1912: Whip It

[BrianAlt]

Flux is a socialist!

[Strawdog]

Originally Posted by fluxquanta

Wouldn't it be nice if, say, everyone paid just a little bit toward health insurance, and then everyone was covered by one plan? And then maybe that one plan didn't artificially inflate the rates for service to make up for the people who "can't pay"? Maybe not have that one plan run by a corporation driven to make ever-higher profits for its executives? Y'know, like every other civilized country in the world? Wouldn't that be nice?

To be fair, the NHS here in England has a huge deficit as the one-size-fits-all approach has been overloaded by the unemployed, disabled and immigrants.

It needs to be balance between the pay-per-play style America used to have, that can be exploited by private pharmaceutical companies and profiteering hospitals, and the government controlled health service the UK has.

I'm just glad to hear someone in America talking about the absurdity of Obamacare besides Alt-right blogs.
So far they've lied about not cancelling existing policies, they're overcharging like a motherfucker and it's stifling economic growth as companies don't want to hire over the arbitrary amount that would mean they have to provide healthcare. A lot of employers have even fired or cut back the hours of employees to avoid this rule further increasing the unemployment and 'poverty' figures in America.

[Scumhook]

This is what the rest of the world thinks of the US health care system:


also, that's using the words "health" and "care" pretty fucking loosely.

[Starline]

I currently pay for my own health insurance out of pocket. I do freelance graphic design and illustration.

Before the ACA I paid about $150 a month for health insurance. My deductible was $4000, but regular doctor visits were a $20 co-pay, and lab fees were covered for certain percentage.

Currently, I pay $89 for insurance with the new ACA, and pretty much get the same coverage as before.

But now my deductible is $2250. Actually, I'll just post a screenshot of my new plan. It's the Enhanced PP0 200 Plan with the ACA Subsidy through Blue Shield CA:

Without the subsidy, this plan would be about $250 a month. (Also Birth Control pills are 100% covered ("free") since it's preventive care!)

Mind you, the process to get all of this done with the ACA discount was a pain in the ass because the healthcare.gov (coveredca.com) sites were down and slow. However, it was worth it for me to go from paying $150, to $89.

However, if you don't want to deal with the hassle of using the healthcare.gov (Actually I think you guys would use NYC's site https://nystateofhealth.ny.gov/), you should be able to just buy a plan like you used to.

Keith, the plan you described does sound ridiculous, and I believe the people you were talking to were offering you a "Bronze" plan where its a 60/40 coverage, super high deductible, and really only for emergencies. I'm not surprised the person you were talking to might not have understood what you were asking for. I talked to a few agents from the same company over the past few months who gave me the wrong or contradictory info.

Most of the insurance companies have adopted this new tiered insurance system where they cover 60% (Bronze), 70% (Silver), 80% (Gold), and 90% (Platinum) of the medical costs. My plan is a "Silver" plan. You should only be paying the deductible when it comes to hospital visits, and some lab fees, and such like that. Regular doc visits, and preventative care should be covered.

Chemda (and Keith!) it might benefit you use a health insurance broker to deal with all this shit, answer questions, and find a plan for you. (I ended up using one at some point to sort out my billing situation.) They work for free since the insurance company you end up picking will pay them. They'll do everything for you. You can find one in NYC here: https://nystateofhealth.ny.gov/agent/hx_brokerSearch


Hope this info helps.

[g001dfinger]

Working in medical sales for a couple years, I learned a good bit about healthcare. First off, it's a business. To think of it as a "right" is naive. As said before, the economics of nationalized healthcare doesn't work. If the middle class and business owners weren't paying so much for insurance to cover the uninsured and unhealthy (both losses to hospitals and insurance companies) then they would just be paying more in taxes to cover the losses. Either way, it's a utopian theology to think it can be fair and balanced. Not everyone will do their fair share (as we see every day). Second option, reduce the cost of healthcare to make it more affordable, also doesn't work. Since healthcare is a business, if you reduce prices, you thus reduce profits, and thus push out entrepreneurs and companies from the market. We would no longer have the advancements in medicine and procedures because their would be no money in developing the technology. If pharmaceutical companies had no patents to protect their inventions, they would have no driver to produce the invention in the first place, thus they have to charge enough to pay for all the years of development and EPA regulations to get the drug to market plus make a worthwhile profit to even be in business in the first place. Basically it comes down to the rule of economics. You can have two of three things (never all three): speed, quality, or cost. America has chosen speed and quality (we get treated fast and effectively, but expensively). Canada chose cheap and quality, but takes forever to get treated. Other countries choose fast and cheap, but terrible quality (like India).

[Scumhook]

Originally Posted by g001dfinger

Working in medical sales for a couple years, I learned a good bit about healthcare.

Too bad they didn't teach you where the fucking Enter key was.

Did you have a job writing all the shit they say really fast at the end of drug commercials? Like how this boner pill will give you dick cancer, cause your spleen to fall out your anus, and if an erection lasts more than 3 weeks you might want to see your fucking doctor?

[dEadERest]

keet, re: '(She's) Crushed), do youse has a SAG card?

why hasn't you updated your IMDB profile with a pic, at least (comma usage pending sparrow's review)

luv ya pops,