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[BFEL]

That $6000 would take us SIX YEARS TO PAY OFF. If we didn't eat or turn on heat in winter or any other basic functions that are serviced by money.

And mom HAD insurance before Obamacare.
Then POOF, it disappeared and now she can't see a doctor to even KNOW if some catastrophic illness is going on.

[Sheb]

What happened to her insurance?

[wierd]

When the ACA passed, many policies were considered "Not compliant" by it, and those policies were basically subsidizing other, better policies offered by ensurers.

When those weaker policies were no longer salable, the better ones were not profitable, and were stopped being offered. As a consequence, many people who DID have good insurance, stopped having good insurance.

[smjjames]

What happened to her insurance?

*facedesk* Did you not read BFELs posts?

On the removing the insurance companies, the problem becomes 'what do we replace them with?'

[BFEL]

What happened to her insurance?

Obama

[wierd]

Prior to my "Whoa, suddenly unemployed!" status earlier this year, my own insurance rate through my employer went up over 30%, as a consequence of the added costs involved with offering ACA compliant policies by the remaining insurers. Mine was blue-cross- blue- shield.  The deductable went up 200%, the covered expenses list got trimmed hard, and the total cost of the policy went up 30%.  Where previously I could visit a doctor or get medicine from the pharmacy with a 20$ co-pay, now I had a 2000$ deductable, and other bullshit.

[Arx]

What happened to her insurance?

*facedesk* Did you not read BFELs posts?

Careful perusal of BFEL's posts reveals that he at no point mentioned that it was because of Obamacare that the insurance disappeared. You might be assuming that Sheb had context that he didn't.

[Sheb]

What happened to her insurance?

*facedesk* Did you not read BFELs posts?

On the removing the insurance companies, the problem becomes 'what do we replace them with?'

Sorry, "Then POOF, it disappeared " isn't exactly descriptive. I'm 90% certain her insurance company didn't literally disappear in a puff of smoke, so I wanted more details.

wierd: I've heard of crappy insurance policy being scrapped, but what you're saying don't really make sense. Insurance company are making more money due to all the healthy younger people being forced to sign up for insurance. Plus, I doubt they were subisidising good plans out of the goodness of their heart pre-Obamacare.

[Reelya]

What happened to her insurance?

*facedesk* Did you not read BFELs posts?

On the removing the insurance companies, the problem becomes 'what do we replace them with?'

"What the entire world except America uses" would be a good starting point. In Australia, I'm completely covered no matter what happens, can go to a hospital anytime I need to without ever needing to give a shit about it. So can any citizen ... AND the Australian government ends up spending less per capita than the American government spends on your health.

[smjjames]

Anyways, while my own insurance (Tricare btw) is unaffected as far as I know, the whole ACA was an attempt at universial healthcare, but the problem is that there is no such thing as 'one size fits all' when it comes to healthcare.

I don't know how 'universial healthcare' works in other countries though, maybe other forumers can chime in on that.

[smjjames]

wierd: I've heard of crappy insurance policy being scrapped, but what you're saying don't really make sense. Insurance company are making more money due to all the healthy younger people being forced to sign up for insurance. Plus, I doubt they were subisidising good plans out of the goodness of their heart pre-Obamacare.

Hey, welcome to America! *gives a massive shrug*

[wierd]

Better insurance through employers revolves around group bargaining.

Insurers are more willing to give a nod to large insurance pools with risk factors (say, machinists, et al, who tend to get fingers amputated in milling machines, etc.) when they (insurers) have reliable outside income sources (say, selling more minimalist insurance to florists, who are less likely to be seriously injured on the job), because the total company risks are mitigated.  It's the fungability of money in action.

When other aggregate revinue streams dry up, then the insurers are MUCH less willing to make such nods, and look to placate their stock holders and other financially interested parties. As such, they focus on insuring only people that are wealthy and unlikely to suffer harm (EG, take a payout.)

[Sheb]

Anyways, while my own insurance (Tricare btw) is unaffected as far as I know, the whole ACA was an attempt at universial healthcare, but the problem is that there is no such thing as 'one size fits all' when it comes to healthcare.

I don't know how 'universial healthcare' works in other countries though, maybe other forumers can chime in on that.

You know "universal healthcare" doesn't mean everyone has to get the same treatment, right?

[smjjames]

Anyways, while my own insurance (Tricare btw) is unaffected as far as I know, the whole ACA was an attempt at universial healthcare, but the problem is that there is no such thing as 'one size fits all' when it comes to healthcare.

I don't know how 'universial healthcare' works in other countries though, maybe other forumers can chime in on that.

You know "universal healthcare" doesn't mean everyone has to get the same treatment, right?

I don't know, the definition of "Universial Healthcare" never seems to get pinned down around here, "around here" being the US.

[sluissa]

Remember though, before Obamacare, most policies had an upper limit that they would cover over your lifetime. If you had something serious happen, many times this upper limit would be hit and suddenly when you had to have cancer treatment, or extensive surgery after a car crash or other severe accident, your insurance would just fly the coop. "Nope, you're too expensive, bye."

Do people fall through the cracks? Certainly. Is it still a less than ideal and in many ways screwed up system? Sure. Are some people who were fine before in trouble now? Very likely.

But it has still helped more people than it hurt. It's just shaken things up a bit and that's made it uncomfortable for us who thought we were fine before.

You hear a lot of anecdotal situations. But it's typically the people who get screwed that you hear complaining. The people for whom it's working don't have time to go out there and proselytize the system, nor do they really want to because it's still an annoyance and an expense and still essentially a system where you're betting against your own health which is the main reason why it and all other insurance systems are screwed up.