of preexisting conditions... It was a trap by design.

Now they have to find a way to force everyone else to participate.

It's the LAW now.

reply to post by abe froman

Beg pardon but, isn't a super high deductible you can never afford to meet the same as no insurance?

Sure, right up to the point that your medical bills exceed the deductible amount. It doesn't matter whether or not you can afford the deductible or not. Look at it this way. I get into a car wreck and get really busted up. My medical bill is $25,000. Can I afford that? Nope. But my plan starts working on $20,000 of that bill. Still costly, still not "affordable", but a lot better than the full amount. I'd rather owe $6,000 than $25,000.

It's one thing to say look at all these people that can get insurance now, when you don't stop to consider that they can not afford to use it.

They don't "use" it unless their medical bills exceed the deductible. You don't "use" your auto insurance unless the cost of repairs exceeds the deductible. With or without insurance you're going to pay something. Insurance puts a limit on how much you will have to pay. Without insurance, you're going to pay it all.

But is your point that because there are people who cannot afford the deductible there should be none? Nice idea but that's not the way insurance of any sort works. If insurance companies paid for everything, there wouldn't be any insurance companies.

reply to post by Phage


But if that $6300 deductible is beyond what you can pay, what difference does it make?

Bankruptcy is bankruptcy.
And that is what lies ahead for many.

reply to post by Phage


They are worse....way, way worse than what many on ACA had.
Many on ACA did have insurance until they got thrown under the bus ....because their employers or their individual plans could.

reply to post by DontTreadOnMe

But if that $6300 deductible is beyond what you can pay, what difference does it make?

A big difference. I have owed money on substantial medical bills at various times. I have found that making even small payments against those bills on a regular basis works very well. I have found that my medical providers have been very understanding when approached with a payment plan, waiving finance charges completely.


The thing is, using the deductible as an argument against the ACA doesn't really make a lot of sense. They aren't new. The ACA has caused them to increase but that is a function of the increased risk for the insurance providers as a result of not being able to pick and choose who they can cover and drop at their own discretion.

Many on ACA did have insurance until they got thrown under the bus ....because their employers or their individual plans could.

And many did not. And many who could not get insurance at all now can. My plan hasn't really changed.

Getting young people to sign up for Obama****Care is as easy as getting Zombies to sign up for life insurance.

reply to post by Phage


Although I saw how totally horrible ACA was going to be for the average American, I felt it had little to do with me, as I had great insurance.
I probably felt much like you and others who have insurance.

The rules keep changing.
The game isn't over.

I would hope no one feels too comfortable with the insurance they have.
In the blink of an eye, anyone can be cast into the failure that is ACA.

reply to post by DontTreadOnMe

The rules keep changing. The game isn't over.

That's a given.
It's an "ambitious" goal and an enormous undertaking. One which will inevitably have unforeseen consequences. It will be a while before the dust settles.

My two points:
1) Reduced enrollment rates are not the same as reduced enrollments as the OP implies.
2) Even high deductible medical insurance is better than no medical insurance.

DontTreadOnMe

I would hope no one feels too comfortable with the insurance they have.
In the blink of an eye, anyone can be cast into the failure that is ACA.

Too bad we can't force our elected officials to live on the salary of an average working American, and force them to pay for their own healthcare insurance through obamacare... But they are either exempt, or get full subsidized plans, that we all pay for, along with their high 5 and 6 figure salaries.

Phage
reply to post by DontTreadOnMe

 

I have owed money on substantial medical bills at various times. I have found that making even small payments against those bills on a regular basis works very well.

All well and good if it works for you. It starting not to work for people now due to obamacare.

Consumer advocacy groups say the upfront payments limit access to medical care. “It puts the employee or patient at risk of not getting the service because the deductible may be a barrier to care,” said Mark Rukavina, executive director of the Access Project, a Boston-based nonprofit that focuses on health-care access. link

The simple fact is it's only going to get worse and keep more people from getting care. Sure if you have a heart attack on the hospital floor or are bleeding out in their lobby supposedly they'll help you. For anything else is pay up or get sick. That's not affordable healthcare IMO, not with deductibles from $2000 - $6000.

Phage

It's an "ambitious" goal and an enormous undertaking. One which will inevitably have unforeseen consequences.

