Posted on 10/19/2014 5:33:16 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
It must have pained the New York Times to publish its article about how many ObamaCare customers fear to make use of their taxpayer-subsidized, hyper-regulated benefits because the deductibles are so high. It's a devastating indictment of the Affordable Care Act, cutting deep into the very small number of Americans who actually find the ACA somewhat useful.
Not only does ObamaCare have low approval ratings from the American public at large, it doesn't even score well among the group it was nominally intended to benefit most directly, the uninsured.
Patricia Wanderlich got insurance through the Affordable Care Act this year, and with good reason: She suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2011, spending weeks in a hospital intensive care unit, and has a second, smaller aneurysm that needs monitoring.
But her new plan has a $6,000 annual deductible, meaning that Ms. Wanderlich, who works part time at a landscaping company outside Chicago, has to pay for most of her medical services up to that amount. She is skipping this years brain scan and hoping for the best.
To spend thousands of dollars just making sure it hasnt grown? said Ms. Wanderlich, 61. I dont have that money.
About 7.3 million Americans are enrolled in private coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, and more than 80 percent qualified for federal subsidies to help with the cost of their monthly premiums. But many are still on the hook for deductibles that can top $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for families the trade-off, insurers say, for keeping premiums for the marketplace plans relatively low. The result is that some people no firm data exists on how many say they hesitate to use their new insurance because of the high out-of-pocket costs.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Yes!!!
Even worse, is the possibility of becoming ill or injured at the end of a calendar year, and having your medical expenses continue on into the next year.
You can get whacked for double the deductibles in just a couple of months' time.
When I first checked mine was going to be around $10,500 deductible.
My company still has it’s own care but costs are going up.
So the free healthcare was to be for the gov’t and healthcare ceo’s. They make the money!
“Obamacare is catastrophic care with a very large premium”
That sums it up. And it’s a catastrophic policy that few doctors take.
“The same way they cut the HCSA amounts by 50%”
Are those the health savings accounts with catastrophic coverage? Are they still allowed?
I tried to get one a few months ago and was told, “No.”
The HCSA accounts are a way to set aside pre-tax income to cover medical deductibles and other costs like prescriptions or elective surgery. At one time, an individual could set aside a max of $5000/year but what you didn’t use that year was forfeited. The amount for married couple was double that. The healthcare law cut those amounts in half. I know at least one couple that used well over 5K in prescription costs (out of pocket) and I used mine one ear to cover $3000 for Lasik surgery (not covered) for one eye.
Of course, you have to be working to take advantage of it. It’s not part of an insurance policy. The Republican plan not only wanted to increase the amounts you could save each year but do away with the annual forfeiture of unused funds and roll those amounts for use in the following years. I hope tha helps exlain it better.
“The Republican plan not only wanted to increase the amounts you could save each year but do away with the annual forfeiture of unused funds and roll those amounts for use in the following years. “
That would’ve been great. My husband is quitting work next year, we are escaping mexifornia, and starting businesses.
We could’ve used an HSA.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.