Free Republic

It's deja screwed all over again. In the fall of 2013, our family received notice from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado that we could no longer keep our private health insurance plan because of "changes from health care reform (also called the Affordable Care Act or ACA)."We liked our high-deductible preferred provider organization plan that allowed us to choose from a wide range of doctors. But Obamacare wouldn't let us keep it. Reluctantly, and after great bureaucratic difficulty, my hubby and I enrolled in an individual market plan with Rocky Mountain Health, which offered a much narrower provider...

CAMP MEEKER (CBS SF) — A Sonoma County man battling more than a dozen tumors in his body is fighting a new battle with his insurance carrier, who has denied coverage for his treatments. Jeffrey Rusch of Camp Meeker knew the news was bad when an MRI found 20 tumors in his brain. Two days later, a C-T scan at Sutter medical center in Santa Rosa brought another devastating blow, discovering a large tumor in his lungs, and more in his liver and bones. Doctors told Jeffrey he would need to be hospitalized immediately. “My husband was having a lot...

Nick and Rachel Robinson were excited about the possibilities that Obamacare offered them when they found out they were expecting a third child. “It’s one of those times where you hear the news and there’s this immediate sense of joy and excitement like, ‘Yay, a new kid. That’s awesome!’” Nick Robinson told NPR. But the happy news also came with a new set of worries. “What are we going to do? How are we going to pay for this? This is intense.” When the option of the Affordable Care Act became available, the Robinsons believed it was the answer to what they...

A California man has been seeking treatment for Lyme disease, something he contracted while on active duty as a Marine, but he’s having a hard time finding a doctor in the San Francisco Bay area that accepts his insurance. The insurance company’s advice? Cancel his plan. KPIX-TV, though, says the fact that he can’t find a doctor within a reasonable distance violates state law and nothing appears to be taking place to fix the issue. The former Marine identified by KPIX by only his first name, Kyle, is covered by Anthem BlueCross through the state exchange Covered California. “I was on the...

Nearly one-third of California’s total population -- roughly 11.5 million people -- will be enrolled in Medi-Cal next year.. Enrollment is expected to exceed previous estimates by 1.4 million, and administration officials said it would cost the state $1.2 billion more than originally thought.

MIAMI (AP) -- The first thing Michelle Pool did before picking a plan under President Barack Obama's health insurance law was check whether her longtime primary care doctor was covered. Pool, a 60-year-old diabetic who has had back surgery and a hip replacement, purchased the plan only to find that the insurer was mistaken.Pool's $352 a month gold plan through Covered California's exchange was cheaper than what she'd paid under her husband's insurance and seemed like a good deal because of her numerous pre-existing conditions. But after her insurance card came in the mail, the Vista, California resident learned her...

John and Dawn DiMarco signed up for an Affordable Care Act plan through the state health insurance exchange during open enrollment. They received their insurance card and were covered but their bill was thousands of dollars more than advertised. They spent weeks going back and forth with various state agencies and the insurance company to try and get answers. Then, this month, their carrier, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, sent them a cancellation notice. NBC Connecticut contacted Access Health CT on Tuesday and they told us it has to do with a computer issue with their vendor. UPDATE: A spokesperson...

Paul Siperke is the co-owner of Fat Head's, a popular brew pub in Cleveland. He has fewer than 50 full-time employees, so he's classified under the Affordable Care Act as a small business. He doesn't have to provide health insurance to his employees, but that's what he's been doing since the bar opened in 2009, despite some pretty dramatic volatility in rates. This year, under the Affordable Care Act, he saw another hike — this one about 20 percent. "It just seems odd that we get such a drastic price increase when nothing has really changed with us as far...

A devastating new McKinsey & Co. report finds that Obamacare's purported purpose – providing coverage for the previously uninsured – has failed. The report concludes that 74% of Obamacare enrollees at the end of the first open enrollment period already had insurance; just 26% reported being previously uninsured. Of those who were previously uninsured, the figure drops to only 22% when considered alongside whether the individual has activated his plan by paying his first month's premium. According to the Associated Press, at least 4.7 million Americans had their health insurance plans canceled due to Obamacare. Many of those individuals simply...

With enrollment in the Obamacare exchanges now closed, Democrats and their friends in the media are ebullient. Obamacare is an enormous success, they say, and conservatives have been humiliated. On closer inspection, however, things seem decidedly less bullish for President Obama’s signature achievement. Among the many exaggerations and inaccuracies the law’s defenders are touting, five stand out. • First, they say that premium rates are down. In support of this, liberals cite research from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), but they misinterpret it. In fact, the CBO’s most recent estimate of premiums shows a decline not from what they were...

