Good news for us re: Obamacare/ACA

[carlfense]

http://www.usatoday.com/longform/news/nation/2014/11/12/rural-hospital-closings-federal-reimbursement-medicaid-aca/18532471/

Rural hospitals in critical condition

 

ACA ACCELERATES DEMISE OF RURAL HOSPITALS THAT SERVE MANY OF SOCIETY'S MOST VULNERABLE.

 

Since the beginning of 2010, 43 rural hospitals — with a total of more than 1,500 beds — have closed, according to data from the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program. The pace of closures has quickened: from 3 in 2010 to 13 in 2013, and 12 already this year. Georgia alone has lost five rural hospitals since 2012, and at least six more are teetering on the brink of collapse. Each of the state's closed hospitals served about 10,000 people — a lot for remaining area hospitals to absorb.

The Affordable Care Act was designed to improve access to health care for all Americans and will give them another chance at getting health insurance during open enrollment starting this Saturday. But critics say the ACA is also accelerating the demise of rural outposts that cater to many of society's most vulnerable. These hospitals treat some of the sickest and poorest patients — those least aware of how to stay healthy. Hospital officials contend that the law's penalties for having to re-admit patients soon after they're released are impossible to avoid and create a crushing burden.

 

Huh.

[tschu]

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obamacare-2015-higher-costs-higher-penalties/

 

It's not only the uninsured who will be facing higher costs. Many health-care plans are also charging more, with Investor's Business Daily finding that a 27-year-old earning 250 percent of the poverty rate will pay an average of 7 percent more for the lowest-cost bronze plan, based on an analysis of rates in the largest city in 34 states. The lowest-cost silver plan will rise an average of 9 percent, while the lowest-priced catastrophic policy will climb 18 percent, the analysis found.

 

Which, as has been addressed repeatedly, was the case both before and after the ACA.

 

How many times are we going to have to point this out?

[JJ Husker]

Well I ventured into the Colorado insurance marketplace for ACA insurance.......mixed feelings.

 

The Ugly and the Bad;

1- Experienced technical glitches quite a few times. Got booted out/off and had to start over many times.

 

2- The information on the available plans is pretty darned limited compared to what I am used to getting from our insurance broker. The general public trying to navigate this system and make decisions can't be a good thing. I know a LOT about health insurance plans, how they work, etc. because I have been selecting plans for myself and my company for many years. This marketplace has to be an absolute nightmare for people that aren't well versed in deciphering these plans.

 

3- Started down the path to determine if I would be eligible for any financial assistance or reduced premiums (note-was pretty sure I wouldn't be but was curious because I will also be helping some of my employees sign up). That path (determining eligibility for assistance) was an absolute nightmare. Once I got started it would not let me bail out or cancel the process. They required WAY more information than I wanted to provide. So I determined fairly early on I wasn't going to complete that line of questioning on the application. I couldn't stop it or avoid it. I had to actually call in to their help line and have them delete the app I had started so that I could start over without determining financial assistance. Of course, being a government entity, the financial determination had to first consider Medicaid and CHiP (a Colorado assistance plan) eligibility which made it very involved and cumbersome. Would've been nice if it had offered the option to skip determining Medicaid eligibility and gone right into determining premium reduction eligibility.

 

4- Since our prior company plan was on a December 1st renewal date, I needed to secure coverage beginning December 1, 2014. It has always been my experience that when signing up health insurance the plans are 1 year (12 months) to renewal. So, I enrolled only to find out that the plan I signed up for would only be good for 1 month. Yep, gotta do it all over again in December for the 2015 year. It is not a fun or quick process so finding that out after I signed up was discouraging. Nowhere along the way did the system inform me that I was selecting a plan for only 1 month. So, after verifying that with another call to the help line, it sunk in that I was basically getting screwed for a month; new deductible that would only be good for only 1 month. If I actually have to use the plan in December, it will likely be all out of pocket anyway. So, I called a third time to see if that was in fact the case. They could not reach a consensus on an answer so I am waiting for a call back.

 

The Good;

 

1- I had 66 plans to choose from that ranged in price, for our family of 4, from about $720/mo to around $2700/mo. Some of the best plans were not at the upper end of the price range but rather down around the $1100 to $1300 range. I did find a couple plans that had lower premiums and much better coverage than the Anthem BCBS PPO plan I have just given up. The new plan will be a Kaiser Permanente HMO rather than a PPO. HMO's are a little more restrictive than PPO's as far as they afford zero coverage out of network. The only downside I really see is that our primary care physicians will no longer be in network so, we will have to select new doctors. That doesn't break my heart because our long time doc just retired about a year ago anyway and we are not impressed or attached with his replacement.

 

The Best Thing;

 

1- I no longer have to select the plans my company will offer to our employees or comply with an endless stream of ever changing rules, notifications, and legal requirements. It was a draining, seemingly constant, slog that sucked ass bad. All we had to do was give everybody a raise which more than covered the company's share of the insurance premium and now they can all make their own health care decisions. The employees don't like it but I love it.

 

Sorry if this is boring to ya'll. I just thought it would be good to post a real life experience with the ACA changes.

[carlfense]

Good breakdown, JJ. Thanks.

[JJ Husker]

And....returning to the point I have been trying to make all along about the ACA....runaway, continually escalating costs.

 

Yes, this was a problem before implementation of the ACA and yes, it is still the number one problem.

