Obamacare: Obama just straight up lied to you, in your face (4 Viewers)

[Bottomfeeder Sports]

Obamacare Actually Isn't All That Affordable -- Unless You're Broke

Interesting read, study is linked within the article. Pretty much if you're not getting a subsidy, you're very likely worse of now than you were before the ACA.

The Price of Responsibility

aka....the price of the gov't being in bed with big pharm

Actually it is name of the study in the link which studies the financial impact on previous "non poor" "free riders". Part of the group that historically added a $1000 a year to everyone else's annual health bill. Of course they are now paying more. That is the point!

A very small part. This specific group was "non poor" so likely had ability to pay for most medical needs out of pocket. Most of the issue with "free riders" (bad name, honestly) were those who didn't have the financial ability to pay for the care they were receiving no matter it's cost. They had no choice. The group (as per the article) were also fairly healthy -

"At higher income levels, small or zero subsidies and currently modest penalties will not be enough to affect the large welfare losses that the middle class uninsured experience were they to buy coverage," the report says. Those in good health were "consistently worse off from purchasing coverage regardless of the assumptions made," according to estimates calculated by the researchers.

Like I've been saying from the start, and now this study shows, if you're in the individual market and you're not getting a sizable subsidy (you're over 250% of the NPL, much more-so over 400%) and you're in somewhat decent shape, you are worse off now than you were pre-ACA. There was no questioning that when the carriers had to price for "guaranteed issue" and had to coverage all the mandates that many don't need.

64% of Americans don't have enough cash on hand to handle a $1,000 emergency expense - I'm guessing that there were a lot of "non poor" people with so much in cash on hand that they had no concerns about risking hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual health bills rather buy some form of protection for their life's savings.

But like magic they have money for partial premium payments, deductibles and copays!

You mean "This specific group was "non poor" so likely had ability to pay for most medical needs out of pocket"?

 

[The Commish]

BFS, why am I getting all these "I told you so" vibes from your posts, but they aren't really all that clear? I've never been in the individual market, so what are you getting at with your "asked to actually cover health care cost of regular people"? Have they not been covering those costs withholding payments? Or are they covering only non-regular people? What?

Well there were and probably still are carriers that pretty much denied everything as non covered but that isn't what I'm talking about. Prior to the ACA insurance companies could pick and chose who to cover. Some companies, like matttyl's favorite Assurant had created sophisticated algorithms to weed out potential members that might actually have claims. Other companies gladly took your money until you had a significant claim. Then they found a mistake somewhere on your application and dropped you. All could charge you more for a whole laundry list of reasons to effectively price most people who needed coverage out of the market. Sure some people got in and got good coverage and thus good care for a reasonable prices - they were the exceptions in an incredibly unstable, dysfunctional market that worked over time for less than a few million Americans. This notion that things were great or even acceptable in the individual market in 2013 is false.

Now what do I think will happen with pricing? Since ACA individual plans are designed to mimic group plans like the ones you and I have it seems to me that ultimately the pricing would be comparable. That means the prices in the individual market still need to go up quite a bit and/or the policies in the group market start to look more like the plans in the individual market. I'd expect a bit of both. And at the end of the process will anyone be able to get good individual market coverage at a reasonable price in the environment created by the ACA? I say let the market tell us sooner rather than latter.

And what you see as "I told you so" is probably the disbelief that hapless insurance companies really whiffed this much in their first couple of year pricing. At least those that operate in the group markets. Do you think the Blue really missed their cost projections by 100%? I think they know what they were doing.

First, I've never believed things were "great". Even in group plans, I know of horror stories as you outline above. I didn't think they were unique to the individual market

As to pricing, it makes little sense to me why group plans and individual plans would/should be similar. I'm under no delusion that Joe Six Pack's mom and pop store has the "bargaining power" that my employer has when it comes to negotiating prices. I don't know how projections could be so off, but I am left wondering what the benefit of being wrong would be. Perhaps it's my lack of knowledge in the industry, but very little of any of this is making sense to me.

I do agree that it's better to let the market guide us sooner rather than later, but I'm not confident ANYONE knows where that market is going to take us. This, of course, speaks directly to the way this has been designed and implemented IMO. I feel like they are peeling of the band aid slowly instead of just ripping it off and dealing with the short term pain.

 

[BeaverCleaver]

BFS, why am I getting all these "I told you so" vibes from your posts, but they aren't really all that clear

Many of his posts aren't clear.

 

[MaxThreshold]

BFS, why am I getting all these "I told you so" vibes from your posts, but they aren't really all that clear

Many of his posts aren't clear.

Purposefully. They are meant to obscure, distract and throw up a smoke screen to cover the fact that Obamacare is screwing pretty much anyone with an income.

 

[Aerial Assault]

mattyl seems like an unbiased and objective guy without any agenda whatsoever to listen to.

And ranting and raving on top of it - highly convincing

 

[MaxThreshold]

mattyl seems like an unbiased and objective guy without any agenda whatsoever to listen to.

And ranting and raving on top of it - highly convincing

You missed this post.

 

[BeaverCleaver]

mattyl seems like an unbiased and objective guy without any agenda whatsoever to listen to.

And ranting and raving on top of it - highly convincing

Don't be a tool.

 

[Loan Sharks]

Obamacare Actually Isn't All That Affordable -- Unless You're Broke

Interesting read, study is linked within the article. Pretty much if you're not getting a subsidy, you're very likely worse of now than you were before the ACA.

The Price of Responsibility

aka....the price of the gov't being in bed with big pharm

Actually it is name of the study in the link which studies the financial impact on previous "non poor" "free riders". Part of the group that historically added a $1000 a year to everyone else's annual health bill. Of course they are now paying more. That is the point!

A very small part. This specific group was "non poor" so likely had ability to pay for most medical needs out of pocket. Most of the issue with "free riders" (bad name, honestly) were those who didn't have the financial ability to pay for the care they were receiving no matter it's cost. They had no choice. The group (as per the article) were also fairly healthy -

"At higher income levels, small or zero subsidies and currently modest penalties will not be enough to affect the large welfare losses that the middle class uninsured experience were they to buy coverage," the report says. Those in good health were "consistently worse off from purchasing coverage regardless of the assumptions made," according to estimates calculated by the researchers.

