Health insurance

[RickD]

Well, I'm in a kind of dilemma. My wife changed jobs, and we don't have health insurance anymore. We were approved for what we thought was a pretty good plan under BCBS of Florida. The plan had appeared to have everything we need for my wife, my son and me. But the only problem is that we found out today it won't cover preexisting conditions. My wife was in an auto accident 25 years ago, and she needs back adjustments due to the injury. The plan won't cover that. She had acid reflux last year(most likely caused by stress from the job she just quit), which appears to be gone now. If it comes back, they won't cover it. Thankfully, I've been healthy with the exception of one condition I have which in all possibility, will cause me to be on medication for the rest of my life. The doctors visits(maybe once every 3-6 months) aren't covered. Nor is my medication. The meds aren't too expensive without insurance, thankfully. About $50-100 a month.

That plan is @$460/month. Or, we could go on an Obamacare plan which is similar in coverage to the other plan, but double the monthly price. I haven't asked specifically, but I assume the Obamacare plan must cover our preexisting conditions. Or our third and least favorite choice is to go on my insurance plan from work, which is around $1,000 a month. And I don't know if they will cover preexisting conditions. My Fortune 500 company pays zero towards employee healthcare.

Or cobra continuation coverage which is $1,700 a month.

Or take the $95 dollar fine for having no insurance, and hope we have no catastrophic injuries/illnesses.

Any ideas?

[B. W.]

Well, I'm in a kind of dilemma. My wife changed jobs, and we don't have health insurance anymore. We were approved for what we thought was a pretty good plan under BCBS of Florida. The plan had appeared to have everything we need for my wife, my son and me. But the only problem is that we found out today it won't cover preexisting conditions. My wife was in an auto accident 25 years ago, and she needs back adjustments due to the injury. The plan won't cover that. She had acid reflux last year(most likely caused by stress from the job she just quit), which appears to be gone now. If it comes back, they won't cover it. Thankfully, I've been healthy with the exception of one condition I have which in all possibility, will cause me to be on medication for the rest of my life. The doctors visits(maybe once every 3-6 months) aren't covered. Nor is my medication. The meds aren't too expensive without insurance, thankfully. About $50-100 a month.

That plan is @$460/month. Or, we could go on an Obamacare plan which is similar in coverage to the other plan, but double the monthly price. I haven't asked specifically, but I assume the Obamacare plan must cover our preexisting conditions. Or our third and least favorite choice is to go on my insurance plan from work, which is around $1,000 a month. And I don't know if they will cover preexisting conditions. My Fortune 500 company pays zero towards employee healthcare.

Or cobra continuation coverage which is $1,700 a month.

Or take the $95 dollar fine for having no insurance, and hope we have no catastrophic injuries/illnesses.

Any ideas?

Hmmm interesting - it was made law that pre-existing conditions are covered once Obama Care was signed and cannot be denied so I find it difficult to think your insurance could dump you unless Obama care was designed to have Insurance companies pay hefty for including pre-ex conditions in their plans, so one is dumped upon Obama's cheaper, nicer, gentler plan which cost x2 the premiums etc and etc... If you go Obama Care be sure of your doctor / meds are included in the plan. Welcome to Socialis--emm Communist run Health care Comrade RICK - the glorious imperious leader of the State can never be wrong!!!! FORWARD!!!!

You are not the only one affected like this...
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[RickD]

B. W. wrote:
Hmmm interesting - it was made law that pre-existing conditions are covered once Obama Care was signed and cannot be denied so I find it difficult to think your insurance could dump you unless Obama care was designed to have Insurance companies pay hefty for including pre-ex conditions in their plans, so one is dumped upon Obama's cheaper, nicer, gentler plan which cost x2 the premiums etc and etc... If you go Obama Care be sure of your doctor / meds are included in the plan. Welcome to Socialis--emm Communist run Health care Comrade RICK - the glorious imperious leader of the State can never be wrong!!!! FORWARD!!!!

You are not the only one affected like this...

No, the insurance company didn't dump us. It was a policy through my wife's work. She quit her job, so since she no longer works there, she no longer gets the insurance. While it's true that policies under Obamacare aren't supposed to deny insurance because of preexisting conditions, the policy that I'm referring to that we wanted to purchase, was a non-Obamacare policy. They approved us for the policy, they just said that they won't cover anything relating to our preexisting conditions. So this particular policy we wanted, isn't affected by Obamacare at this moment. So regardless of Obamacare, we would've still been denied coverage of our preexisting conditions.

We have one other option that I have to look into through my human resource dept at work. My wife and son may go on the cheaper plan that we liked, and I may go on my work plan by myself. It will be a lot cheaper just for myself, and I believe an employee insurance policy will pay for doctor and prescriptions for my preexisting condition. I'm not sure about that, so I need to check with my HR dept.

[Kurieuo]

Geez, sounds so complicated in the US.

[RickD]

Geez, sounds so complicated in the US.

It has never been complicated before. We have always just had insurance through my company or my wife's. But since insurance through my company is so expensive, because my Fortune 500 company is so stingy, and won't contribute towards insurance, then we're forced into other options. At this time, my wife's position at work doesn't have health coverage. But we're praying that a position opens up for her so we can get insurance through her company. She works for a hospital that has great health coverage. But right now, she's just getting her foot in the door with a per diem position. We're praying for a permanent part-time or full-time position, so we can get insurance.

