This is not a new criticism. It has been on Free Republic since before ObamaCare was even instituted.
If Americans are honest, ObamaCare is a wealth transfer program. They are taxed extra for ObamaCare and the deductible is nothing more than a money transfer to bureaucrats and insurance companies. We haven't even discussed premiums and copays.
A $6000 deductible is for most families the equivalent of zero insurance at all.
The ones who pay nothing and get it free also have zero deductions. They can get all the care in the world at no cost.
I pay $438 a month and have a $6500 out of pocket. Last year I came up with Insertional Achilles Tendonitis and between my premiums and deductible i have to come up with $13,000 instead of maybe $4000 before Obamacare.
Anyone have an extra $6500 a year lying around.
When this monster hiding as Omnicare was made law, my wife was the senior rn in a family practice group.
She attended a meeting discussing the impact of this monster on their patients and their office.
She and her office manager brought up this problem re the high deductible for their patients, their families members as patients, and the impact on office personnel having to explain the new high deductibles and copays to patients.
They were basically shut down by the liberal doctor in charge of the group and his manager.
She tried to explain this change to some of our younger family members, who abused their golden insurance plans with visits to derms/plastic surgeons and other specialists for costly care without any real positive impact on their health. Big $’s for cosmetic vanity care.
A few months later when some of our younger relatives found out that their gold plated insurance had high deductibles and paid nothing for their expensive care, they got wise re what to treat and what to ignore.
A few months into Obama Chaos in a mutual agreement with the group, my wife, her doctor and the other lady in the office closed their practice after 30+ years.
Some of our healthy younger relatives use walkin clinics for their minimal health care, pay cash and write off the expenses when they do their taxes for that year. They often get their immunizations from a pharmacy versus in an office.
Some went to concierge MDs. Some of those concierge guys/gals have double/tripled their monthly/yearly fees. Many do not see their patients on demand and require appts. With many hospitals going to in house MDs, Hospitalists, so their expensive concierge MDs are not allowed to treat their patients in many hospitals.
In my entire life I have probably only used $40k worth of insurance. My only large incident was emergency surgery that was about $28k.
So... Take your chances and put the money in the bank. Otherwise i’ve never spent more than a couple hundred buck per year on medical needs like regular OTC drugs for a cold or the once every 5 years ear infection or strep throat that requires a subscription.
Obamacare has destroyed the insurance and medical industries.
The copays are insane too.
As others pointed out, many at FR were saying, “It’s the deductibles...it’s the deductibles!!”
This is such bad policy. No one can afford to use the insurance because of those high deductibles. One consolation: nothing escapes the eyes of God.
It takes the risk analysis out and forces insurance to cover everyone for everything whether they need it or not. Forcing single males and elderly people to pay for maternity care and birth control they have no risk of ever using. HIV care is expensive but everyone has to pay for coverage whether we live a lifestyle that puts us at risk of contracting it or not.
“A day late and a dollar short”
In this case... Hundreds of days late and billions of dollars short.
“Obamacare Deductibles So High, No One Gets to Use the Insurance”
That’s not a bug, it’s a feature...
Yeah.
People like me SAID THIS before Obamacare was passed.
And we were laughed at, made fun of and called racists.
With a high deductible plan, patients are paying for most of their care unless the costs are catastrophic.
Therefore, it doesn’t make sense for outpatient clinics and physicians to accept high deductible 0-care insurance. Only hospitals and hospital groups benefit from accepting 0-care.
Moreover, when patients get to the point where they would exceed the deductible, very often their illness has caused a drastic life change that results in unemployment which would qualify that person for Medicaid. IOW, catastrophic health insurance is typically unnecessary for most people.
For many, it’s $10,000 deductibles. The American people may not as whole even know what a deductible is.