Like I've been saying from the start, and now this study shows, if you're in the individual market and you're not getting a sizable subsidy (you're over 250% of the NPL, much more-so over 400%) and you're in somewhat decent shape, you are worse off now than you were pre-ACA. There was no questioning that when the carriers had to price for "guaranteed issue" and had to coverage all the mandates that many don't need.

64% of Americans don't have enough cash on hand to handle a $1,000 emergency expense - I'm guessing that there were a lot of "non poor" people with so much in cash on hand that they had no concerns about risking hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual health bills rather buy some form of protection for their life's savings.

But like magic they have money for partial premium payments, deductibles and copays!

You mean "This specific group was "non poor" so likely had ability to pay for most medical needs out of pocket"?

Yup. If they can't come up with $1000 then giving them insurance that they are so poor that they can't use it due to associated costs is pointless. If you were going to pay for all of this just raise taxes and put them on assistance.

 

[Sand]

mattyl seems like an unbiased and objective guy without any agenda whatsoever to listen to.

And ranting and raving on top of it - highly convincing

Don't be a tool.

Oh, seriously.

 

[Bottomfeeder Sports]

Obamacare Actually Isn't All That Affordable -- Unless You're Broke

Interesting read, study is linked within the article. Pretty much if you're not getting a subsidy, you're very likely worse of now than you were before the ACA.

The Price of Responsibility

aka....the price of the gov't being in bed with big pharm

Actually it is name of the study in the link which studies the financial impact on previous "non poor" "free riders". Part of the group that historically added a $1000 a year to everyone else's annual health bill. Of course they are now paying more. That is the point!

A very small part. This specific group was "non poor" so likely had ability to pay for most medical needs out of pocket. Most of the issue with "free riders" (bad name, honestly) were those who didn't have the financial ability to pay for the care they were receiving no matter it's cost. They had no choice. The group (as per the article) were also fairly healthy -"At higher income levels, small or zero subsidies and currently modest penalties will not be enough to affect the large welfare losses that the middle class uninsured experience were they to buy coverage," the report says. Those in good health were "consistently worse off from purchasing coverage regardless of the assumptions made," according to estimates calculated by the researchers.

Like I've been saying from the start, and now this study shows, if you're in the individual market and you're not getting a sizable subsidy (you're over 250% of the NPL, much more-so over 400%) and you're in somewhat decent shape, you are worse off now than you were pre-ACA. There was no questioning that when the carriers had to price for "guaranteed issue" and had to coverage all the mandates that many don't need.

64% of Americans don't have enough cash on hand to handle a $1,000 emergency expense - I'm guessing that there were a lot of "non poor" people with so much in cash on hand that they had no concerns about risking hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual health bills rather buy some form of protection for their life's savings.

But like magic they have money for partial premium payments, deductibles and copays!

You mean "This specific group was "non poor" so likely had ability to pay for most medical needs out of pocket"?

Yup. If they can't come up with $1000 then giving them insurance that they are so poor that they can't use it due to associated costs is pointless. If you were going to pay for all of this just raise taxes and put them on assistance.

I not the type that who would be opposed to raising taxes for more assistance. Whether it is for more assistance for those between 200 and 400% poverty level. Whether it is for more assistance for those above 400%. Whether it is for a single payer, or big vouchers to go buy coverage or seeding HSAs or whatever.

 

[Godsbrother]

This thread is so depressing. All because government thought it could help us. Some of us knew better.

It is helping a lot of people.

Let me guess that you don't have private health insurance..

Nope. I've been working for the past 34 years and have never had anything but private insurance. Not everyone I know has been as fortunate though and I empathize with those people.

People talking about insurance rates rising have a right to complain but I can tell you in the 30+ years since I've been paying for my own health insurance I have never experienced a year where my costs didn't go up. Not a single year

 

[matttyl]

mattyl seems like an unbiased and objective guy without any agenda whatsoever to listen to.

I make (part of) my living selling these insurance plans to my clients. If I had an agenda wouldn't it be to call these plans wonderful with many amazing features and well worth the money in an effort to sell more?? If we do end up going to single payer, I'm going to lose a substantial part of my income. I don't want that.

I'm here to report the news of what's happening with the ACA. Yes, more people are currently insured. That's great. More people are also paying a lot more than they used to for lesser coverage. Prices in the individual market also seem to be going up faster now than they were before.

 

[matttyl]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/insurers-face-health-overhaul-losses-2014-011557301--finance.html

Damn! That "Risk Corridor" sure worked out.

"For 2014, insurers that had sicker-than-expected patients requested nearly $2.9 billion in payments, HHS said. But the government has collected only $362 million from insurers that did well." That's only 13%. Means that nearly all carriers severely under-priced their products, which is why we're seeing all these huge increases now.

ETA - OK, so carriers just to break even needed $2.9B more in 2014. That's how much they underpriced their products. Didn't they only have 7.1m enrollments on the exchange last year? No wonder we're seeing all these huge increases this year to make up for that.

Raise your hand if you called it.

A funny thing happens when health insurance carriers are asked to actually cover health care cost of regular people in the individual market.

Yeah, the lose money and have to jack their rates up substantially. I called that years ago.

 

[matttyl]

Obamacare Actually Isn't All That Affordable -- Unless You're Broke

Interesting read, study is linked within the article. Pretty much if you're not getting a subsidy, you're very likely worse of now than you were before the ACA.

The Price of Responsibility

aka....the price of the gov't being in bed with big pharm

Actually it is name of the study in the link which studies the financial impact on previous "non poor" "free riders". Part of the group that historically added a $1000 a year to everyone else's annual health bill. Of course they are now paying more. That is the point!