“Thnx Mr. President!” That’s what former MSNBC anchor Dylan Ratigan had to say to President Obama in a tweet earlier today. He was saying it sarcastically. You know, like when you say “thanks a lot!” to someone who bumps into you in the hallway, causing you to spill your coffee all over your clothes. But Mr. Ratigan experienced something far worse than a coffee spill. His health insurance premiums are skyrocketing thanks to the hilariously named Affordable Care Act. What happened? Well, for starters, Ratigan had catastrophic health insurance coverage. That means that he sees himself as pretty healthy and...

I was with my brother when he was refilling his prescriptions today. Cost of 3 month supply of Fenofibrate at Walgreen's was $400. He's been told that's a bargain for medicare patients. $400 for 3 month supply of a generic drug?

So I was in pain the other day and googled for a local urgent care. Turns out there was one in LA county a mile away. Did not provide "Emergency Care". Since it was over a long standing back pain I did not want to go a hospital with an ER. I went in and at reception, I was asked if I had been there before? I replied "no." It was a LA County owned and operated Care-Clinic. She told me that since ObamaCare passed, they are not accepting any new patients unless they are Non-Resident or Non-Citizen - she...

She’s reached out to 96 DOCTORS who won’t treat her and it hasn’t changed her mind at all about Obamacare. Wow, you want to talk about “stuck on stupid,” well, this is it. What’s left for conservatives to say to someone who supports a system that puts her through this much other than, “Told you so?”

When pressed on the negative impact Obamacare is having on average folks, Democrats choose to focus on those who are being helped by the healthcare law. But conservative pundit and authorAnn Coulter highlighted just how devastating the impact can be in a recent appearance on “Fox & Friends.” “This does have real world consequences: I got up the other morning and got an email from a friend saying, ‘My sister almost died because of Obamacare,’” Coulter told host Tucker Carlson. Coulter said the friend’s sister lost her coverage when Blue Shield pulled out of California because of Obamacare. Despite running...

Liberals support cruel policies that decimate people's lives; yet they like to think of themselves as compassionate and kind. So, they judge programs based on the good intentions they claim to have had, not the actual results. Liberals started out by telling everyone that, "If you like your plan, you can keep your plan." They said, "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." They said it would "save the average family $2,500 on its premiums." It sounds great, right? In fact, if all of the wonderful liberal promises about health care had been true, conservatives would have...

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- After receiving her new health coverage in January through the New York State of Health Marketplace, Arden Heights resident Margaret Figueroa, 49, who suffers from two chronic illnesses, went to her pharmacy to fill her prescriptions. Although her insurance company, EmblemHealth, assured her she was covered, her insurance card was denied. While she had signed up for new health coverage -- because her insurance carrier dropped her old plan -- the company's internal paperwork apparently wasn't filed. She also learned that all her long-time doctors didn't accept the new insurance plan. For Ms. Figueroa, who suffers...

We are a family of six – two parents and four children – who, because of a rough year in 2013, had to apply for subsidized healthcare coverage under the new Obamacare rules. Yes, count us among the 7.1 million that Kathleen Sebelius is currently claiming are active Obamacare signups. We live in Orange County, Southern California, so our coverage comes through the state exchange, Covered California ...

Gregg Hughes was perfectly happy with his existing health care plan. That plan is now a thing of the past thanks to ObamaCare, and Hughes has a pretty big microphone to blast the people responsible for the change. Hughes is one half of the veteran radio team Opie & Anthony, and that allowed him to rail against the so-called Affordable Care Act and its unintended consequences. "I have to pick all new plans because what I have wasn't good enough," Hughes said. Anthony Cumia tried to console his radio partner. "Were you happy with your other insurance. ... then you...

LECLAIR: “We’ve heard from a lot of WHEC Facebook friends complaining that they will face a fine if they don’t sign up for health insurance. But many say they can’t afford the premiums or deductibles, and it would be cheaper to stay uninsured and pay the penalty. This free clinic at St. Josephs’ Neighborhood Center always has a steady stream of patients. The director says the Affordable Care Act will never put them out of business. Even though everyone is supposed to have insurance now and their own doctor, there will always be people who need care but can’t afford...