Now that I’m actually on the right day ( and it is a snow/too frakking cold to go to school day), here is your Balloon Juice PSA:
SIGN UP FOR HEALTH INSURANCE by midnight EST tonight
Today is the last day for 45+ states to sign up for coverage that starts January 1, 2017.
This is important for two reasons:
1) You need to get covered
2) If there is a Republican Replacement plan that is not vaporware, it is highly likely to replace the individual mandate with some type of continual enrollment requirement to avoid medical underwriting. Medical underwriting is fine if you are twenty three, male and have never said “Hold my beer and watch this”. Medical underwriting is scary for everyone else.
So if you get on a policy for 1/1/17, you are buying both health insurance and some Republican Replacement insurance.
Go do it.
Persia
Already done, for a slightly cheaper plan with slightly less RX coverage. So I’m refilling all my stuff this month. :P
John
Richard–can you explain why New York State’s individual health insurance market is so terrible? I signed up last night for next year’s insurance. I only had a few bad choices to pick from, and ended up with a platinum HMO plan from Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield that costs–wait for it–$950 a month for an individual.
Contrast with the pre-Obamacare era, when I had awesome PPO insurance through the Freelancer’s Union for $400/month. The Empire Plan, which I’ve had for the past year is a terrible mess, and because I’m self employed and have to get back to work, I end up paying for my own healthcare out of pocket rather than do the endless song and dance they require to pay for anything.
I’m a Democrat, but as far as I’m concerned Obamacare should be killed with fire. My expenses are much higher and my healthcare dramatically worse than it was before Obamacare. The worst thing about this is that I’m part of that group that Democrats consider “not very sympathetic”, to quote someone here on Balloon Juice. That is to say, I’m a self-employed high earner. I’m the one paying the price for Obamacare in terms of taxes, and in return I got massively screwed.
Another Scott
@John: I’m sorry you’re stuck paying more, but aren’t you comparing apples and oranges? Why can’t you go with Freelancer’s Union again if you liked them in the past?
The 20+ M people who have insurance now would not agree that “Obamacare should be killed with fire”.
Hang in there.
Cheers,
Scott.
Brachiator
Update for California
You can enroll at CoveredCA.com or 1-800-787-6921.
Kelly
Since being 60 is a preexisting condition a return to medical underwriting will be unpredictably bad.
mai naem mobile
Did it in the middle of the night. Took 3 hours. I am not complaining since I waited till the last minute,it’s just a heads up. Last year, I waited a long time but talked to a friend who used the Spanish speaking line and he said he had virtually no waiting. Build the wall! Build the wall! Should I even joke about that with Lumpy coming in?
Bill
Man it would be nice if Congress could get its shit together and do something about costs. (I Know there’s zero hope of that, but still wishing.) The 25% increase in premium I just got hit with is ridiculous.
Kelly
@Bill: My monthly payment and deductible is up a bit for the same plan as last year, but my subsidy is now greater than my payment.
John
@Scott: Freelancer’s Union no longer offers plans. That ended with Obamacare.
PS: I’m happy that 20 million people have healthcare now, crappy as the options are, especially in New York State. But shouldn’t I be able to, at a minimum, be able to get decent health insurance if I’m willing to pay for it? I don’t even have the option for a decent PPO plan any more at ANY price.
In any case, screw Obamacare. It has had a direct very negative impact on my health and my finances. I’d be totally okay with the extra taxes if I hadn’t been screwed over in terms of choice of plans. This HMO garbage is basically worthless for my needs.
At some point you have to look out for yourself. I’m at that point.
mai naem mobile
I was talking to a friend last week who was talking to a mom&pop small biz owner who said him and his wife are paying $1200/mo. for not a great plan. Middle aged with no expensive conditions. Mine is about the same. My sister I believe I’d going to be paying $1800 for family of three. Nobody pays this kind of money anywhere else. On top of that the insurance cos.nickle and dime you. My sister got a bill for $2K for regular lab work for the family. No crazy lab work.Stuff that my mom paid $21 for at Theranos completely out of pocket because my mom doesn’t like waiting at her doctors. No hormonal stuff, no cultures,no std stuff,no arterial gas stuff. Nothing expensive. End rant.
Another Scott
@John:
Did you click the link in my post?
Cheers,
Scott.
Bill
@Kelly: I get no subsidy.
John
@Scott: Thanks for the help, but that’s not the same thing as insurance from Freelancer’s Union pre-Obamacare. All that is is “handpicked” plans from the crappy individual market. I don’t know my insurance terminology, but the pre-Obamacare Freelancer’s Union plan was a group plan that offered all the benefits one would get from working for a major employer.