A very small part. This specific group was "non poor" so likely had ability to pay for most medical needs out of pocket. Most of the issue with "free riders" (bad name, honestly) were those who didn't have the financial ability to pay for the care they were receiving no matter it's cost. They had no choice. The group (as per the article) were also fairly healthy -

"At higher income levels, small or zero subsidies and currently modest penalties will not be enough to affect the large welfare losses that the middle class uninsured experience were they to buy coverage," the report says. Those in good health were "consistently worse off from purchasing coverage regardless of the assumptions made," according to estimates calculated by the researchers.

Like I've been saying from the start, and now this study shows, if you're in the individual market and you're not getting a sizable subsidy (you're over 250% of the NPL, much more-so over 400%) and you're in somewhat decent shape, you are worse off now than you were pre-ACA. There was no questioning that when the carriers had to price for "guaranteed issue" and had to coverage all the mandates that many don't need.

64% of Americans don't have enough cash on hand to handle a $1,000 emergency expense - I'm guessing that there were a lot of "non poor" people with so much in cash on hand that they had no concerns about risking hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual health bills rather buy some form of protection for their life's savings.

People aren't rational, what do you want me to say? I think the fact that 64% of American's don't have $1,000 on hand just shows that.

 

[matttyl]

mattyl seems like an unbiased and objective guy without any agenda whatsoever to listen to.

And ranting and raving on top of it - highly convincing

Point out facts and linking to sites explaining the situation is "ranting and raving" now?

 

[snogger]

mattyl seems like an unbiased and objective guy without any agenda whatsoever to listen to.

And ranting and raving on top of it - highly convincing

Point out facts and linking to sites explaining the situation is "ranting and raving" now?

If it doesn't follow their agenda then yep..

I've gotten the same responses sometimes from the left.. a link from Non-bias sites is biased because it isn't their "truth".

 

[Rayderr]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

 

[matttyl]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

If all the plans are with the same carrier, you'll get the same answer. Most carriers offer one network for their individual products. If she's not one one plan, she won't be on any of that carrier's plans.

My advice, call the doc's office and ask for a list of networks she participates in and then "shop backwards".

 

[Rayderr]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

If all the plans are with the same carrier, you'll get the same answer. Most carriers offer one network for their individual products. If she's not one one plan, she won't be on any of that carrier's plans.

My advice, call the doc's office and ask for a list of networks she participates in and then "shop backwards".

and I've done just that. Don't accept any of the plans on the marketplace, but do support medicaid/chip programs which she is not eligible for because I made decent money earlier this year. So, had I been poor this whole year, no problem But since I wasn't, I'm SOL.

That's actually one of the biggest issues I had with the exchange. It doesn't take into account a sudden loss of income. It just assumes that whatever your estimated yearly income is will be evenly distributed throughout the year.

 

[matttyl]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

If all the plans are with the same carrier, you'll get the same answer. Most carriers offer one network for their individual products. If she's not one one plan, she won't be on any of that carrier's plans.

My advice, call the doc's office and ask for a list of networks she participates in and then "shop backwards".

and I've done just that. Don't accept any of the plans on the marketplace, but do support medicaid/chip programs which she is not eligible for because I made decent money earlier this year. So, had I been poor this whole year, no problem But since I wasn't, I'm SOL.

That's actually one of the biggest issues I had with the exchange. It doesn't take into account a sudden loss of income. It just assumes that whatever your estimated yearly income is will be evenly distributed throughout the year.

You can try "off exchange" plans - call a local insurance agent and ask.

Also, and not to get too technical, but you may be best to take COBRA. As it's Oct 5, even if you get an individual plan (and your state works like mine) it won't be effective till November 1st, and since all individual plans are calendar year - you're really only buying coverage for 2 months with a brand new deductible that will "expire" 12/31. Taking COBRA means your deductible won't reset (if you even had one) and you can continue with that plan (and the pediatrician in question) till the end of the year and shop for all the 2016 plans with they become available.

But don't tell TGunz I mentioned it, he thinks COBRA is the worst thing ever.

 

[Rayderr]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

If all the plans are with the same carrier, you'll get the same answer. Most carriers offer one network for their individual products. If she's not one one plan, she won't be on any of that carrier's plans.

My advice, call the doc's office and ask for a list of networks she participates in and then "shop backwards".

and I've done just that. Don't accept any of the plans on the marketplace, but do support medicaid/chip programs which she is not eligible for because I made decent money earlier this year. So, had I been poor this whole year, no problem But since I wasn't, I'm SOL.

That's actually one of the biggest issues I had with the exchange. It doesn't take into account a sudden loss of income. It just assumes that whatever your estimated yearly income is will be evenly distributed throughout the year.

You can try "off exchange" plans - call a local insurance agent and ask.

Also, and not to get too technical, but you may be best to take COBRA. As it's Oct 5, even if you get an individual plan (and your state works like mine) it won't be effective till November 1st, and since all individual plans are calendar year - you're really only buying coverage for 2 months with a brand new deductible that will "expire" 12/31. Taking COBRA means your deductible won't reset (if you even had one) and you can continue with that plan (and the pediatrician in question) till the end of the year and shop for all the 2016 plans with they become available.

But don't tell TGunz I mentioned it, he thinks COBRA is the worst thing ever.

COBRA's biggest downfall is it's cost. It would cost me a little over $1,000 a month keep my insurance through them. A lot of money if you're unemployed (Unemployment benefits are $514 a week.) But I have to get something apparently for all 3 of us or else I'm breaking the law.

 

[The Commish]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

If all the plans are with the same carrier, you'll get the same answer. Most carriers offer one network for their individual products. If she's not one one plan, she won't be on any of that carrier's plans.

My advice, call the doc's office and ask for a list of networks she participates in and then "shop backwards".

and I've done just that. Don't accept any of the plans on the marketplace, but do support medicaid/chip programs which she is not eligible for because I made decent money earlier this year. So, had I been poor this whole year, no problem But since I wasn't, I'm SOL.

