Under 26 here. Being able to stay on my parents' insurance has been a godsend. I'm fortunate to have a job that offers insurance for a stupidly high premium and deductible. My sister is still in college and the family health plan costs the same not matter if there are 1 or 20 kids. It costs my parents nothing to keep me on.
I seriously hope that some day we have single payer. I can't imagine what healthcare will look like in this country in 20 years without it.
As someone who has lived abroad in a country with Health Care similar to Obama care I cant see how anyone could find any bad in the policy. As to the woman in this thread with the Autistic son that said F-U Obama care she is missing 1/2 the point. She is not going need more than $2500 per year in her FSA as health care cost will be driven down significantly.
Do you seriously believe that? Seriously? That by January 2013, the magical gnomes will reduce deductibles, OOP max, and Rx copays down so much for the chronically ill that $2500 will be enough? That is insanity.
The FSA thing is the one part of HC reform that pisses me off. It punishes the chronically ill. It makes a big difference to spend that money pretax and have the cost spread throughout the year instead of paying a big chunk up front in January.
But, she is missing the point that her child isn't going to struggle throughout life to find and maintain insurance coverage.
Well the chronically ill, if their income is limited can still deduct medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of their AGI.
I am curious about the grandchild thing as well. I do know, however, that currently in my state you would be eligible for free state insurance coverage as would your child during the pregnancy and birth. You would also be eligible for free coverage along with your child until the child reaches 18. In addition to this you can get supplemental insurance in your county (each county has their own division) for $4-6 per month that would increase your options for doctors and birthing facilities. I know at least a few states offer automatic coverage if you are pregnant and unemployed.
That's nice, but that's not how it works in PA. There is an income limit for state health insurance coverage for pregnant women.
I have never heard of any state that offers free medical for mother and baby irregardless of income. What state is that?
That's nice, but that's not how it works in PA. There is an income limit for state health insurance coverage for pregnant women.
I have never heard of any state that offers free medical for mother and baby irregardless of income. What state is that?
THere is an income requirement but unless I missed something the anecdote said she was laid off. If you're laid off you don't have an income. If you're low/no income you are eligible for state insurance. If you are laid off and still receiving your paycheck I don't know what to tell you because I haven't heard of this happening. Are you assuming you will receive a severance package? I guess I just didn't understand.
Also, it is very rare for an insurance company to offer coverage for grandchildren. Dependent coverage until you are 26 would apply to you because you would be your father's dependent but your child is not. Your child is your dependent and under most insurance plans they don't offer two-step dependency.
My husband's job offers great insurance which pays for 80% of our infertility tx. Obamacare does nothing in that regard so I pray to God that we get pregnant before they (DH's employer) decide to drop the coverage.
I have never heard of any state that offers free medical for mother and baby irregardless of income. What state is that?
THere is an income requirement but unless I missed something the anecdote said she was laid off. If you're laid off you don't have an income. If you're low/no income you are eligible for state insurance. If you are laid off and still receiving your paycheck I don't know what to tell you because I haven't heard of this happening. Are you assuming you will receive a severance package? I guess I just didn't understand.
She is married so her husband's income along with the $ she receives from unemployment would push her way over the limit in any state I know.
THere is an income requirement but unless I missed something the anecdote said she was laid off. If you're laid off you don't have an income. If you low/no income you are eligible for state insurance. If you are laid off and still receiving your paycheck I don't know what to tell you because I haven't heard of this happening. Are you assuming you will receive a severance package? I guess I just didn't understand.
Also, it is very rare for an insurance company to offer coverage for grandchildren. Dependent coverage until you are 26 would apply to you because you would be your father's dependent but your child is not. Your child is your dependent and under most insurance plans they don't offer two-step dependency.
Laid off =/= no income.
It means I was making significantly less than my salary through unemployment compensation, but I still had an income. Combined with H's income, we were over the threshold. Which is fine, until you consider we weren't eligible for a private policy and H didn't qualify for insurance through his job at the time. Oh, and we couldn't afford COBRA.
