Posted on 06/11/2015 6:46:43 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
A key goal of the Affordable Care Act is to help people get health insurance who may have not been able to pay for it before. But the most popular plans – those with low monthly premiums – also have high deductibles and copays. And that can leave medical care still out of reach for some.
Renee Mitchell of Stone Mountain, Georgia is one of those people. She previously put off a medical procedure because of the expense. But as the threat of losing part of her vision became a real possibility, she sought an eye specialist at Emory University, who told her she needed surgery to correct an earlier cataract procedure gone wrong.
The eye surgery is not the scariest part, she said. Cost is: “further copays [and] more out-of-pocket expenses.”
Mitchell is generally pleased with her insurance — a silver-level Obamacare plan. But she still struggles to keep up with her part of the bills. She is not alone.
The majority of people who buy insurance on state or federal exchanges pick silver-level plans, which often carry a lower monthly premium, but may still have a high annual deductible – $1,500 or more.
Still, while copays, deductibles and co-insurance weigh heavy on Renee Mitchell’s mind, they’re not her only insurance concern. Her monthly premium is also getting more expensive. This year, she said, it jumped by about $100 a month.
(Excerpt) Read more at khn.org ...
This is why I don’t bother with health care insurance. If something REALLY expensive happens, I die. For everything else I am “self insured”, and you’d be shocked at the discounts the self insured get.
Life is a mist.
BTW, the reason is simple. My wife and I are both 61. The monthly cost of the bronze plan is more than our house and land payments and our car payment. If we actually bought obmaacare we’d have to completely abandon our lifestyle, and it isn’t exactly high as it is.
And the bronze plan offers little protection.
I have no sympathy for liberals who suffer under Obamacare. They wanted it in the worst way, and they got it in the worst way. Now they can experience what sensible people told them Obamacare would mean. It used to be that everyone in the country had access to essential medical care, although not always insurance. Now a few more people have medical insurance, but far fewer have access.
Health insurance isn’t the same thing a health care.
Sadly there are enough people now who will take that woman’s view to push us into single payer.
You know something, Renee? I'd like to take an early retirement too and sit around "taking care of my family." But I can't afford to. You are looking for something for nothing if you want to retire early and have someone else pay your bills.
We’re paying over $600 dollar a month for a BCBS plan that has a $5000 deductible!........................
No Way !!!!!! Don’t you know it’s the Affordable Care Act ,,,, it’s gotta be very reasonable so everyone can take advantage of easy to afford health maintenance . Just ask Jonathan Gruber . . .
There are many people who can afford to pay for (subsidized) insurance premiums OR medical are ... but not both at the same time.
Which was the same deal before Obamacare. People could afford to pay for insurance OR medical care ... but not both at the same time.
No change except in the meantime, both insurance costs and medical care costs and drug costs have increased. So people who paid out of pocket before and basically still do, have less access to medical care due to increased cost.
Thanks Obamacare!
You still have $6000 deductibles now
I didn’t have insurance for the last 15 years- and I have never paid $6000 a year for any medical
There’s no doubt in my Military Mind that Single-Payer was the end-game all along. 0bama himself said that it would take about 10 years to accomplish; I’m thinking it’ll be ours in five more, depending upon who is the next President and how much of 0bamacare can be tossed.
(HA! - But a girl can dream, can’t she?)
Before Obamacare cause outlawed “catastrophic” plans, the free-market provided high quality, low-cost Major Medical insurance to protect against only the most serious and expensive health problems. Now, freedom of choice is gone, and every policy must include every imaginable medical, mental and social malady – so costs and premiums naturally skyrocketed. And then there is the dirty little secret that productive Americans pay even higher premiums to subsidize what lower-income “insureds” must pay. This system was never designed to work. It is designed to fail so that Americans will beg the government to “rescue” us with a totalitarian, single payor system.
I've had something similar in my tag line for the past 5 years or so!
It wasn't outlawed. You can still get it, but many people would still have to pay the penalty for not having insurance. However, if one falls in hardship category of insurance costing more than 8% of income then it becomes a viable option.
It’s possible I may have picked up that line from you. It’s worth repeating.
“The majority of people who buy insurance on state or federal exchanges pick silver-level plans, which often carry a lower monthly premium, but may still have a high annual deductible – $1,500 or more.”
The deductibles are more like $6000-$8000, unless you are in the free handout category.
That’s more like the numbers I’ve seen, for those not being subsidized.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.