Obamacare Waiting Room
Posted on 09/21/2013 9:06:21 AM PDT by smokingfrog
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that 7 million Americans will enroll in the online exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act’s individual insurance mandate when the marketplaces open on October 1. But investors surveyed by Citigroup have a much lower forecast: 4 million. The expected problem is not unawareness of the law’s requirement that all Americans who can afford to buy healthcare insurance must do so, or confusion about how to sign up for coverage, or even distaste for the mandate; rather, the survey showed that investors are concerned that technical glitches will present obstacles to enrollment, Reuters reports.
Of the 4 million Americans the surveyed investors expect to sign up for coverage, between 2 million and 3 million are projected to be previously uninsured. In comparison, the CBO predicted that 7 million individuals will enroll, of which 4 million were previously uninsured.
A total of 48 million Americans were uninsured as of 2013.
One of the primary reform aims of the Affordable Care Act was to ensure every American was insured, and the primary vehicle of that goal is the state-run or federally-facilitated exchanges.
The exchanges allow consumers to comparison-shop for health insurance policies in online marketplaces, which were designed to give consumers collective bargaining power that will foster competition and drive down prices. To keep the insurance plans offered on the exchanges affordable, Americans, whose employers do not offer insurance and who make between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty line, which tops out at around $45,960 for an individual and $92,000 for a household of four, will be given a federal tax credit to subsidize the cost.
But to determine whether an applicant qualifies for the subsidy or is eligible to buy medical coverage on the exchanges, the databases of seven U.S. Agencies..>
(Excerpt) Read more at wallstcheatsheet.com ...
They will have low enrollment because for the first time many low-information voters will realize they HAVE TO PAY FOR SOMETHING. I work with an Obama voter who was under the impression that he was going to get an “ObamaCare Health Insurance” ID card that was merely another perk paid for by white people; when I explained how it worked (buy insurance or pay a penalty) his face fell. I don’t know whether or not he believed me about the coerced buying or fine, but he had no doubt there was no free health insurance card in the mail...
I don't understand this: The exchanges allow consumers to comparison-shop for health insurance policies in online marketplaces, which were designed to give consumers collective bargaining power that will foster competition and drive down prices.
Didn't every state already have a regulated market for insurance? Was there something that prevented consumers from doing their own independent comparison shopping among alternative policies?
To err is human, but to really screw things up requires a design committee of bureaucrats.
— Henry Spencer
Many of them that could afford to buy insurance probably won’t, because they’d rather spend their money on the latest iPhone - or something.
That is the thing that has struck me as well - the complete gullibility of these people who buy every word that Øbozo spews. There’s still a lot of defiant skepticism to the truth but increasingly I see the look of mild horror as the truth creeps in.
They’ve been lied to and sold a handful of “magic” beans, but there’s no beanstalk on the horizon and no happy ending in store.
Let's say hypothetically one is stuck in a state with lousy medical care. What's to stop them from going somewhere else with better medical care and showing up at that emergency ward because they're "on vacation"?
I can just see a whole lot of low-income, low-health invaders showing up in the elite's local hospitals for medical care and Obamacare covering it.
You can only buy Health Insurance from a company that does business in your state, but there are sizeable cost disparities between the states. I’m guessing that a lot of this has to do with some states having passed tort reform laws, that limit monetary awards for malpractice. But since the democrats are heavily supported by trial lawyers, they would never support any kind of tort reforms that would lower the cost of insurance.
good question
Remember that we are all now forced to have insurance otherwise the IRS will be on our arses.
We had our employee insurance review meeting last week. They are continuing to provide health insurance but we are going to have to pay more for fewer benefits.
Also, the fine for not having insurance will start at $95 first year and ramp up dramatically in follow years. Someone mentioned $2000.
Also, the company plan will have to be a “qualified plan” approved by the Feds and the employer will have to provide a “1099” like statement when we do our taxes in 2015.
Also, the exchanges will be a lot more expensive than a company provided plan.... of course. But that is an option for us.
Another point, now that the Feds will know exactly how much our company is paying for our insurance, expect Washington to start talking about taxing that insurance.
A $2000 tax when Obamacare is fully implemented. $2000 would buy a lot if Iphones.
People are not going to be very happy!
It seems to me that obamacare is only creating more uninsured people. Employers cutting back hours, limiting themselves to less than 50 employees, or just dropping health insurance as a benefit altogether.
Let’s be clear about one thing: one of the inevitabilities about health care in the U.S. — and this has nothing to do with ObamaCare — is that there is little or no incentive for any hospital to have an emergency room. I expect the whole concept of an “emergency room” to either change dramatically or disappear completely from our society.
“Many of them that could afford to buy insurance probably won’t, because they’d rather spend their money on the latest iPhone - or something.”
No doubt; one I work with that is always crying poverty has a tablet that is worth more than my car. Some of them have reached the point where they have to start paying taxes for the first time, and they don’t like it; they’re “golden ticket” bastards are too old to claim as exemptions (they have their own “golden ticket” bastards now as well), and now some of the freebies are disappearing (larger gubmint apartments and such).
They really are childlike in their ignorance & dependence; when they demolished nearby housing projects (less than 40 years after evicting an Italian neighborhood to make way for them), one asked me where all those people were going to live. I asked them why the government should be concerned with that, as nobody ever checked to make sure I had a place to live. Same dumb uncomprehending blank stare...
“That is the thing that has struck me as well - the complete gullibility of these people who buy every word that Øbozo spews.”
Obama never told them they’d be getting another freebie from whitey in the mail; that was what they WANTED TO HEAR. Obama said everybody would have healthcare; he never said they’d get it for free. The low-information voters responded as dumb livestock, and the truth won’t hit them until money leaves their hands.
Why should young kids with no employment prospects sign up for govt healthcare if they can stay on their parents plan?
One can only laugh at and ridicule the LIBs & DIMs as this fraudulent program unfolds. Bwaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...Fools!
They probably won’t — even if they do manage to find a job, they can still stay on the same health plan as their parents until they’re 26, can’t they?
Where the h*ll did that image come from?
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