Self described “big proponent” of Obamacare says he is “surprised” that his family’s premium and deductible went up
KQED reports:
The notice from Kaiser came in the mail about ten days ago.
Luke Donavan’s health insurance premiums were going up. A lot.
Donavan, 41 of San Francisco, is self-employed and buys his own health insurance. Currently he pays $841 per month for insurance for himself, his wife and three young children. But, Kaiser is canceling that policy and offering him a new one that fully complies with the Affordable Care Act. Effective Jan. 1, his family’s premium is going up to $1,000, with a higher deductible.
Donavan says he voted for Obama in both elections and calls himself a “big proponent” of the health law. He has a pretty calm demeanor and says he was “surprised” by this news from Kaiser.
“I just keep coming back to the name ‘Affordable Care Act,’” he said. “I thought I’d pay the same or less for better coverage.”
Mr. Donavan is self employed, seems to earn a good living, and had the common sense to buy a good health insurance polocy for this family. So he’s probably pretty intelligent.
But – he voted for Obama in both elections, supports Obamacare, and is surprised that Obamacare caused his premiums to go up. Those things suggest that he’s not intelligent at all.
Why is it that people who are otherwise highly intelligent support Obamacare?
Why would someone who is smart enough to support himself by starting his own business, simultaneously be so dumb that he’s actually surprised that government interference in something would make that thing more expensive?
Here’s another article about a different family. Pro Publica reports:
San Francisco architect Lee Hammack says he and his wife, JoEllen Brothers, are “cradle Democrats.” They have donated to the liberal group Organizing for America and worked the phone banks a year ago for President Obama’s re-election.
Since 1995, Hammack and Brothers have received their health coverage from Kaiser Permanente, where Brothers worked until 2009 as a dietitian and diabetes educator. “We’ve both been in very good health all of our lives – exercise, don’t smoke, drink lightly, healthy weight, no health issues, and so on,” Hammack told me.
The couple — Lee, 60, and JoEllen, 59 — have been paying $550 a month for their health coverage — a plan that offers solid coverage, not one of the skimpy plans Obama has criticized. But recently, Kaiser informed them the plan would be canceled at the end of the year because it did not meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. The couple would need to find another one. The cost would be around double what they pay now, but the benefits would be worse.
They do not qualify for premium subsidies because they make more than four times the federal poverty level.
The letters said the couple would be enrolled in new Kaiser plans that would cost nearly $1,300 a month.
And for that higher amount, what would they get? A higher deductible, a higher out-of-pocket maximum, higher hospital costs, and possibly higher costs for doctor visits and drugs.
So, Mr. Hammack’s premiums have gone up, and his benefits have gone down.
Surely, he must have changed his mind about supporting Obamacare. After all, he is an architect, so he must be good with math and logic. He must be intelligent enough to realize that Obamacare is a fraud.
But no, he hasn’t changed his mind. He still supports Obamacare.
However, Mr. Hammack did say that he wants an exemption for himself. The same article from Pro Publica continues:
He’s written to California’s senators and his representative, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., asking for help.
“We believe that the Act is good for health care, the economy, & the future of our nation. However, ACA options for middle income individuals ages 59 & 60 are unaffordable. We’re learning that many others are similarly affected. In that spirit we ask that you fix this, for all of our sakes,” he and Brothers wrote.
He still supports Obamacare – but wants an exemption for himself.
Does Mr. Hammack really think that Nancy Pelosi is going care about his situation?
Obamacare has already been passed by Congress and signed by the President. Why should Nancy Pelosi care how much it hurts Mr. Hammack?
In reference to both of the above articles, Mr. Donavan and Mr. Hammack both blindly supported the passage of a 2,600 page bill that no one had read. And now – more than three years after the law was passed – they have the nerve to act surprised at what is actually in the law?
The opponents of Obamacare have been talking about this “rate shock” since before Obamacare was even passed. So how can these two people claim to be surprised that their rates have gone up?
