Chuckanut
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
The same thing I have now. Obamacare did not impact my health insurance.
Pre ACA NY had very high premiums, probably double anywhere else. This was because NY did not permit sickness or age to be considered in policies. That is a real problem without a mandate for everyone to get coverage. Only the sick signed up and premiums skyrocketed.
Fortunately, I had employer coverage pre ACA. Megacorp had a UHC "Select Choice" plan. I am currently on the UHC "Community Plan", aka Medicaid, which has the same doctor network as the work plan.
I would probably not have retired without the ACA in place since I have chronic health conditions.
A friend had a colonoscopy at 50 as recommended. Diverticulae were noted. When she retired, insurance would not cover her colon ('tics are not a risk for colon cancer). Thirty years later, still no problem with the colon.
I can provide a near infinite number of those stories.
It was worse than that. The sleazier companies used "post-claim underwriting." They'd take your premiums but if you developed something expensive they'd go over your medical records with a fine-tooth comb, find something to declare your coverage void from the beginning, and refund your premiums. One case I remember was a woman whose 3-year old developed cancer. The insurance company voided the policy because she didn't mention she'd once been on antidepressants. The ACA didn't solve every problem but it fixed a few major ones.
The same thing I have now. Obamacare did not impact my health insurance.
I really want to see the individual market stabilize and improve before I test those waters again. In the meantime I'll count my blessings that I get great medical coverage while w*rking 20-25 hours a week on average, and not paying a dime more than full-timers do for the same coverage. Not many people get that deal, so maybe I should embrace and protect it for a while.
I see a lot of threads concerning the affordable care act, what did you folks have before this was passed? As early retirees you had to have something , a big illness would have wiped you out. I'm not familiar with the fine points of enrollment , I myself even called a few years ago to see if I had to register and buy something as I heard about a penalty if you didn't have insurance, turns out my Union health plan was fine and I didn't have to do anything. As a finance site I'm sure everyone had some kind of plan, that like not have homeowners insurance in my opinion.
It was worse than that. The sleazier companies used "post-claim underwriting." They'd take your premiums but if you developed something expensive they'd go over your medical records with a fine-tooth comb, find something to declare your coverage void from the beginning, and refund your premiums. One case I remember was a woman whose 3-year old developed cancer. The insurance company voided the policy because she didn't mention she'd once been on antidepressants. The ACA didn't solve every problem but it fixed a few major ones.