"Unable to Meet the Deductible or the Doctor"

NYT Article

Well I might not of posted here on ATS but I sure was saying it to people I know.

It was only a matter of time before people realized that there was such a thing as a deductible.

a reply to: Azdraik

Hehe. I'm predicting tons of people screaming about Obamacare and how it sucks even though this woman would have zero health care without it.

I had good insurance...until the unACA came into effect....and my employer dumped me.

So, now I am in the same boat as this woman.
Forgoing medical visits due to the cost.
In fact, if anything semi-catastrophic happens...I'll have to wait until January to deal with it....cannot afford one year's dedcutible....let alone two


The farce that is ACA sucks!!!!

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

And this woman had no health care at all until ACA. Maybe blame your employer for caring about money more than people.

Get your bankruptcy lawyers lined up and on retainer.

If anybody thought it was bad before, look out now.



The collection agencies will be booming.

originally posted by: tavi45
a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

And this woman had no health care at all until ACA. Maybe blame your employer for caring about money more than people.

I think the woman did have insurance "before".

Now she has to pay more in more than one way.

originally posted by: tavi45
a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

And this woman had no health care at all until ACA. Maybe blame your employer for caring about money more than people.

What does it matter that she has health insurance, if she cant afford to use it?
Shes still in the same boat as before but with added expenses now.

originally posted by: tavi45
a reply to: Azdraik

Hehe. I'm predicting tons of people screaming about Obamacare and how it sucks even though this woman would have zero health care without it.

Deductibles for the most popular health plans sold through the new marketplaces are higher than those commonly found in employer-sponsored health plans, according to Margaret A. Nowak, the research director of Breakaway Policy Strategies, a health care consulting company. A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the average deductible for individual coverage in employer-sponsored plans was $1,217 this year.

In comparison, the average deductible for a bronze plan on the exchange — the least expensive coverage — was $5,081 for an individual and $10,386 for a family, according to HealthPocket, a consulting firm. Silver plans, which were the most popular option this year, had average deductibles of $2,907 for an individual and $6,078 for a family.

It doesn't matter if you have health care if you can't use it. It's like have a million dollars in your safe and not able to unlock it. Useless. Obamacare has made health care even more unaffordable.

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
I had good insurance...until the unACA came into effect....and my employer dumped me.

So, now I am in the same boat as this woman.
Forgoing medical visits due to the cost.
In fact, if anything semi-catastrophic happens...I'll have to wait until January to deal with it....cannot afford one year's dedcutible....let alone two

The farce that is ACA sucks!!!!

The ACA is going to slowly kill the quality of care that we receive in this country and we will probably see more people going in to medical bankruptcy.

This entire program was just a way to funnel more money to the insurance companies and to the government in the way of fines for not having coverage.

I was really hoping we would get a single-payer program that would help transition in to universal healthcare.......but instead we got this.

a reply to: Azdraik

I am healthy so what I do may not be something others could do, but I take 200-400 per month and put it into a savings account that collects interest, instead of handing it over to some corporate entity that decides how it gets used. I have been doing it for about 15 years now after I decided that I was not getting my moneys worth. I pay cash for that rare occasion I need to get a diagnosis, and will have plenty for the slight chance that I need an emergency room.

It helps to take a holistic approach to health.

a reply to: Witness2008

It is a great idea to save, though too many people are living pay check to pay check just to get by.

My husband has medical coverage and is still thousands of dollars in debt with medical bills. I'm supposed to be on medicare because I am disabled, but they make you wait two years to get it. My only other option is too expensive and the deductible is thousands of dollars before they would pay a damned penny for anything anyway.

a reply to: xuenchen

I've never heard of a part time worker at a landscaping company getting insurance. If she had it from them, that's a fantastic company. I've held numerous part time jobs and the only one that offered benefits was Trader Joe's and the policies of Trader Joe's is the exception not the rule.

a reply to: sheepslayer247

Hehe great post. The ACA changed very little overall. It wasn't too great to start with and was made even worse by the corporatist vultures in congress tearing it apart. Universal health care is the way to go but that's impossible to implement in America. God forbid we care about others.

It's not a lack of money or logistics but of willpower and inequality in our country. I know several very affluent women who had purely cosmetic plastic surgery like an elective rhinoplasty covered by their insurance. So when a hardworking lower/middle class American citizen can't afford cancer treatments but a rich white lady gets free nosejobs I think the problem is much deeper than "Obamacare".

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Keeping you away while paying for coverage means that others can now get care, on your dime.



Seems like the plan is working exactly as intended.

originally posted by: tavi45
a reply to: sheepslayer247

Hehe great post. The ACA changed very little overall. It wasn't too great to start with and was made even worse by the corporatist vultures in congress tearing it apart. Universal health care is the way to go but that's impossible to implement in America. God forbid we care about others.

It's not a lack of money or logistics but of willpower and inequality in our country. I know several very affluent women who had purely cosmetic plastic surgery like an elective rhinoplasty covered by their insurance. So when a hardworking lower/middle class American citizen can't afford cancer treatments but a rich white lady gets free nosejobs I think the problem is much deeper than "Obamacare".

We could easily provide healthcare for everyone is this nation without breaking the bank. Wouldn't it be more moral to spend our money on a healthcare system that helps everyone than to spend it on meaningless wars or foreign aid?

Our priorities are way out of whack.

a reply to: Night Star

Like I said above, it's not something every one could do. But if one is healthy and does not need constant medical attention, why would a person give their hard earned dollars up for something that they will never collect on anyway?

I would think a lot of folks never use their full deductible anyway, much less take advantage of their premiums.

originally posted by: Witness2008
a reply to: Night Star

Like I said above, it's not something every one could do. But if one is healthy and does not need constant medical attention, why would a person give their hard earned dollars up for something that they will never collect on anyway?

I would think a lot of folks never use their full deductible anyway, much less take advantage of their premiums.

This is true probably of most young healthy people. I will share this with you though...Many years ago when my husband and I were first married and very broke, we decided we didn't need health coverage. Next thing you know it, he ends up in the hospital being diagnosed with diabetes and other health problems. We ended up thousands of dollars in debt. It's a chance we take.

a reply to: Azdraik


This woman is the typical progressive minded person blaming her failures on others. She failed in life and that is the bottom line. She is working part time at a low paying job and feels she is entitled to free health care. She is 61 and has nothing to show for it. This is not the worlds problem but hers.



It is harsh I know......But maybe she should work full time instead of doing all that yoga.

a reply to: SubTruth

Well, with that comment, how many do you think in this country have "failed in life"?

Nice large report recently showing almost 1/3 of the country not working. Even those that do work full time not all are making enough money to support their deductible.

I have no health insurance because the plans through my work, I can not afford the deductible, nor through the ACA can I afford them. So, why waste the money on an insurance plan if I can never afford to use it anyway.

As for the progressive mindset that may be the case for her, I personally called this train wreck when I first heard about it.

The government should never have the ability to mandate you purchase anything just to survive. To all those that thought they were going to get a free ride, let them eat crow.