That's actually one of the biggest issues I had with the exchange. It doesn't take into account a sudden loss of income. It just assumes that whatever your estimated yearly income is will be evenly distributed throughout the year.

You can try "off exchange" plans - call a local insurance agent and ask.

Also, and not to get too technical, but you may be best to take COBRA. As it's Oct 5, even if you get an individual plan (and your state works like mine) it won't be effective till November 1st, and since all individual plans are calendar year - you're really only buying coverage for 2 months with a brand new deductible that will "expire" 12/31. Taking COBRA means your deductible won't reset (if you even had one) and you can continue with that plan (and the pediatrician in question) till the end of the year and shop for all the 2016 plans with they become available.

But don't tell TGunz I mentioned it, he thinks COBRA is the worst thing ever.

COBRA's biggest downfall is it's cost. It would cost me a little over $1,000 a month keep my insurance through them. A lot of money if you're unemployed (Unemployment benefits are $514 a week.) But I have to get something apparently for all 3 of us or else I'm breaking the law.

If you don't get a tax refund, I'm not sure how they can collect

 

[BassNBrew]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

If all the plans are with the same carrier, you'll get the same answer. Most carriers offer one network for their individual products. If she's not one one plan, she won't be on any of that carrier's plans.

My advice, call the doc's office and ask for a list of networks she participates in and then "shop backwards".

and I've done just that. Don't accept any of the plans on the marketplace, but do support medicaid/chip programs which she is not eligible for because I made decent money earlier this year. So, had I been poor this whole year, no problem But since I wasn't, I'm SOL.

That's actually one of the biggest issues I had with the exchange. It doesn't take into account a sudden loss of income. It just assumes that whatever your estimated yearly income is will be evenly distributed throughout the year.

You can try "off exchange" plans - call a local insurance agent and ask.

Also, and not to get too technical, but you may be best to take COBRA. As it's Oct 5, even if you get an individual plan (and your state works like mine) it won't be effective till November 1st, and since all individual plans are calendar year - you're really only buying coverage for 2 months with a brand new deductible that will "expire" 12/31. Taking COBRA means your deductible won't reset (if you even had one) and you can continue with that plan (and the pediatrician in question) till the end of the year and shop for all the 2016 plans with they become available.

But don't tell TGunz I mentioned it, he thinks COBRA is the worst thing ever.

COBRA's biggest downfall is it's cost. It would cost me a little over $1,000 a month keep my insurance through them. A lot of money if you're unemployed (Unemployment benefits are $514 a week.) But I have to get something apparently for all 3 of us or else I'm breaking the law.

You can get a plan through the marketplace for the two months and just not pay the premium. They can't cut you off for 90 days. If you need it, pay the premium, if not, then don't. You "fine" will only be based on two months which can't be that much.

 

[Rayderr]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

If all the plans are with the same carrier, you'll get the same answer. Most carriers offer one network for their individual products. If she's not one one plan, she won't be on any of that carrier's plans.

My advice, call the doc's office and ask for a list of networks she participates in and then "shop backwards".

and I've done just that. Don't accept any of the plans on the marketplace, but do support medicaid/chip programs which she is not eligible for because I made decent money earlier this year. So, had I been poor this whole year, no problem But since I wasn't, I'm SOL.

That's actually one of the biggest issues I had with the exchange. It doesn't take into account a sudden loss of income. It just assumes that whatever your estimated yearly income is will be evenly distributed throughout the year.

You can try "off exchange" plans - call a local insurance agent and ask.

Also, and not to get too technical, but you may be best to take COBRA. As it's Oct 5, even if you get an individual plan (and your state works like mine) it won't be effective till November 1st, and since all individual plans are calendar year - you're really only buying coverage for 2 months with a brand new deductible that will "expire" 12/31. Taking COBRA means your deductible won't reset (if you even had one) and you can continue with that plan (and the pediatrician in question) till the end of the year and shop for all the 2016 plans with they become available.

But don't tell TGunz I mentioned it, he thinks COBRA is the worst thing ever.

COBRA's biggest downfall is it's cost. It would cost me a little over $1,000 a month keep my insurance through them. A lot of money if you're unemployed (Unemployment benefits are $514 a week.) But I have to get something apparently for all 3 of us or else I'm breaking the law.

You can get a plan through the marketplace for the two months and just not pay the premium. They can't cut you off for 90 days. If you need it, pay the premium, if not, then don't. You "fine" will only be based on two months which can't be that much.

Excellent idea. I think they even used that as an ad campaign to get it passed. "Destroy your credit with Obamacare!"

 

[prosopis]

I have had insurance now for about 10 mos with the marketplace. It is killing us. I cant afford the premium and when I used the insurance I am getting billed. I would be better off with out it. Even the "free" physical we were supposed to get is costing me around $500.00 for myself and my wife.

I am ready to throw in the towel financially.

 

[tommyGunZ]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

If all the plans are with the same carrier, you'll get the same answer. Most carriers offer one network for their individual products. If she's not one one plan, she won't be on any of that carrier's plans.My advice, call the doc's office and ask for a list of networks she participates in and then "shop backwards".

and I've done just that. Don't accept any of the plans on the marketplace, but do support medicaid/chip programs which she is not eligible for because I made decent money earlier this year. So, had I been poor this whole year, no problem But since I wasn't, I'm SOL. That's actually one of the biggest issues I had with the exchange. It doesn't take into account a sudden loss of income. It just assumes that whatever your estimated yearly income is will be evenly distributed throughout the year.

You can try "off exchange" plans - call a local insurance agent and ask.Also, and not to get too technical, but you may be best to take COBRA. As it's Oct 5, even if you get an individual plan (and your state works like mine) it won't be effective till November 1st, and since all individual plans are calendar year - you're really only buying coverage for 2 months with a brand new deductible that will "expire" 12/31. Taking COBRA means your deductible won't reset (if you even had one) and you can continue with that plan (and the pediatrician in question) till the end of the year and shop for all the 2016 plans with they become available.

But don't tell TGunz I mentioned it, he thinks COBRA is the worst thing ever.

