Posted on 01/13/2014 2:54:38 AM PST by Gen.Blather
A friend was notified that the health plan she’d been with for over twenty years, Capital Health Plan, was cancelled due to not meeting the Obamacare requirements. So she bought a Blue Cross Blue Shield policy off the exchange and paid for the first month using auto-deduction from her checking account. When she was notified she could keep her old plan for another year she decided that’s what she wanted. She renewed her Capital Health Plan then called Blue Cross and asked them to cancel her new Obamacare policy. They told her they could stop her coverage but could not stop the automatic deduction from her checking account. She would have to do that through the exchange. After spending seven hours on the phone (this woman runs a couple of businesses and works seven days a week) she was told there was no way to stop the deductions from her account. She said, “Everyone was extremely pleasant and helpful but all concluded it couldn’t be done.”
Today she’s closing her checking account. For added security, given the thinking behind Obamacare, she’s moving her account to a different bank.
Hardly a pleasant surprise. But the lady did the smart thing to close her account and move to a different bank. I hope she doesn’t get IRS knocking at her door.
I'm not quite that far along but getting older is starting to look like being younger was a whole lot better.
The consolation is we can pass along our years of accumulated experience and wisdom...if we can get them young whipper snappers to listen (exactly what is a whipper snapper?)
Obviously an 0-Kare enrollee/payer is considered a cash cow to be milked each month. Same as taxpayers get milked quarterly or yearly.She was paying full freight so no way does 0-kare want her (the sucker!) to leave
What I meant to say is that when her business fails (because she is spending 7 hours on the phone dealing with the Obamacare instead of taking care of business) and should she come to me looking for a job I would not hire her.
Come on people, are you seriously saying it is not an incredible waste of time to be on the phone for 7 hours when a simple 30 minute trip to the bank will solve the problem. Who exactly is this woman anyhow?
Canceling the Obamacare auto-pay should be easier than closing her checking account. My checking account is the default funds source for various online billings that I use on a fairly frequent basis. Closing it would require me to switch every one of those over to use the new checking account.
Did you include your obamacre premium as one of those auto pay accounts?
“However, I am also currently getting COBRA coverage (until 8/1) A prerequisite was automatic payment - NO OTHER OPTION.”
I can see why you wouldn’t like that; I wouldn’t, either.
“This pos system we have is going to force doctors out.”
If it doesn’t, it sure won’t entice young people to go into medicine.
“But if IBM can throw their retirees onto the exchanges, it will only be a matter of time before they all do it.”
Much of ObamaCare was designed to give these large companies a “level playing field” with foreign competition by removing these costs. The auto industry in particular comes to mind; they have to charge so much per vehicle to pay for costs associated with people who retired 20 years ago.
I have VA/Medicare for my coverage. No Obamacare here.
See, you agree with me.
How so?
I said you would not use automatic withdrawal for an Obamacare payment. I mean, you would not trust the Obamacare system with such an automatic payment from your bank. Right?
I don’t have to make an Obamacare payment - auto-pay or otherwise.
What I would do:
1. Try to cancel Obamacare auto-pay. (One hour max.)
If that doesn’t work:
2. Have my bank reject Obamacare charges.
If that doesn’t work:
3. Cancel the bank account and go through the hassle of switching over the rest of my auto-pay accounts.
Finally, someone I agree with in this thread. And you said it better than I did. A reasonable stepped approach.
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