The only way to get quality health insurance in NYS is to run my billing through a company that charges a fee and acts as my “employer”. No thanks.
John
Here’s some reading material for you since you clearly don’t understand the situation:
http://nypost.com/2013/10/24/freelancers-union-rejects-obamacare/
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140224/HEALTH_CARE/302239986/freelancers-union-retools-for-obamacare
http://nypost.com/2014/10/01/freelancers-union-ends-low-cost-insurance-due-to-obamacare/
In a way, I’m lucky because I make enough to pay for my own healthcare out of pocket. I’d feel terrible for a $75k a year freelancer who has to wait weeks/months for care, all the time not working or working at reduced capacity, in order to do all the bullshit that’s required to get things paid for by the awful insurance options available in NYS.
Another Scott
@John: Again, sorry that the changes are costing you money and aggravation.
I know things are tough when one is self-employed.
But you are making choices and could make other choices.
Burning Obamacare down won’t fix the problems you’re having. You’re naive if you think things like the 80/20 rule won’t be jettisoned as soon as possible if the Teabaggers get their way…
Every major system change has winners and losers. I’m sorry that, at least on the monthly payment side, you’re on the losing side, but tens of millions of winners is worth preserving (and strengthening).
Good luck.
Cheers,
Scott.
John
See, but I personally don’t care about the monthly payment side. I care about the fact that I can’t get decent health insurance at any price. I’d love to hear what my “other choices” are in NYS.
And if you are not self-employed, you do not even remotely understand what it’s like to work through, say, severe pain because you have to keep your business going while you wait for care. Luckily I can just pay $800 out of pocket for a prompt MRI conducted at an imaging center 7 minutes away, instead of waiting for weeks for an appointment at an imaging center 1.5 hours away.
Most other self-employed people don’t have that luxury. When we had Freelancer’s Union insurance, none of this was a problem.
Raven Onthill
What if one is in Medicaid and suddenly expecting a substantial increase in income next year?
VFX Lurker
@John: After the Republicans repeal the ACA next year, do you expect the Freelancer’s Union to rebuild its old plan?
John
From what I hear, yes. I’m sure it won’t be precisely the same, but I’m quite sure it will be better than the garbage coverage available in the NYS individual market.
dr. luba
I, too, make too much money to get a subsidy. I, too, find my insurance has gotten more complicated since the ACA kicked in–I now have more co-pays, co-insurance and the like. The pure HMO I once had no longer exists.
But I’m older and have had several medical issues. So I like the ACA’s provisions that protect me from losing coverage just becasue of these now pre-existing conditions. And here is SE MIchigan I have decent insurance choices. I opted (as a 58 year old woman) to pay just about $400 a month with a $6500 Deductible/MOOP this year. I am having major surgery in February, and will need follow up, and this was the most economical package.
And I don’t mind paying a bit more if it means 20 million of my fellow Americans now has medical coverage who previously didn’t.
Richard Mayhew
@Raven Onthill: Right now, send in your Medicaid redetermination/fill out your paperwork when it is sent to you.
If there is a major life event or a major positive employment event, call the County Asssistance Office once the check clears and it is in your bank account to tell them that you have to do an off-cycle redetermination. You’ll get rejected from Medicaid (probably for the end of the month and that triggers an special enrollment period for Exchange.
Don’t do that until you see the money. Don’t jump into Exchange when you are still Medicaid eligible even if you can see the postal worker carrying the check up the walkway.
mai naem mobile
@John: I think you may fall in that small slice of people the ACA was going to hurt. I remember during the ACA passage they talked about a small number of people it was going to hurt. You don’t say how old you are but like dr luba I think the protections the ACA gives you is worth it. I think you realize it more once you hit your mid 40a/early 50s and stuff starts going wrong physically .
Feathers
Just filed. Found out that my temping this year (while doing school) has been crappy enough that I qualify for Medicaid. Signed up with a new agency, so the income should be better for next year, but I’m now in the variable income category. I wish there were some guidelines so that you knew what would trigger a change.
I was really hoping for Hillary to do away with unpaid internships. Apparently that is why temping isn’t just a real option any more. Note: contract to contract is, but I used to just call the temp agency and never have down time unless I wanted a (unpaid) vacation.
ETA – I did give them a higher income estimate for next year, so I’m not lying, but don’t know how often I’m going to need to readjust. I have a self-employed friend who complains all the time about it, so I’ll ask her.
Another Scott
@John: You obviously know more about your situation than I do, and I’m not asking, but out of curiosity I decided to look at New York’s Exchange for someone single living in Rochester to see what was available. The most expensive Silver medical plan I see for an individual is $513.83 a month. The most expensive Gold is $616.23. The most expensive Platinum is $715.89. It looks like you live in a more expensive area, but even so it seems like you should have options other than paying $950 a month.
