Star Member cali (96,322 posts)
The ACA: Unable to Meet the Deductible or the Doctor
Patricia Wanderlich got insurance through the Affordable Care Act this year, and with good reason: She suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2011, spending weeks in a hospital intensive care unit, and has a second, smaller aneurysm that needs monitoring.
But her new plan has a $6,000 annual deductible, meaning that Ms. Wanderlich, who works part time at a landscaping company outside Chicago, has to pay for most of her medical services up to that amount. She is skipping this year’s brain scan and hoping for the best.
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About 7.3 million Americans are enrolled in private coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, and more than 80 percent qualified for federal subsidies to help with the cost of their monthly premiums. But many are still on the hook for deductibles that can top $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for families — the trade-off, insurers say, for keeping premiums for the marketplace plans relatively low. The result is that some people — no firm data exists on how many — say they hesitate to use their new insurance because of the high out-of-pocket costs.
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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.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/18/us/unable-to-meet-the-deductible-or-the-doctor.html?_r=0
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025684806Say, remember the thousands of posts woofing about how 0bamacare, if more expensive, was for better care? That premiums were lower, and any premiums that increased were a LIE? Remember how the ACA was a poke in eye of the RW and 0****nut's signature accomplishment?
Turns out almost no one can afford it, and it's pretty much crickets over there. I guess no one wants to pick on the "piece of shit used car salesman."
Star Member hobbit709 (32,598 posts)
2. My housemate has that problem. A $6000 deductible when you make $9.75/hr
Means you don't have diddly squat left over pay check to paycheck.
Also means your housemate is a loser. Why not make a bumper sticker about that, asshole?
Star Member Algernon Moncrieff (902 posts)
20. You are right, but you miss the point
OK, owing $6K is bad, but it's a lot better than owing $20K or $50K or $100K, which is what was happening before. Before the ACA was passed, there were countless cases of people with no coverage, no hope of paying, and they system passing on the billions in unpaid debt onto those who could pay, which has been a big component of the medical inflation spiral. Mitigating that condition should, long run, help med inflation.
Also, $6K won't drive even the poorest into bonafide bankruptcy. It's an amount that the courts would have worked out through a long term payment plan, and that the provider could comfortably eat, if need be.
Didn't know Prosense changed her name.
nationalize the fed (674 posts)
35. No. Arresting single payer advocates means ARRESTING them. You don't remember this?
Not surprising, most Democrats don't. Or, they have deliberately "forgotten" it. Because it's hard to blame the "Rethugs" for lack of single payer when the lead Democrat in charge of the hearings has them ARRESTED.
as in ARRESTED. Police. Mug shot. ARRESTED. Jeezus. WTF? There is no hope when people deny reality.
Uploaded on May 5, 2009
On May 5, 2009, eight activists were arrested at a health care hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, in the Dirksen Office Building, Room 106. As soon as the Committee Chair, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), opened the proceedings, the activists began in turns to stand and to make comments, like: "Why isnt a single payer at the table?" They were immediately "escorted" out of the room by the Capitol Hill police and placed under arrest.
The demonstrators' press release underscored "how 22,000 people die in the U.S. every year due to a lack of health insurance." This is seven times the number of victims that perished in the 9/11 tragedy.
Dr. Margaret Flowers, one of the eight arrested, added in the press release: "Health insurance administrators are practicing medicine without a license. The result is the suffering and death of thousands of patients for the sake of private profit. The private insurance industry has a solid grip on patients, providers and legislators. It is time to stand up and declare that health care is a human right." The activists are supporting HR 676 and S 703. For background and any updates, see: http://www.healthcare-now.org and
http://singlepayeraction.org and http://md.pnhp.org and
http://www.prosperityagenda.us/ and http://freshaircleanpolitics.net.
Sorry, Moron. You guys made your shot, and you lost. ACA is on YOU, PERIOD, and you don't get to disown it because you wanted something else. See you in November.