Without the rapidly increasing insurance premiums and care costs, there would've been no impetus to change anything from the status quo. Low income people still could've enrolled in Medicaid, lower to medium income people struggling to try to afford coverage would've been able to afford it if costs weren't climbing out of control and, of course, higher income people could've continued without concern. So, my point is, the major problem that required solving did not get addressed and really has been exacerbated by the implementation of the ACA.

 

Yearly premium increases are still in the 12% to 18% range generally and, figure in the 25% +/- one time increase due to the all inclusive provisions of the ACA, health care is still unaffordable as ever. I think it's great that everyone can get (maybe not really afford but-can get) coverage and that pre-existing conditions and portability are no longer concerns. Those are the things they got right. Now they need to fix the problem. I hate to say it but it is going to require single payer and some heavy handed socialism to fix. That is going to be an extremely tough sell to a good portion of our citizens. Hell, I realize that is the only solution but it still rubs me the wrong way enough that I'm not sure I could fully support it. The only solution is not the American way many of us idealize.

[carlfense]

I hate to say it but it is going to require single payer and some heavy handed socialism to fix. That is going to be an extremely tough sell to a good portion of our citizens. Hell, I realize that is the only solution but it still rubs me the wrong way enough that I'm not sure I could fully support it. The only solution is not the American way many of us idealize.

I agree. The ACA is a step in the right direction but it's not the best possible option. Not that there aren't any problems with single payer because there are . . .

[carlfense]

Early evidence suggests that competition in the new Affordable Care Act marketplaces is working. Health insurance premiums in major cities around the country are barely rising.

 

That’s the conclusion of two studies of data about newly public insurance rates. One, from the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health research group, looked at 49 cities and found that prices for a popular type of plan are actually going down, on average. A second, from the actuarial firm Wakely Consulting Group, looked at the largest county in each of the 34 states with marketplaces run by the federal government and found an average rate increase of zero.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/15/upshot/first-look-at-health-insurance-rates-for-next-year-is-encouraging.html?rref=upshot&smid=tw-upshotnyt&abt=0002&abg=1

[JJ Husker]

 

Early evidence suggests that competition in the new Affordable Care Act marketplaces is working. Health insurance premiums in major cities around the country are barely rising.

 

That’s the conclusion of two studies of data about newly public insurance rates. One, from the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health research group, looked at 49 cities and found that prices for a popular type of plan are actually going down, on average. A second, from the actuarial firm Wakely Consulting Group, looked at the largest county in each of the 34 states with marketplaces run by the federal government and found an average rate increase of zero.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/15/upshot/first-look-at-health-insurance-rates-for-next-year-is-encouraging.html?rref=upshot&smid=tw-upshotnyt&abt=0002&abg=1

 

There may be some ways to spin it that way. However, I rely on my real world experiences and that isn't what I've seen. In fact, the KP plan I just signed up for the month of December will be increasing 13.4% going into January 2015. $1,068 to $1,211. I realize that is anecdotal but it sure means a lot more to me than a study that claims otherwise. Let's hope that really is some sort of trend that will become more widespread.

[tschu]

Thanks for the breakdown JJ, good stuff

[carlfense]

 

 

Republicans can huff and puff all they want, but the evidence is clear: despite its rollout problems, Obamacare is a success. It's covering millions of people; its costs are in line with forecasts; and people who use it think highly of it. There's no such thing as a big, complex program that has no problems, and Obamacare has its share. But overall? It's a standup triple.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/11/people-who-use-obamacare-sure-do-it

[Abdullah the Butcher]

 

 

 

Republicans can huff and puff all they want, but the evidence is clear: despite its rollout problems, Obamacare is a success. It's covering millions of people; its costs are in line with forecasts; and people who use it think highly of it. There's no such thing as a big, complex program that has no problems, and Obamacare has its share. But overall? It's a standup triple.[/size]

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/11/people-who-use-obamacare-sure-do-it

You hear a lot about what’s wrong with the coverage available through the marketplaces and some of these criticisms are legitimate. The narrow networks of providers are confusing, for example, and lack of sufficient regulations leaves some patients unfairly on the hook for ridiculously high bills. But overall the plans turn out to be as popular as other forms of private and public insurance. It’s one more sign that, if you can just block out the negative headlines and political attacks, you’ll discover a program that is working.

[HUSKER 37]

 

10,535 pages condensed to 4 sentences.

As humorous as this may sound every last word of it is absolutely TRUE.

Here are the 10,535 pages of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obama Care) condensed to 4 sentences:

1. In order to insure the uninsured, we first have to uninsure the insured.

2. Next, we require the newly uninsured to be re-insured.

3. To re-insure the newly uninsured, they are required to pay extra charges to be re-insured.

4. The extra charges are required so that the original insured, who became uninsured, and then became re-insured, can pay enough extra so that the original uninsured can be insured, which will be free of charge to them.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is called redistribution of wealth or, by its more common name, SOCIALISM. Thought you would appreciate this.

[tschu]

SOCIALISM

[carlfense]

Socialism-ghazi!!

[carlfense]

New federal government data shows the percentage of Americans without health insurance was at or near historic lows this year following the roll-out of the Affordable Care Act, and appears certain to fall to record levels next year.

 

The data released Thursday from the National Center for Health Statistics’ National Health Interview Survey found that 11.3 percent of Americans were without coverage in the second quarter of 2014, down from 13.1 percent in the first quarter and 14.4 percent throughout 2013. An analysis by the White House Council of Economic Advisers finds the drop in the uninsured to be the largest in four decades, amounting to roughly 9.7 million Americans getting insurance, consistent with other Affordable Care Act estimates.

http://time.com/3639785/uninsured-obamacare-record/

 

Thanks Obama!