I’ve learned here from Richard that a Silver plan is the best option for most people (cost sharing but without extreme premiums). But if you actually need the Platinum level coverage, it seems delusional to me (YMMV) to think that after the PPACA is repealed (if it is repealed) that you will get cheap, group-like, rates for Platinum coverage in the future.
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
Raven Onthill
@Richard Mayhew: The money has arrived and we expect substantial investment income next year. Doesn’t that mean we’d better get cracking on an Exchange application?
John
@Scott: But the $950/month isn’t a problem. The problem is the awful healthcare I get for my money. As I said, I’m a high earner, so my priority is getting health issues taken care of promptly and with minimal hassle: If I don’t work, I don’t earn. No paid days off, no sick leave, no vacation days, no worker’s comp for me.
Again, I’d be more than happy to pay higher taxes and higher premiums if I could just have my Freelancer’s Insurance back. The point here is that I have NO options for a decent plan, so I have to pay for the bulk of my healthcare out of pocket. Between paying out of pocket for prompt care for a major health issue (multiple herniated cervical discs from years of racing bicycles), extra taxes, and higher premiums, I get screwed on the order of tens of thousands of dollars by Obamacare. Compare with, what, $4800/year for awesome insurance through Freelancer’s Union.
Yep I’m a 1 percenter but I work my ass off…and oh yeah I’m a person too. Despite the fact that I’m part of a not very “sympathetic” group, in the words of RIchard Mayhew, I believe, I’m not just a source of tax revenue to pay for everyone else’s healthcare. And that’s pretty much what it feels like to be in my situation.
Bill
@John: I think you and I are in nearly the same situation. I was shocked to discover my Bronze Family Plan this year comes with a stunning $1,650 monthly premium and a $13,000 deductible. Basically we’re uninsured unless something catastrophic happen, but I get to pay $20,000 a year for the privilege. I hate the insurance available to me, and it’s expensive as hell. Honestly if it weren’t for the mandate I might take my chances without at this point.
I’m not sure Obamacare is the cause of those problems though. Even before the ACA came along the industry was trending toward high deductible plans and premiums were skyrocketing out of control. The issue here is that Congress needs to enact some cost control measures across the board. As I mentioned above, however, I have little hope of that actually happening.
John
But Obamacare killed Freelancer’s Union insurance. See the links above.
Yeah I’ve heard many horror stories from the self-employed. I have a friend paying $2500 a month for garbage insurance for his family of 5 with an enormous deductible. This guy makes $150k a year. Sounds great to a lot of people but take $30k off the top for insurance that doesn’t actually pay for anything, plus say $20k in family medical expenses before he even hits his deductible.
It’s obscene. And we’re now forced to pay for this crap. My experience has been that Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield isn’t much more than a scam. One that we’re mandated to pay for.
Raven Onthill
@Bill: “Basically we’re uninsured unless something catastrophic happen.”
You do get a lower rate from doctors, labs, pharmacists and so on just for being insured, so the insurance is probably still worth having, especially if anyone in your family has a chronic medical problem or a routine prescription. Still feels rotten, though.
One of the worst things about the ACA is that, regardless of the real benefits, it doesn’t “feel” like care; it feels like care run by companies that want to pay out as little as possible. Which I suppose is what it is.
Raven Onthill
@Richard Mayhew: the Washington State web site works a bit differently; it handles both Medicaid and Exchange applications, so it asks you questions about your income and then sorts you into Medicaid or the Exchange. It is a decision hard to change once the site has made it, though the clerks who run the system do take appeals seriously.
The state has extended the deadline for a few days this year, so what I will do is apply with an income change and let the web site do its thing. Hopefully, this will not make us subject to medical underwriting.
Bill
@Raven Onthill: This is true in some instances but not others. (The $400 a month we shell out for my son’s prescriptions for instance is not covered.) It doesn’t really matter much unless we hit the deductible though, which undoubtedly requires a catastrophic event.
courtney
IMPORTANT: DEADLINE EXTENDED TO DEC 19!
Feds extend Healthcare.gov deadline to Dec. 19, citing late rush. Federal regulators Thursday night extended the midnight deadline for Affordable Care Act insurance by four days, as about consumers competed to get through to call center operators and Healthcare.gov to buy insurance that takes effect January 1. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said Wednesday that momentum was building leading up to the deadline. About 700,000 people signed up for plans Monday and Tuesday alone, just as Republican members of Congress and President-elect Donald Trump vowed to repeal the law.