COBRA's biggest downfall is it's cost. It would cost me a little over $1,000 a month keep my insurance through them. A lot of money if you're unemployed (Unemployment benefits are $514 a week.) But I have to get something apparently for all 3 of us or else I'm breaking the law.

Yep - and that's the exact criticism I had of COBRA earlier in the thread, which matttyl now characterizes as me saying it's "the worst thing ever".

GL Rayderr. The ACA certainly has plenty of kinks and flaws that we can hopefully iron out over the next decade or so.

 

[The Commish]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

If all the plans are with the same carrier, you'll get the same answer. Most carriers offer one network for their individual products. If she's not one one plan, she won't be on any of that carrier's plans.

My advice, call the doc's office and ask for a list of networks she participates in and then "shop backwards".

and I've done just that. Don't accept any of the plans on the marketplace, but do support medicaid/chip programs which she is not eligible for because I made decent money earlier this year. So, had I been poor this whole year, no problem But since I wasn't, I'm SOL.

That's actually one of the biggest issues I had with the exchange. It doesn't take into account a sudden loss of income. It just assumes that whatever your estimated yearly income is will be evenly distributed throughout the year.

You can try "off exchange" plans - call a local insurance agent and ask.

Also, and not to get too technical, but you may be best to take COBRA. As it's Oct 5, even if you get an individual plan (and your state works like mine) it won't be effective till November 1st, and since all individual plans are calendar year - you're really only buying coverage for 2 months with a brand new deductible that will "expire" 12/31. Taking COBRA means your deductible won't reset (if you even had one) and you can continue with that plan (and the pediatrician in question) till the end of the year and shop for all the 2016 plans with they become available.

But don't tell TGunz I mentioned it, he thinks COBRA is the worst thing ever.

COBRA's biggest downfall is it's cost. It would cost me a little over $1,000 a month keep my insurance through them. A lot of money if you're unemployed (Unemployment benefits are $514 a week.) But I have to get something apparently for all 3 of us or else I'm breaking the law.

You can get a plan through the marketplace for the two months and just not pay the premium. They can't cut you off for 90 days. If you need it, pay the premium, if not, then don't. You "fine" will only be based on two months which can't be that much.

Excellent idea. I think they even used that as an ad campaign to get it passed. "Destroy your credit with Obamacare!"

It won't hit your credit

 

[The Commish]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

If all the plans are with the same carrier, you'll get the same answer. Most carriers offer one network for their individual products. If she's not one one plan, she won't be on any of that carrier's plans.My advice, call the doc's office and ask for a list of networks she participates in and then "shop backwards".

and I've done just that. Don't accept any of the plans on the marketplace, but do support medicaid/chip programs which she is not eligible for because I made decent money earlier this year. So, had I been poor this whole year, no problem But since I wasn't, I'm SOL. That's actually one of the biggest issues I had with the exchange. It doesn't take into account a sudden loss of income. It just assumes that whatever your estimated yearly income is will be evenly distributed throughout the year.

You can try "off exchange" plans - call a local insurance agent and ask.Also, and not to get too technical, but you may be best to take COBRA. As it's Oct 5, even if you get an individual plan (and your state works like mine) it won't be effective till November 1st, and since all individual plans are calendar year - you're really only buying coverage for 2 months with a brand new deductible that will "expire" 12/31. Taking COBRA means your deductible won't reset (if you even had one) and you can continue with that plan (and the pediatrician in question) till the end of the year and shop for all the 2016 plans with they become available.

But don't tell TGunz I mentioned it, he thinks COBRA is the worst thing ever.

COBRA's biggest downfall is it's cost. It would cost me a little over $1,000 a month keep my insurance through them. A lot of money if you're unemployed (Unemployment benefits are $514 a week.) But I have to get something apparently for all 3 of us or else I'm breaking the law.

Yep - and that's the exact criticism I had of COBRA earlier in the thread, which matttyl now characterizes as me saying it's "the worst thing ever".

GL Rayderr. The ACA certainly has plenty of kinks and flaws that we can hopefully iron out over the next decade or so.

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

Hope one of those "kinks" as you put it is cost

 

[BassNBrew]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

If all the plans are with the same carrier, you'll get the same answer. Most carriers offer one network for their individual products. If she's not one one plan, she won't be on any of that carrier's plans.

My advice, call the doc's office and ask for a list of networks she participates in and then "shop backwards".

and I've done just that. Don't accept any of the plans on the marketplace, but do support medicaid/chip programs which she is not eligible for because I made decent money earlier this year. So, had I been poor this whole year, no problem But since I wasn't, I'm SOL.

That's actually one of the biggest issues I had with the exchange. It doesn't take into account a sudden loss of income. It just assumes that whatever your estimated yearly income is will be evenly distributed throughout the year.

You can try "off exchange" plans - call a local insurance agent and ask.

Also, and not to get too technical, but you may be best to take COBRA. As it's Oct 5, even if you get an individual plan (and your state works like mine) it won't be effective till November 1st, and since all individual plans are calendar year - you're really only buying coverage for 2 months with a brand new deductible that will "expire" 12/31. Taking COBRA means your deductible won't reset (if you even had one) and you can continue with that plan (and the pediatrician in question) till the end of the year and shop for all the 2016 plans with they become available.

But don't tell TGunz I mentioned it, he thinks COBRA is the worst thing ever.

COBRA's biggest downfall is it's cost. It would cost me a little over $1,000 a month keep my insurance through them. A lot of money if you're unemployed (Unemployment benefits are $514 a week.) But I have to get something apparently for all 3 of us or else I'm breaking the law.

You can get a plan through the marketplace for the two months and just not pay the premium. They can't cut you off for 90 days. If you need it, pay the premium, if not, then don't. You "fine" will only be based on two months which can't be that much.

Excellent idea. I think they even used that as an ad campaign to get it passed. "Destroy your credit with Obamacare!"

It work hurt your credit. While a little bit on the low end of the ethical scale, it's better than not having insurance and ending up filing bankruptcy if something big occurred. Just consider it your subsidy that you're not getting yet.

