Posted on 10/17/2013 5:46:50 PM PDT by Kaslin
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Kalispell, Montana, as we head back to the phones. This is Bob. Thank you for waiting, sir. Great to have you on the program.
CALLER: Yeah, hello, Rush. Yeah, my story here is I just got notice that my health care coverage is gonna be terminated.
RUSH: Why?
CALLER: It looks like the option I have to go to is to go on Medicaid.
RUSH: Why is your health insurance being terminated?
CALLER: They're canceling here in Montana, all high-risk policies, okay?
RUSH: Who? Who is? Who sent you the cancellation notice?
CALLER: It's a third party from Blue Shield.
RUSH: Okay, so an insurance company?
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: They told you that they're canceling you?
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: You're in a high-risk pool, preexisting condition?
CALLER: Correct.
RUSH: A-ha. That not supposed to happen. With Obamacare, you're supposed to be able to keep your doctor. You're supposed to be in Fat City. I mean, you're supposed to be in there.
CALLER: They give you some options, and one of them is you should go to Medicaid first and then whatever bronze, silver, or gold things they offer on those plans. So, anyway, I went to an insurance agent that's supposed to represent the exchanges for Medicare.
RUSH: Yeah?
CALLER: Not Medicare. Obamacare. They said, "Yeah, it looks like you have to go to Medicaid first."
RUSH: Bob, do you mind if I ask you how old you are?
CALLER: I'm 57 years old.
RUSH: Fifty-seven years old. On Medicare at age 57.
CALLER: Well, I'm not on yet.
RUSH: In this cancellation, did they suggest these gold, silver, bronze plans? Did they tell you to go to the exchange at HealthCare.gov?
CALLER: No. They just said, "As of January 1st, we're canceling all policies in Montana."
RUSH: Oh. So you've got 'til January 1st. Well, you ought to go out and get health care every day and stock up on it. You know, get a bunch of health care, like put it in the bank.
CALLER: Yeah. Yeah, that's definitely an option I was playing with, but, anyway, you know, I'd like to carry my own load and pay for it, but isn't looking like it's gonna go that way.
RUSH: Why? Because you don't have the money?
CALLER: Well, I mean, I have to do something at the beginning of the year, and so what else can I do? I mean, hopefully nothing happens to me by the first of the year, and so I'll go on Medicaid and go that route.
RUSH: So you're gonna sponge off all the rest of us?
CALLER: That's why I'm calling. I'm not an ingrate. I want to thank you and the other producers in this country to allow me to sponge off ya.
RUSH: Well, at least you're thanking us. That never happens. We never, ever get a thank you. At least you had the gonads to do that.
CALLER: Right.
RUSH: That's worth something.
CALLER: I appreciate that. Okay, and that's all I wanted to say. Okay, Rush?
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: It was a pleasure talking to you.
RUSH: Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure, Bob. Thanks very much.
So Bob was kicked off his policy. They told him to go to taxpayer-paid health care, and he just called to thank us. It took him awhile to get there, but he eventually got there. It must have been hard to do. (interruption) Well, it is. It's gotta be hard to do. I don't know about you. I never thank people who do anything for me, and it's gotta be tough for people like Bob to call in here and thank us. (interruption)
Take what seriously? (interruption) I know. I'm being facetious. I thank people all the time. I go overboard thanking people. It's the way I was raised. But that's why I'm being facetious. I figure nobody would believe it if I say I never thank anybody for doing things for me. Anyway, Bob did. He called thank us. He's at least thankful. That man has character. I mean, he gets a note from his insurance company saying, "We're off-loading you. Go freeload somewhere." And the regime gave him some freeloader ideas, and he just called to thank us. I don't know about you, but I kinda respect that.
END TRANSCRIPT
I was uncomfortable with this call, I do not think the guy was a freeloader.
Personally, I would have liked to find out why he wasn’t working and why he had to go on medicare.
Every word he spoke was labored, what was the story?
I don’t think he said he wasn’t working; in fact I’m pretty sure of it I heard the whole call. He was buying his own policy and the company he is buying it from is dumping him. Given that he has an existing condition his price for a new policy would be through the roof & he can’t afford it.
He’s not a WILLING freeloader.
But with Community Rating and Guaranteed Issue, he should be able to get health insurance at the same price as anyone else his age.
If he qualifies for Medicaid, he is poor and has no assets. My guess is, because Montana did not expand Medicaid, he makes less than the poverty line, so he is ineligible for subsidies, so he cannot afford the ObamaCare policy. It is amazing, because what this means is his pre-ObamaCare policy WITH an pre-existing condition cost less than the post-ObamaCare policy.
What a disaster. I say fully fund, fully implement, and stay out of its way.
“Free lunch! Come and get your free lunch!”
“Hey buddy! I’ll have some of that free lunch!”
“Here you go!”
“Thanks.....eh......Steve.”
“I’m not Steve.”
“Well, it says ‘Steve’ on this lunchbox.”
“That’s probably the guy I took the lunchbox from.”
“You stole this lunchbox from some guy and now you’re telling me it’s a free lunch?”
“Yeah. That’s about it.”
“OK. Wait a minute! This Twinkie is half eaten!”
“Yeah. Campaign contribution. And don’t eat the rest of the sandwich. It’s rotten.”
“This isn’t much of a free lunch.”
“Yeah, well it is to a jackass.”
“I’m not a jackass!”
“You’re the one who thought there was such a thing as a free lunch. Now, gimme twenty bucks before I cave in your head. Thanks, pal. Free lunch! Get your free lunch!”
The next economic based tiered group will be people who make 401% over the “poverty level”, but are still under the tax subsidy cut-off figure, which will vary by state.
The exchange rates may well be affordable, if you don't make over the subsidy rate cut-off.
If you don't qualify for the subsidy, you can still sign up for the exchange, but as to how affordable that will be is debatable.
The spoiler to everything is if your employer already offers a comprehensive insurance plan, and the individual decides they just can't afford those premiums.(which have all increased yet again for everyone, but will take another huge jump in 2015, when the employer mandate really kicks in.)
If your employer offers an insurance plan, you can't just arbitrarily decide to go on the “exchanges” instead, and still get the tax “subsidies” you would have qualified for, if they offered no insurance.
Apparently not. They might have a referendum on the proposed expansion.
If so, and the man makes under 400% over the “poverty level”, he really DOES NOT have any choice anymore.He can not “sign up for” Obamacare, because he's too poor. It's off to Medicaid, or nothing and the penalty for nothing is still $95 or 1% of annual income, whichever is higher.
People in that situation could theoretically enroll in an exchange policy, but with NO SUBSIDY, and of course few or none of them will be able to do that. They are really screwed big time.
From the lib/hater perspective it’s a fake...
I don’t know
My experience:
Renewal time at work.
I still have my Humana at a 9% increase, just as crappy ad before, just more. Some new bells and whistles added “because of the ACA” the rep added. I wasn’t impressed.
Now is it because my employer has a 2 year contract? A contract that is up in 2014? Will the REAL reaming start next year during open enrollment?
For the group, because I really don’t know.
Do I as still have to go and sign up for Obamacare even though I still have my company plan?
Do I have to run the gauntlet of shit that is the ACA to find out?
Do I call a “navigator” who could be an illegal or perhaps a felon to get advice?
Will I get fined and get my bank account raided by the gov’mt?
????
Yea, I wasn’t sure Rush understood what the Caller was saying.
I took it the other way. The guy was only left with the choice BECAUSE OF Obamacare. A Freeloader he wasn’t.
I felt the same way, it was the tone in his voice. I think he was sincere.
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