Posted on 05/25/2016 7:51:08 AM PDT by xzins
The Department of Health and Human Services insists that the Affordable Care Act not only expanded health insurance to many more Americans, but it also "made everyone's insurance better."
But some Republicans are asking, what good is the health insurance if sky-high deductibles mean you never get to use it?
The Democrats' Affordable Care Act is a mandate -- "not to get care, but to get coverage," Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said on Tuesday.
"And many people are finding the coverage is not at all of value to them because they can't get care. Either...their doctors don't take Obamacare or the deductibles are so high that they're never able to get to the insurance," Barrasso told a news conference.
"The president may call this a victory for the American people. I think this is something the president should not be proud of at all."
Barrasso noted that on Wednesday, Healthcare.gov will start reporting the 2017 premium increases for Obamacare policies sold on the exchanges.
"The news is not good for the American public," Barrasso said.
"We're seeing numbers in New Hampshire above 40 percent increases; in New York, above 40 percent increases; in New Mexico, where Blue Cross-Blue Shield of New Mexico pulled out a year ago, they're talking about coming back in, but only if they can get a rate increase of over 80 percent.
"So, the people that can still get their insurance, they may be the lucky ones in the sense that so many people are no longer even able to get the insurance they've had.
"Obamacare is a sinking ship. When you take a look at the companies around the country selling insurance, about 25 percent were able to make money last year. And the only way they did it is because they set the deductible so high that for people who had that insurance, the deductibles were so high that they never actually got to the point where they used the insurance. They were just paying out of pocket all the way through.
Barrasso noted that in Idaho, the most commonly sold "silver" plan is considering deductibles of $6,850. "If you have insurance with a deductible of $6,850, is there any chance you're actually going to get to use that insurance?" he asked.
"President Obama went on the attack years ago before the health care law was passed talking about junk insurance. But what most people are finding on the Obamacare exchanges is exactly what President Obama is making them buy."
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.
ObamaCare has always been a ripoff. Free Republic has always known that.
Why are politicians just now seeing it?
This is exactly why ObamaCare was never supposed to be a health care law ... it’s a tax, plain and simple.
“If you have insurance with a deductible of $6,850, is there any chance you’re actually going to get to use that insurance?”
I thought that was the point?
That’s the point. And where is the MSM all blubbery over how many people signed up?
The Republicans saw it for what it was. If you remember, Obamacare was passed without a single Republican vote.
If only Senator Barrasso had read my tag line...it's been that way for about 6-7 years!
If I buy health insurance, I can no longer afford to go and see my doctor twice a year.
I can’t and won’t afford the premiums, because there is no point in paying through the nose for a product that I cannot use.
I can’t afford my drugs which I need to stay alive. I cannot afford anything that would trigger the deductible.
If I buy Obamacare, I will lose every last bit of health care that I pay cash for now.
If I buy Obamacare, I die.
I agree, and I personally have postponed doctor visits/treatment due to the out-of-pocket cost I would have, not willing to spend it if I can wait it out to recover.
I keep thinking that, at some point, the utilization will be low enough to bring the costs and/or deductibles back down a little, but probably for those who are getting free insurance and subsidized out-of-pocket costs, they are over-utilizing, which offsets those of us who use the coverage for catastrophic care mainly.
That doesn’t matter.
They have done nothing effective to stop it or reverse it. Instead that have funded it and let it remain alive.
Their votes were not needed to pass it, thus they can pretend they are against it, when they are obviously not against it.
Crony capitalism at its worst.
that was the plan all along. the people knew that and so did the politicians but it was passed in to law anyway. Any DC politician who now complains is just pandering and in full display of their duplicity to screw over the citizens. They know Trump will make a difference in how DC operates and the career politicians are all trying to get on board only to save their own asses.
Only because no Republican vote was needed.
The Dems did need Republican votes to release the bill from Committee, however. And they got them.
No one gets to use the insurance and the cost of day-to-day care goes up 25-40% thanks to the insurance companies’ paperwork.
That is a horror story. Have you sent it to Trump?
Catastrophic coverage for the price of a platinum policy.
The worst of all worlds.
I pay $250 a month with a $6,000 deductible.
It’s a wonderful plan:
My doctor is not on the plan, so I have to pay him out of pocket.
The coverage is generally 60%
Comes with all kinds of disallowed procedures and drugs
F#ck that.
Keep meaning to cancel and will do so today.
When you’re putting 6 grand into premiums already per year, then you’re paying 500 a month for coverage that you can’t use until you spend another 6 grand.
There is no way in the world that someone is not getting rich off of that, and it sure ain’t the working stiff who has to pay it.
Yes, I sent it the very same day I posted it!.........................
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