 

[BassNBrew]

I guess the ACA Big Pharma proponents have a new slogan...

ACA doesn't suck really bad, it's only slightly worse than cobra.

 

[The Commish]

 

[Rayderr]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

If all the plans are with the same carrier, you'll get the same answer. Most carriers offer one network for their individual products. If she's not one one plan, she won't be on any of that carrier's plans.My advice, call the doc's office and ask for a list of networks she participates in and then "shop backwards".

and I've done just that. Don't accept any of the plans on the marketplace, but do support medicaid/chip programs which she is not eligible for because I made decent money earlier this year. So, had I been poor this whole year, no problem But since I wasn't, I'm SOL. That's actually one of the biggest issues I had with the exchange. It doesn't take into account a sudden loss of income. It just assumes that whatever your estimated yearly income is will be evenly distributed throughout the year.

You can try "off exchange" plans - call a local insurance agent and ask.Also, and not to get too technical, but you may be best to take COBRA. As it's Oct 5, even if you get an individual plan (and your state works like mine) it won't be effective till November 1st, and since all individual plans are calendar year - you're really only buying coverage for 2 months with a brand new deductible that will "expire" 12/31. Taking COBRA means your deductible won't reset (if you even had one) and you can continue with that plan (and the pediatrician in question) till the end of the year and shop for all the 2016 plans with they become available.

But don't tell TGunz I mentioned it, he thinks COBRA is the worst thing ever.

COBRA's biggest downfall is it's cost. It would cost me a little over $1,000 a month keep my insurance through them. A lot of money if you're unemployed (Unemployment benefits are $514 a week.) But I have to get something apparently for all 3 of us or else I'm breaking the law.

Yep - and that's the exact criticism I had of COBRA earlier in the thread, which matttyl now characterizes as me saying it's "the worst thing ever".

GL Rayderr. The ACA certainly has plenty of kinks and flaws that we can hopefully iron out over the next decade or so.

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

Hope one of those "kinks" as you put it is cost

to be fair, the ones that cost as much as cobra are gold and platinum plans.

 

[BassNBrew]

Similair to the plan you had at work?

 

[The Commish]

to be fair, the ones that cost as much as cobra are gold and platinum plans.

how different is the coverage in those plans than what you had/have with cobra?

 

[Rayderr]

to be fair, the ones that cost as much as cobra are gold and platinum plans.

how different is the coverage in those plans than what you had/have with cobra?

ACA plans are not as good.

 

[Rayderr]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

If all the plans are with the same carrier, you'll get the same answer. Most carriers offer one network for their individual products. If she's not one one plan, she won't be on any of that carrier's plans.

My advice, call the doc's office and ask for a list of networks she participates in and then "shop backwards".

and I've done just that. Don't accept any of the plans on the marketplace, but do support medicaid/chip programs which she is not eligible for because I made decent money earlier this year. So, had I been poor this whole year, no problem But since I wasn't, I'm SOL.

That's actually one of the biggest issues I had with the exchange. It doesn't take into account a sudden loss of income. It just assumes that whatever your estimated yearly income is will be evenly distributed throughout the year.

You can try "off exchange" plans - call a local insurance agent and ask.

Also, and not to get too technical, but you may be best to take COBRA. As it's Oct 5, even if you get an individual plan (and your state works like mine) it won't be effective till November 1st, and since all individual plans are calendar year - you're really only buying coverage for 2 months with a brand new deductible that will "expire" 12/31. Taking COBRA means your deductible won't reset (if you even had one) and you can continue with that plan (and the pediatrician in question) till the end of the year and shop for all the 2016 plans with they become available.

But don't tell TGunz I mentioned it, he thinks COBRA is the worst thing ever.

COBRA's biggest downfall is it's cost. It would cost me a little over $1,000 a month keep my insurance through them. A lot of money if you're unemployed (Unemployment benefits are $514 a week.) But I have to get something apparently for all 3 of us or else I'm breaking the law.

You can get a plan through the marketplace for the two months and just not pay the premium. They can't cut you off for 90 days. If you need it, pay the premium, if not, then don't. You "fine" will only be based on two months which can't be that much.

Excellent idea. I think they even used that as an ad campaign to get it passed. "Destroy your credit with Obamacare!"

It work hurt your credit. While a little bit on the low end of the ethical scale, it's better than not having insurance and ending up filing bankruptcy if something big occurred. Just consider it your subsidy that you're not getting yet.

you sure it won't hurt credit? I mean, while you buy it through the ACA market, it's still Aetna, Blue Cross, Caresource, etc that you would not be paying. And insurance companies have never really been known to take a "They didn't pay. Oh well." approach.

 

[matttyl]

to be fair, the ones that cost as much as cobra are gold and platinum plans.

how different is the coverage in those plans than what you had/have with cobra?

ACA plans are not as good.

Exactly my point, and you'd have a brand new 2 month deductible. Why give yourself a brand new deductible for only 2 months if you're not saving any money in premium? COBRA is the best option for you (as you're not going to be able to get subsidized coverage on the individual exchange). Yes it costs a lot, but so do the semi-compariable exchange plans, and you're not giving yourself a brand new deductible.

 

[matttyl]

As a recently unemployed person, I'm trying to get health insurance for my family through the health care exchange. My god what a pain this is. And as far as I can tell, the "you can keep your doctor" is total bull####. My wife and I could care less about keeping our doctors, but we want to keep the pediatrician for our daughter. She's not shown up on the provider's list of any of the 35 plans I've checked so far. But still got 15 more to go, though I'm at the price point where I may as well just keep my insurance through cobra.

If all the plans are with the same carrier, you'll get the same answer. Most carriers offer one network for their individual products. If she's not one one plan, she won't be on any of that carrier's plans.

My advice, call the doc's office and ask for a list of networks she participates in and then "shop backwards".

and I've done just that. Don't accept any of the plans on the marketplace, but do support medicaid/chip programs which she is not eligible for because I made decent money earlier this year. So, had I been poor this whole year, no problem But since I wasn't, I'm SOL.

