Posted on 01/28/2016 10:15:25 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Most uninsured Americans are sitting on the sidelines as sign-up season under the federal health law comes to a close, according to a new poll that signals the nation's historic gains in coverage are slowing.
The survey released Thursday by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation finds that:
-- Only 15 percent of the uninsured know this year's open enrollment deadline, which is Sunday.
-- More than 7 in 10 say they have not tried to figure out if they qualify for the two main coverage expansions in the law, Medicaid and subsidized private health insurance.
-- Only 1 in 100 know the minimum penalty for being uninsured is going up to $695 in 2016.
-- About two-thirds say they have not been contacted about signing up for coverage.
"What this survey does suggest is that it will get harder and harder to continue to make gains in the share of people getting health insurance," said Mollyann Brodie, Kaiser's polling director. "I think we will be in a period where we will see slower and slower gains in that number."
President Barack Obama's health care law has driven down the share of uninsured Americans to 9 percent, according to the government. Now, in the third year of the law's major coverage expansion, those historic gains could be stalling out. That's raising questions about the lasting impact of Obama's signature legislation, and spurring liberals like Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to call for guaranteed coverage for all.
The health law's problems in part reflect entrenched political opposition, but there's also skepticism about whether the coverage is affordable for uninsured people of modest means. Premiums are up, and those who get sick can face significant out-of-pocket costs. Major health insurer Anthem said Wednesday it booked fewer customers than expected last year
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
“Obamacare ripped up everyone’s healthcare and we STILL have 15% uninsured?
Same place we were when this nonsense started.”
Almost. Same number of uninsured, but those paying for their insurance are paying more, A LOT more.
It is a question on the ‘program’ it asks....if you say no, I do not get my health insurance through employer, they add the shared tax of $1200 to our form.
What is your deductible that you have to pay every year before the insurance kicks in?
With the high deductibles and sh*tty coverage, the $1200 tax for me and my wife seems worth it. We paid for our check ups and sick visits and it wasn’t much. Now, not sure I can do when we get older...but for now, that’s what we do.
My sister and brother are all of these.
That’s right, and many of the people paying for the insurance that they can’t afford to use anyway are simply paying someone else’s premiums (a high-risk person that previously had no insurance).
You are saying you have no health insurance? There are plenty of other non-employer provided plans.
I do not use turdy-tax or similar programs, just the forms and booklets, it isn’t difficult.
Having insurance or not is a personal decision, but if you want to go that route, make sure your W4 allows the minimum with holding. You should be paying a minimum of a $200 check to the government every Apr 15. If you are getting a refund check, you are doing it wrong.
We have catastrophic insurance through our auto policy, but other than that, we pay cash. There is just no benefit to the coverage with all the costs. $1200 penalty comes to $100 a month....if I had the coverage, the cheapest would still be a $200 payment per pay period, plus deductible, and only 80% coverage after that.....
Lower income people need options like $200/month plans and say $5*(your age in years) plans.
Insurers should be free to pick what’s covered. Let providers fight for a place at the dinner table by offering true value.
The deductibles should be $1,000 or less. The loss ratios on the plans should exceed 90%.
Obama and his leftist fellow travelers have given me a choice of an unaffordable and unsubsidized Cadillac or nothing.
My neighbors’ daughter’s dog had surgery on its back legs done by an experienced surgeon. The cost was $2,700. Vets have the same number of years of education as human doctors. We can reduce medical costs for humans.
I paid $57.21/month for COBRA continuation coverage from a major computer company in 1987.
This is what I found via the government’s website using an income of $14,000 for a 57-year like me:
“Florida Blue (BlueCross BlueShield FL) · BlueSelect Everyday Health 1443
Silver EPO | National Provider Network | Plan ID: 16842FL0120072
Estimated monthly premium $5
Premium before tax credit: $544
Deductible $0
Out-of-pocket maximum $950
Copayments / Coinsurance
Emergency room care: $100
Generic drugs: $2
Primary doctor: $1
Specialist doctor: $10”
The plan covers the hospital nearest me, but neither of the two hospitals to the north, including the county hospital that taxes my house.
Since my actual income was about $5,000, I’ll have no coverage in 2016.
My search also turned up plans with $6,700 and $6,850 deductibles.
Plans with such high deductibles should only be sold to people that have deposited such amounts with their insurer.
Those deductibles are about a hospital’s average total labor cost for a surgery and recovery.
$5,ooo...
We are looking into changing to the Christian plans which are 1/3rd the cost and we will put money into a savings account if we ever need it.
The biggest mistake ever made in health care was tying it to employment (WW2 era). Once you have one entity paying and another consuming, costs by definition will skyrocket.
So, about 18 grand each year before you see any benefits.
Ouch
Nobody would know what that plan is like until they actually tried to use it with a major illness.
And not all hospitals are the same. The county hospital may be the best in your area. A government non-profit hospital not accepting a government mandated plan is a red flag for me.
The county hospital is widely thought to be the best.
Any plan I buy had better pay up or it will get sued by me.
Hah. We got ya beat. Hubby is 64 I’m 61. $1490 per month for reg insu, scrip, dental and vision. That’s our new January cost. No deductible but copay’s for everything. It has doubled since Obamacare.
Forgotten man pointed out that the w2 says how much $ went towards the health care.
So maybe that is why they didn’t press any further...
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