In all my adult life, I have never run into this problem, because one of us usually has had good insurance through our work.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

How about finding a new job with a company that offers insurance benefits? Is that workable?

FL

[RickD]

How about finding a new job with a company that offers insurance benefits? Is that workable?

FL

Sure, I suppose that's an option. But good jobs don't just grow on trees for uneducated dummies like me. And second, my current job has great working hours. Hours that allow me to see my family. That is more important than a new job that I may not like, and may require me to work bad hours.

I believe this is just something temporary we have to work through. I've been doing some research, and I may go on my employer's insurance, and have my wife and son go on the other plan for now. Insurance for employee only, through my company, isn't terribly expensive. And it should cover preexisting conditions.

At least until Obamacare kicks in full force, and we all may be forced to pay excessive health care premiums. I can't wait for obama's socialism to hit us.

[B. W.]

Well, comrade Rick, our imperious and most beloved leader of the state desires you to join in and overthrow the capitalistic swine who are so greedy and profit driven - never mind how Obama care was designed for the purpose of pitting folks against employers and how the law forces big 500 companies to drop coverage by whatever means possible in order to remain in business. That is a capitalistic Fox News myth - we need only one news source to comfort dear Leader, only one health care law with its death panel t rid the world of worthless eaters!

Comrade Rick - TOO ARMS!!! Join the crusade of dear Leader and fundamentally change America so that it dies in order for the rest of the world enslaved with that American terrible anarchic word - freedom - world to live - live - live!!!

No the above is jest and but the reality is that the Obama Care was designed to destroy so much... that is the progressive - communist way... he abuse of power is outstanding in this country and may God intervene soon and return us back to himself en-mass...

Here are some news articles to note:

http://money.cnn.com/2013/08/29/news/ec ... -benefits/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapotheca ... insurance/

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

Comrade Rick,

You could apply for residence in Canada. Vancouver has a few palm trees, so it would almost seem like home. As a Canadian resident, you'd get free healthcare! Vancouver is also in Canada's Bible Belt. As an added advantage, you could watch your former country self-destruct from a safe place!

FL

[RickD]

FL wrote:
As a Canadian resident, you'd get free healthcare!

"Free" healthcare? Is that what you call it? I see you're drinking the Kool aid.

"Free" healthcare.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

I see you're drinking the Kool aid.

Yes...but Comrade Prezident Obama has America drinking Jim Jones brand Kool Aid.

FL =

[RickD]

I see you're drinking the Kool aid.

Yes...but Comrade Prezident Obama has America drinking Jim Jones brand Kool Aid.

FL =

Whadda ya mean? Socialism has worked so well everywhere else. Why wouldn't it work here?

[Philip]

I am still furious that so many people fell for this Obamacare mess. It was easy to see up front that it was unworkable and unrealistic on so many levels - and yet - so many people wanted to believe that coverage would expand and costs would magically go down. And then, the very elected leaders who SHOULD have intensely investigated the ACA's copious pages and fine print, DIDN'T EVEN READ IT. And so they voted on a massive new government program without even knowing what they were truly voting for. The only believed the propaganda created by the very ones promoting the program (sound a bit like Big Pharma's techniques?).

And, ironically, the key insiders putting forth the fantasy of Obamacare surely must have know that it ultimately wouldn't work, but that by the time everyone became hip to it the damage would already be done and the previous status quo and its infrastructure would be so damaged and fractured that the industry and the public would STILL and ultimately be dependent upon a government solution. But the ultimate shoe hasn't yet dropped, as the "FIX" of the disaster that is Obamacare will likely destroy the remaining obstacles for government-controlled healthcare - their actual goal at the very beginning. And NOW Obama and his stooges want to blame incompetent webmasters for their disaster. Anyone who believes that is the REAL problem is delusional!

To be sure, the Democrats totally own this mess. They promoted it, believed in it, helped pass it. Yet that doesn't mean that the previous system didn't need massive reform and innovation - it DID. Our previous system was highly problematic and under it costs continued to soar. But if you want to help those on a sinking ship, you don't begin firing torpedoes into her. It's pretty much impossible to rehabilitate a sunken ship. And I'm afraid we're close to that. People should be EXTREMELY angry over what has happened and have a discerning eye on those who helped make it happen - people who should have been far more cautions and who should have been far more knowledgeable about the farce that was and is being perpetrated on the American people.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

I am still furious that so many people fell for this Obamacare mess.

From what I hear in this frozen wasteland in which I live, Americans never fell for Obamacare as such, but for the imagined ''universal healthcare'' ideal that Obamacare insinuated. Of course, you understand this clearly:

And [our Legislators] voted on a massive new government program without even knowing what they were truly voting for. [Legislators] only believed the propaganda created by the very ones promoting the program (sound a bit like Big Pharma's techniques?).

If your legislators have been hoodwinked, is it any surprise that the average American is confused?

FL

[Philip]

If your legislators have been hoodwinked, is it any surprise that the average American is confused?

It's a bit like asking, "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" But the fact is that the average American is seemingly oblivious to connecting how they vote (or DON'T vote) to the imbeciles which we end up with. The problem isn't the political class as much as those helping put them in office. And for those who care, we need to do a much better job of explaining political and financial realities to our children. Young people are having their economic futures ruined by our ruling class. Of course, the longer this inattention goes on by voters, the worse our candidate choices get.