That's actually one of the biggest issues I had with the exchange. It doesn't take into account a sudden loss of income. It just assumes that whatever your estimated yearly income is will be evenly distributed throughout the year.

You can try "off exchange" plans - call a local insurance agent and ask.

Also, and not to get too technical, but you may be best to take COBRA. As it's Oct 5, even if you get an individual plan (and your state works like mine) it won't be effective till November 1st, and since all individual plans are calendar year - you're really only buying coverage for 2 months with a brand new deductible that will "expire" 12/31. Taking COBRA means your deductible won't reset (if you even had one) and you can continue with that plan (and the pediatrician in question) till the end of the year and shop for all the 2016 plans with they become available.

But don't tell TGunz I mentioned it, he thinks COBRA is the worst thing ever.

COBRA's biggest downfall is it's cost. It would cost me a little over $1,000 a month keep my insurance through them. A lot of money if you're unemployed (Unemployment benefits are $514 a week.) But I have to get something apparently for all 3 of us or else I'm breaking the law.

You can get a plan through the marketplace for the two months and just not pay the premium. They can't cut you off for 90 days. If you need it, pay the premium, if not, then don't. You "fine" will only be based on two months which can't be that much.

Excellent idea. I think they even used that as an ad campaign to get it passed. "Destroy your credit with Obamacare!"

It work hurt your credit. While a little bit on the low end of the ethical scale, it's better than not having insurance and ending up filing bankruptcy if something big occurred. Just consider it your subsidy that you're not getting yet.

you sure it won't hurt credit? I mean, while you buy it through the ACA market, it's still Aetna, Blue Cross, Caresource, etc that you would not be paying. And insurance companies have never really been known to take a "They didn't pay. Oh well." approach.

Yes, it won't hurt your credit on the premium side. If you don't pay medical bills, that's a different story and would hurt your credit.

 

[The Commish]

to be fair, the ones that cost as much as cobra are gold and platinum plans.

how different is the coverage in those plans than what you had/have with cobra?

ACA plans are not as good.

even at the "gold" or "platinum" level? Really? Damn.

 

[matttyl]

Hawaii rates for 2016 approved....

HONOLULU (AP) — The state has approved rate hikes for members of Kaiser and the Hawaii Medical Service Association under Affordable Care Act plans.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports that members of HMSA, the state's largest health insurer, will see a 27 percent increase in rates, and Kaiser members will see a 34 percent increase starting next year.

 

[matttyl]

to be fair, the ones that cost as much as cobra are gold and platinum plans.

how different is the coverage in those plans than what you had/have with cobra?

ACA plans are not as good.

even at the "gold" or "platinum" level? Really? Damn.

Yup, very, very common. These plans simply aren't as good as the decent plans in the large employer category (likely what he's coming from). On top of that, the provider networks are much smaller (which he's discovered with the issue of his kid's pediatrician).

 

[The Commish]

So, looking forward....we see all these requests for rate increases. I'm hoping this isn't a "We need 20-30% a year for the next several...." sort of thing. Any way to tell? It's one thing to go the "rip the band aid off" approach initially and suck it up, but is that the case or is this the first year of several where they are increasing rates by these kinds of percentages?

 

[The Commish]

to be fair, the ones that cost as much as cobra are gold and platinum plans.

how different is the coverage in those plans than what you had/have with cobra?

ACA plans are not as good.

even at the "gold" or "platinum" level? Really? Damn.

Yup, very, very common. These plans simply aren't as good as the decent plans in the large employer category (likely what he's coming from). On top of that, the provider networks are much smaller (which he's discovered with the issue of his kid's pediatrician).

Sorry....I was asking how the gold/platinum compared to the cobra...sorry for the confusion. Rayderr?

 

[matttyl]

to be fair, the ones that cost as much as cobra are gold and platinum plans.

how different is the coverage in those plans than what you had/have with cobra?

ACA plans are not as good.

even at the "gold" or "platinum" level? Really? Damn.

Yup, very, very common. These plans simply aren't as good as the decent plans in the large employer category (likely what he's coming from). On top of that, the provider networks are much smaller (which he's discovered with the issue of his kid's pediatrician).

Sorry....I was asking how the gold/platinum compared to the cobra...sorry for the confusion. Rayderr?

COBRA = the large employer plan that Rayderr has. When he accepts COBRA, what he's really doing is asking to stay on the exact same plan he's had while he was employed with them, only now he'll be paying the full amount himself without his employer paying anything. The benefit is that he doesn't switch plans or networks, and he doesn't have a brand new deductible.

It's extremely likely that anything he could obtain via the exchanges (or off exchange in the individual market) such as the "platinum" or "gold" level options via Obamacare are much weaker than what he already had - and according to him cost about the same. In fact, when comparing the two, this just came out this morning...

"Patients with a chronic condition pay an average of twice as much for their prescription medication when they get health insurance through exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act than those who have employer-sponsored insurance, a new study has found. As a result, these patients are less likely to fill their prescriptions, leaving them sicker and more likely to need medical care later on."

The coverage simply isn't as strong, and very likely has a smaller network to utilize.

 

[matttyl]

So, looking forward....we see all these requests for rate increases. I'm hoping this isn't a "We need 20-30% a year for the next several...." sort of thing. Any way to tell? It's one thing to go the "rip the band aid off" approach initially and suck it up, but is that the case or is this the first year of several where they are increasing rates by these kinds of percentages?

Time will tell. That said, we already had the "rip the band aid off" when 2014 hit. Remember the Manhattan Institute study that said the ACA increased (unsubsidized) individual insurance premiums by 41%, or the eHealth (the nation's largest seller of individual plans) who said that their average sold policy premium went up by 39% (or 56% for a family) when the ACA took affect?

The approved rate increases we're seeing now are in addition to those we've already had in the past 1-2 years.

