ACA Poll

[ferco]

If you don't have health insurance are you against the ACA ?

If you have health insurance are you for the ACA ?

My "gut" is that those who have "good" health insurance lament the long term cost to the taxpayers.............until THEY (or a family member) don't have or can't get health insurance.....then the costs to the taxpayer is a moot point.

I've long wondered why not just offer everyone the same health insurance options that Congress offers itself and their families.......no need to remake the wheel !! But I guess this is too simple a concept ??

 

[KiraC]

I'm with you. Why can't we buy health insurance like auto insurance and have health insurance transfer across state lines?

We're a mobile society and health insurance companies operate in the dark ages (I know because I've worked with them before)

 

[M Paquette]

I'm with you. Why can't we buy health insurance like auto insurance and have health insurance transfer across state lines?

That would be the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which exempts the business of insurance from most federal regulation, including the antitrust laws. The federal antitrust laws, under the Act, will not apply to the "business of insurance" as long as the individual states regulate insurers in that area.

The law exists because of a 1944 Supreme Court decision involving a cross-state 'underwriters association' that dominated a market in several states and engaged in price fixing.

 

[MichaelB]

I've long wondered why not just offer everyone the same health insurance options that Congress offers itself and their families.......no need to remake the wheel !! But I guess this is too simple a concept ??

They heard you. Beginning Jan 1 all members of Congress and their staffs are required to get their health insurance from their State Health Exchange.

 

[explanade]

Actually, it would be a good idea to do a poll of ER members, to see how many get coverage through the ACA vs. how many stay with whatever they had before.

I get the sense that ER members would enroll at a higher rate than the general populace.

But the time for the poll is probably some time after the new year.

 

[KiraC]

Thanks for the info. From what it looks like with ACA and general private insurance rates, the price fixing looks like it's back.


---- hoping to find decent insurance so we can retire

 

[M Paquette]

I've long wondered why not just offer everyone the same health insurance options that Congress offers itself and their families.......no need to remake the wheel !! But I guess this is too simple a concept ??

That would be the "Hilarycare" plan from 1993. It inspired a strong conservative backlash, and inspired the Heritage Foundation to design an alternative plan that would be open to all private insurers. (This plan eventually became the core of the Massachusetts Connector plan among others.)

The Massachusetts Health Plan: Lessons for the States

PolitiFact | Obama says Heritage Foundation is source of health exchange idea

 

[M Paquette]

Thanks for the info. From what it looks like with ACA and general private insurance rates, the price fixing looks like it's back.

I can't speak for other states, but on the California exchange, rates for plans from some insurers have dropped significantly compared to the plans that they had submitted to the state insurance board (average rate increases of 9.3% for 2014 were proposed, and there was a huge price variation between similar plans from different insurers.)

Prices from Exchange participants have tended to move downward, and closer together. This would appear to indicate that there is competition in pricing. A 'price fixing' environment generally tends to have prices that move upward and closer together. In addition there are a number of new participants in the individual medical insurance market rather than The Usual Suspects.


As for myself, I currently have medical insurance coverage, and intend to remain covered. I favor the ACA law, as it has a number of provisions to ensure that I can keep my coverage. For example, recission of a policy (canceling) can only be done in the event of deliberate fraud. If I develop a severe (expensive) medical problem I no longer have to worry that my policy might be cancelled because I reported being treated for acne at age 16, instead of what a record search might reveal to be age 15.

Blue Cross praised employees who dropped sick policyholders, lawmaker says - Los Angeles Times

 

[Mulligan]

I'm for parts of the ACA, and against others...I certainly do not mind the part of paying more to give the uninsured unhealthy access. I am bothered by the fact I have to pay for items I do not need. I am not going to be pregnant as a 50 year old male, nor am I going to need mental health or drug rehab. I would like to be able to buy a higher deductible also. And while I am dreaming, before I wake up, double the HSA annual contribution limit too!