Okay, I got you now. Missread, sorry. Technically, if the federal laws were upheld you would not be denied based on pregnancy. No one enforces that law so I get where you are coming from. This situation happened to us, sort of. DH changed employment when I was 35 weeks pregnant (ended up staying pregnant for 41 wks. no good and I don't recommend it). He was not eligible for employment under his new employer for 90 days and we weren't eligible for state medical because of his salary. We couldn't afford COBRA because dh had, historically, had all of the of the insurance premiums covered by his employer and the premiums ended up being 30% of our income ($1400/mo without dental or vision). With two young children and being a SAHM this wasn't possible. Oh, and I am 31 so I couldn't go on my parents' either. We paid it anyway out of savings because I had to have coverage. I would have liked for the gov't to cover it but that wasn't available so we bit the bullet. I honestly don't know what I would have done without my savings account and I am glad I didn't have to find out. I will foverer be grateful that I was covered and you are very lucky to be able to get coverage under your father. I truly believe the pre-existing condition thing for pregnancy or any condition is total crap, btw. I have said earlier in this post that I am all for this reform but I think we need to have other foundation policies in place before we jump on this program. I know it is still in paper form so hopefully the gov't officials will enstate a few programs to make an easier transition. Supplementing med school to encourage more doctors since foreing doctors will likely be less inclined to come to the US due to drastic payout cuts, more case managers to deal with "frequent flier" patients and more clinics in place because we will have to move to more clinic-based medical facilities at least for the first few years. I don't know if people will want to discuss these points I just listed. I won't be around to defend them because I need to take care of the kiddies but I just thought I would throw them out there because someone earlier said that no one is giving suggestions they are just saying they don't like it. That is all and have a nice day.
My husband's job offers great insurance which pays for 80% of our infertility tx. Obamacare does nothing in that regard so I pray to God that we get pregnant before they (DH's employer) decide to drop the coverage.
Why would they drop the coverage? Who told you that that was going to happen?
For my Type 1 diabetic fiance? The no lifetime max is good. The fact that he can GET insurance is great. But I always feel like the bill never addressed the question "what is affordable healthcare" so I can't tell if it is good for him because what is the value of being able to "get" the insurance if you can't afford the premiums?
My husband's job offers great insurance which pays for 80% of our infertility tx. Obamacare does nothing in that regard so I pray to God that we get pregnant before they (DH's employer) decide to drop the coverage.
Why would they drop the coverage? Who told you that that was going to happen?
It's not because of Obama care that they're talking about dropping it, just to be clear. DH's job might be changing insurance carriers in 2014. Obamacare does not have an infertility mandate attached that I have been told.
Post by iheartbanjos on Oct 9, 2012 11:38:46 GMT -5
DH and I both work for a medical device company, so the 3% tax on medical devices that helps pay for Obama Care impacts us directly. Unfortunately, being a public company, layoffs need to be made in order to maintain a high stock price. While there were layoffs everywhere, the majority of layoffs are happening to the folks that work in R&D. I suppose this could affect everyone in the country since new technology that could lead to better patient care will be delayed, but I think we're just adjusting to the new normal. We'll eventually have to start coming out with new technologies to stay cutting edge, but the introduction of new devices have been slowed.
Still, even with our livelihood at stake as well as rising premiums, I know that this is the right thing for our country.
My husband's job offers great insurance which pays for 80% of our infertility tx. Obamacare does nothing in that regard so I pray to God that we get pregnant before they (DH's employer) decide to drop the coverage.
Why would they drop the coverage? Who told you that that was going to happen?
If premiums rise, these are the types of coverage areas that will be dropped from plans to save money. (If not mandated by the state, etc., as some infertility is.)
It means I was making significantly less than my salary through unemployment compensation, but I still had an income. Combined with H's income, we were over the threshold. Which is fine, until you consider we weren't eligible for a private policy and H didn't qualify for insurance through his job at the time. Oh, and we couldn't afford COBRA.
Technically, if the federal laws were upheld you would not be denied based on pregnancy. No one enforces that law so I get where you are coming from.
What? Pregnancy is not considered a preexisting condition. This was even before Obama care.
So in that case you would have immediately been able to get on your DH's insurance. BUT your DH compay's policy nixed that. That has nothing to do with health care laws that is just comany policy.
This is coming from someone who had to COBRA from 24 weeks to 36 weeks pregnant (when I delivered) b/c DH had shitty insurance.
Why would they drop the coverage? Who told you that that was going to happen?
It's not because of Obama care that they're talking about dropping it, just to be clear. DH's job might be changing insurance carriers in 2014. Obamacare does not have an infertility mandate attached that I have been told.
OK so it has nothing to do with Obamacare.
So what is your point? (I am not being condescending)
Are you saying Obamacare should be modified to cover fertility treatments? If so I agree, I also think it should cover genetic testing and genetic counseling.
I worry that there will be unintended consequences. One that I am already aware of is that children can no longer get covered individually. I learned this when my work policy ended and I applied for an individual policy for our son, and found out that not a single insurance company will provide insurance for a minor unless it's under a family plan. Before the healthcare law was passed, you could get a healthy child a decent policy for under $100 a month. The reason for this is that children can no longer be denied for preexisting conditions, so the response of the health insurance companies was that they simply will no longer cover children individually.