The unforeseen consequences were in the form of a backlash against the political party by voters, that is why they keep delaying full implementation and enforcement of the most damaging aspects of this insane law and mandates. At least until after the midterms and 2016 presidential elections. If it was fully implemented now (the president used executive powers to change the dates) they KNOW and have foreseen what damage it will do, and what those consequences are.

It will be a while before the dust settles.

The clock is ticking.

Like a time bomb.

reply to post by DontTreadOnMe

The rules keep changing.
The game isn't over.

I would hope no one feels too comfortable with the insurance they have.
In the blink of an eye, anyone can be cast into the failure that is ACA.

I feel for you and these folks as well.
Can you believe this article?

People with serious pre-existing diseases, precisely those the president aimed to help with ObamaCare, could find themselves paying for expensive drug treatments with no help from the health care exchanges.

Those with expensive diseases such as lupus or multiple sclerosis face something called a "closed drug formulary."

Dr. Scott Gottlieb of the American Enterprise Institute explains,"if the medicine that you need isn't on that list, it's not covered at all. You have to pay completely out of pocket to get that medicine, and the money you spend doesn't count against your deductible, and it doesn't count against your out of pocket limits, so you're basically on your own."

"So it could be that a MS patient could be expected to pay $62,000 just for one medication," says Dr. Daniel Kantor, who treats MS patients and others with neurological conditions near Jacksonville, Florida. "That’s a possiblity under the new ObamaCare going on right now."

Lin k
I hope this isn't true or else it gets worked out. To think, that you have a Pre-existing condiction and your covered, but not all your medication is!

reply to post by Bassago

Your source:

The percentage of insured workers with a deductible of $1,000 or more for single coverage jumped to 34 percent in 2012 from 12 percent in 2007, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.

www.bloomberg.com...

Nice spin..."jumped". Have a look at the study. That number has been rising for the entire span of the study. Blame the insurers, if you want to blame someone.
kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com...
kff.org...

reply to post by Phage


But Obama said rates would go down.

He apparently lied and people are fuming mad.

reply to post by xuenchen

He didn't lie to me (about that anyway). In my neck of the woods the premiums for kids have plummeted. For younger adults it's dropped a great deal. Me, I'm "over the hill" so mine went up about 15%. But since my girl's went down so much, the total is less.


Want to comment on the claim that enrollments have plummeted? Because they haven't. Here's the report your OP is talking about.
aspe.hhs.gov...

xuenchen
reply to post by Phage

 

But Obama said rates would go down.

He apparently lied and people are fuming mad.

And that's because Sheople only ever see the tree in front of them. That cost increase was always a must. The forest People should be seeing is that quality is about to bottom out for the common man. The rich can employ the best doctors ... and they will. You won't be able to access their skills in short order. Your lines are going to be long and expect this for the next twenty years: "Oh you don't feel well? Here, take two aspirin for the pain in your broken finger and call me for an appointment in a week. It's the best we can do for now." Take it ... or leave it.

The truth is, the country has not produced enough doctors to meet demand. This is the rich man's insurance that he will be cared for.

xuenchen
reply to post by Phage

 

But Obama said rates would go down.

He apparently lied and people are fuming mad.

There are already a million or so people out there that if they watch this, their blood will boil...



There will be millions more eventually....

reply to post by Phage


You have to admire how effectively the government can play with numbers and words.

In the note on your graphic, "eligible to enroll in a plan" ... Not enrolled.

In the OP article it's all dates and numbers manipulation to try to turn a sharp drop into a slight drop.

Ultimately, I suppose people see what they want to believe and run with that.

reply to post by ausername

Read it again.
It says eligible to enroll through the Marketplace and have selected a plan. This means they have enrolled.

I suppose people see what they want to believe and run with that.

Yes. They see what they want then stop reading when it's convenient. Of course, you could read the report rather than looking at the pictures.

reply to post by Phage


Semantics.

Highly manipulable. But, since you know they are all actually enrolled and have insurance now. I'll take your word for it Phage.

reply to post by ausername

Semantics.

Keep believing what you want to believe.
Don't you understand that this is the data that was referred to in the OP? You like it just fine when it's twisted to say what you like but when you actually look at the numbers it becomes "semantics?" The "semantics" are in the OP, not the data.

Enrollments have not plummeted.