 

[mickeyd]

They heard you. Beginning Jan 1 all members of Congress and their staffs are required to get their health insurance from their State Health Exchange.

...but it will be heavily subsidized by US.

 

[Alan]

If you have health insurance are you for the ACA ?

Yes I have group insurance & yes I am for the ACA.

 

[Katsmeow]

If you have health insurance are you for the ACA ?

I do have insurance and I am for it, as opposed to the system we had before. I would rather have single payer or even Medicare for All with private insurers providing supplemental policies.

My main beef with the ACA is that it still buys into the idea of have in-network and out of network providers. This is an area where people can still get hurt if they go to a hospital that uses out of network providers and they get stuck with the list prices and are liable for the difference between what their insurer pays. That is, the insurer pay X% of what it would have paid a network provider. The problem is that the out of network provider won't take that amount and balance bills the insured for the difference. This leads to lots and lots of problems. ACA doesn't fix this problem at all and makes it worse since ACA networks tend to be smaller.

 

[easysurfer]

I was looking to vote on the poll but don't see a voting option.

What, it's okay to say if we are for or against the ACA without bringing up bacon?

 

[jflynn4]

Like some others on here, I believe there are some "good" and some "bad" features to the ACA.

At a personal level, after having been insured for 35+ years and only one time in that period ever reaching the deductible, I was told post-early retirement that I was no longer welcome as a customer as my wife had stage one breast cancer almost 10 years ago and I'd developed arthritis in my neck. With that, I ended up having to take a HIPPA guaranteed plan, very high deductible and effectively a catostrophic plan, that runs me over $1,900 per month. (COBRA coverage had run $900 per month prior to this so I'd never really come to grips with why receiving a check directly from me rather than a company causes a $1,000 per month increase in premiums).

So ... having the "pre-existing" feature is a lifesaver for me personally.

That said, unfortunately, the mathematics of the ACA can't be ignored and, long term, that math is pretty clear that it's going to be unsustainable.

A 55 year old married couple who works out, eat right, and are perfectly healthy may have a monthly premium of $500 under ACA. His next door neighbor, also 55, is 300 pounds overweight, has diabetes, has had 2 heart attacks, and his wife is also 200 pounds overweight, has fibromyalgia, and stage 2 breast cancer will have the same $500 premium.

An extreme example, I know, but in order to cover the next door neighbor, over time, it's simple mathematics that couple #1 is going to HAVE to see their premiums increase.

Unless the entire plan is for a move to "single-payer" (as some have suggested), simple arithmetic says that premiums for the healthy are going to have to rise significantly which is, ultimately, the biggest downside of the entire ACA.

 

[scrinch]

I do have insurance and I am for it, as opposed to the system we had before. I would rather have single payer or even Medicare for All with private insurers providing supplemental policies.

+1

 

[FIREd]

I do have insurance and I am for it, as opposed to the system we had before. I would rather have single payer or even Medicare for All with private insurers providing supplemental policies.

+2

 

[seraphim]

That would be the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which exempts the business of insurance from most federal regulation, including the antitrust laws. The federal antitrust laws, under the Act, will not apply to the "business of insurance" as long as the individual states regulate insurers in that area.

Guess the McCarran-Ferguson act doesn't apply to ACA?

 

[M Paquette]

Guess the McCarran-Ferguson act doesn't apply to ACA?

The ACA, or Affordable Care Act, is a law, not an insurance business, so no, the McCarran-Ferguson Act doesn't apply to it. Both laws do have an effect on medical insurers.

 

[tomz]

I do have insurance and I am for it, as opposed to the system we had before. I would rather have single payer or even Medicare for All with private insurers providing supplemental policies.

+3

 

[easysurfer]

I'm one of the lucky ones in the old way in that I don't have any pre-existing conditions which would exclude me from getting private insurance at a reasonable cost.

That said, I'm all for a system which allows folks to purchase insurance without pre-existing conditions. So I am for the ACA or something like Medicare for all with private insurers providing supplemental insurance.