There are parts of the law that I think are very important, such as no lifetime maximum and not allowing a company to drop a person from their insurance for getting sick. I think this helps all of us. I have a pre-existing condition which has caused some nightmares with health insurance. I am basically stuck with my shit insurance because I can't get through underwriting to get a policy with better coverage, including maternity coverage. That said, I think that the law as written will be overly burdensome on insurance companies when in 2014 they can never deny someone for a pre-existing condition. I think that if someone has had continuous coverage and are applying for a different policy, that they should not be denied for a pre-existing condition. I also think there should be a one time window of opportunity for uninsured individuals to apply for an individual policy without insurance companies being allowed to deny them for a pre-existing condition. However, allowing an individual to wait until they get sick to apply for insurance and giving a guaranteed acceptance sort of defeats the purpose of having health insurance. It's like allowing people to go without car insurance until they get into a wreck, and then requiring the insurance company to provide coverage to fix the wrecked car when the individual hasn't been paying a premium into the company. I just can't imagine that this provision that goes into place in 2014 won't put health insurance companies out of business.
But dont you have to have insurance?
You pay a penalty if you don't have insurance, and the penalty is a drop in the bucket compared to what one would spend on monthly premiums. I don't doubt that there will be plenty of people who will choose to pay the penalty instead of spending more money on health insurance premiums. Then, if they get really sick, under Obamacare they can just apply for health insurance at that point. This is a HUGE beef that I have with the healthcare law.
I don't doubt that there will be plenty of people who will choose to pay the penalty instead of spending more money on health insurance premiums. Then, if they get really sick, under Obamacare they can just apply for health insurance at that point. This is a HUGE beef that I have with the healthcare law.
Damn girl! That is an EXCELLENT point of view that I never thought of. My thought was that no one would pay the penalty when for just a little more (and a lot less than what it would have costs before Obamacare) they could have insurance.
For the record: What can I do if I was rejected because I am pregnant? In most states, you will be turned down if you apply for individual health insurance when you’re pregnant. Under the Affordable Care Act, this will change. Starting in 2014, new individual plans and all job-based plans won’t be allowed to turn anybody down or charge them a higher premium because of pregnancy or other health conditions.
In the meantime, your state has special programs that may provide coverage for you and your baby. Depending on your state, you may have these other options for health insurance:
.
This only applies if you did not have coverage before seeing new insurance. For eg if you change jobs then this is not a prob. But if you get KU then go damn I should get insurance (when you didn't have insurance for the past yr) then you would get denied.
There is a certificate you get from the old ins company to give to the new one. I forgot what it is called
When the baby is born, will he/he be able to be on your dad's plan? I didn't think it would cover grandchildren. I also didn't think it would cover maternity care for dependents but I could be wrong.
I'm fully covered under my dad's plan until my 26th birthday, which isn't until next spring. The baby is able to go on my dad's plan as well until I am no longer covered, since she will be my dependent - I've confirmed this with multiple reps at the health insurance company.
Why would it not cover maternity care for dependents? It's not a special obamacare plan.
The only thing that changed was the fact that dependents are able to remain on their parent's health insurance until the age of 26.
H has insurance through his company, so we will be able to all go on his when I lose my dad's insurance. Ideally, I'll be offered a FT job with benefits before that time so we can compare and get on whichever benefits plan works best for our family.
That's good, I must have been thinking of a limitation within my company, but I thought we are in the same state, so that's why I asked. (We are, I just noticed you said PA below). I'm glad it will work out for your family.
You pay a penalty if you don't have insurance, and the penalty is a drop in the bucket compared to what one would spend on monthly premiums. I don't doubt that there will be plenty of people who will choose to pay the penalty instead of spending more money on health insurance premiums. Then, if they get really sick, under Obamacare they can just apply for health insurance at that point. This is a HUGE beef that I have with the healthcare law.
Godawgs, I don't think your analysis is entirely accurate regarding the fee scale. My understanding is that the fees are based on income. In order for the fee to be a "drop in the bucket" as compared to policy premiums that a person might pay, the individual in question would likely need to be in a grey area of making too much to qualify for the insurance subsidy but too little to afford the policies available to them - and thus would then choose to pay the penalty. If your income is such that insurance is truly unaffordable, the premiums are subsidized anywhere from a percentage of the cost to 100% paid, making the choice between penalty or premium much less of a no-brainer. If your income is such that you can afford the premium of the policies available to you, but are choosing to risk it by paying the penalty, your penalty is correspondingly high in accordance with your income - again, narrowing the gap between penalty and premium. If you are choosing to pay a high fee just to make a point, basically, that is obviously your own choice. But those fees are used to make up the cost of those who remain uninsured utilizing the healthcare system and those who choose insurance once they are already sick.