Also, and I'll continue to say this as I've said it from the start - I'm most worried about the increases we'll see in 2016 and on when the reinsurance and other risk mitigation programs for the carriers (some call them insurer bailouts) go away. One of them only had 13% of the money requested last year, though that shortfall wasn't known about when carriers issues their proposed rates for 2016. After next year, there won't be any money in that program at all. If carriers (Assurant and the Co-ops) couldn't stay afloat when those programs were running, they won't have a prayer after they expire.

 

[The Commish]

to be fair, the ones that cost as much as cobra are gold and platinum plans.

how different is the coverage in those plans than what you had/have with cobra?

ACA plans are not as good.

even at the "gold" or "platinum" level? Really? Damn.

Yup, very, very common. These plans simply aren't as good as the decent plans in the large employer category (likely what he's coming from). On top of that, the provider networks are much smaller (which he's discovered with the issue of his kid's pediatrician).

Sorry....I was asking how the gold/platinum compared to the cobra...sorry for the confusion. Rayderr?

COBRA = the large employer plan that Rayderr has. When he accepts COBRA, what he's really doing is asking to stay on the exact same plan he's had while he was employed with them, only now he'll be paying the full amount himself without his employer paying anything. The benefit is that he doesn't switch plans or networks, and he doesn't have a brand new deductible.

It's extremely likely that anything he could obtain via the exchanges (or off exchange in the individual market) such as the "platinum" or "gold" level options via Obamacare are much weaker than what he already had - and according to him cost about the same. In fact, when comparing the two, this just came out this morning...

"Patients with a chronic condition pay an average of twice as much for their prescription medication when they get health insurance through exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act than those who have employer-sponsored insurance, a new study has found. As a result, these patients are less likely to fill their prescriptions, leaving them sicker and more likely to need medical care later on."

The coverage simply isn't as strong, and very likely has a smaller network to utilize.

Good to know....I always thought cobra was a plan of it's own out there for emergencies and unforeseen circumstances.

 

[matttyl]

to be fair, the ones that cost as much as cobra are gold and platinum plans.

how different is the coverage in those plans than what you had/have with cobra?

ACA plans are not as good.

even at the "gold" or "platinum" level? Really? Damn.

Yup, very, very common. These plans simply aren't as good as the decent plans in the large employer category (likely what he's coming from). On top of that, the provider networks are much smaller (which he's discovered with the issue of his kid's pediatrician).

Sorry....I was asking how the gold/platinum compared to the cobra...sorry for the confusion. Rayderr?

COBRA = the large employer plan that Rayderr has. When he accepts COBRA, what he's really doing is asking to stay on the exact same plan he's had while he was employed with them, only now he'll be paying the full amount himself without his employer paying anything. The benefit is that he doesn't switch plans or networks, and he doesn't have a brand new deductible.

It's extremely likely that anything he could obtain via the exchanges (or off exchange in the individual market) such as the "platinum" or "gold" level options via Obamacare are much weaker than what he already had - and according to him cost about the same. In fact, when comparing the two, this just came out this morning...

"Patients with a chronic condition pay an average of twice as much for their prescription medication when they get health insurance through exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act than those who have employer-sponsored insurance, a new study has found. As a result, these patients are less likely to fill their prescriptions, leaving them sicker and more likely to need medical care later on."

The coverage simply isn't as strong, and very likely has a smaller network to utilize.

Good to know....I always thought cobra was a plan of it's own out there for emergencies and unforeseen circumstances.

Nope, it's the same plans you've always had (and potentially enjoyed). COBRA just allows you to keep it, and pay the full amount (what it actually costs). The big benefit is not having to change carriers/networks/deductibles midyear. I very often encourage people to accept it, even though it means I can't make a sale. Sorry if it "costs too much", but it's actually the same price it's always been, only you're paying the entire thing yourself without any employer contribution. I imagine that your income stopped when you left employment, it only makes sense that the employer portion of your coverage (which is technically part of your income) would stop as well.

 

[Rayderr]

Unless I can get my daughter on Medicare/CHIP (Apparently possible because of her autism) I'll have to stick with COBRA as switching pediatricians would be a bit chaotic.

Ultimately, I'll just have to get a job sooner rather than later even if it's something I don't particularly care for. Which brings me to the law of unintended consequences. Most of the job listings in fields I'm qualified for are part time. 1 is even 29 hours a week (30 hours counts as full time and the company has to offer insurance)

 

[matttyl]

Hawaii rates for 2016 approved....

HONOLULU (AP) — The state has approved rate hikes for members of Kaiser and the Hawaii Medical Service Association under Affordable Care Act plans.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports that members of HMSA, the state's largest health insurer, will see a 27 percent increase in rates, and Kaiser members will see a 34 percent increase starting next year.

As for the rational of those increases, from the Insurance Commissioner....

“We were extremely concerned by the requested increases by insurers for 2016 ACA individual plans,” said State Insurance Commissioner Gordon Ito. “Nobody likes to see prices go up for the individual consumer. However, upon close review of the carriers’ expenses, benefits paid, and other considerations our rate analysts and actuaries found premium increases were necessary for the carriers to cover their costs, enabling them to continue to pay their customers’ claims.”

Hawaii law mandates that insurance rates cannot be excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory. A news release today from the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs said, “In the case of ACA individual plans, the 2015 rates were inadequate and needed to be adjusted significantly in 2016.”

 

[matttyl]

Unless I can get my daughter on Medicare/CHIP (Apparently possible because of her autism) I'll have to stick with COBRA as switching pediatricians would be a bit chaotic.

Ultimately, I'll just have to get a job sooner rather than later even if it's something I don't particularly care for. Which brings me to the law of unintended consequences. Most of the job listings in fields I'm qualified for are part time. 1 is even 29 hours a week (30 hours counts as full time and the company has to offer insurance)

Oh, and I forgot I didn't mention this before....

COBRA is an individual right. That means that you can accept it for your daughter (so she can keep the coverage and pediatrician) and decline it for you and your wife and you two can find alternative options on the exchange or potentially go without for the next few months.