[Wondergirl]

The "if you like it you can keep it" thing has been debunked

My son will be able to keep his private-pay BC/BS if he wants to. There will be no obligation to switch.

I don't know who you are listening to (oh, wait! Yes, I do!).

[speechlesstx]

My son will be able to keep his private-pay BC/BS if he wants to. There will be no obligation to switch.

I don't know who you are listening to (oh, wait! Yes, I do!).

Please, you haven't got a clue. This is what's on all day at work and I don't watch O'Reilly or Hannity, but I've made that clear a number of times. If on the other hand you mean the Obama administration then yes, they admitted so in their response to the complaint in Newland v. Sebelius.

“Even under grandfathering, more and more group health plans will be subject to the regulations as time goes on. Defendants estimate that, as a practical matter, a majority of group health plans will lose their grandfather status by 2013.”

That means most plans will be changing if they haven't already whether you like it or not. And that doesn't even take into account all the employers that are cutting hours to part time or otherwise will end up throwing employees to the exchanges and you even acknowledged another issue largely thanks to Obamacare, getting priced out of your coverage.

The facts are clear, most people will NOT be able to keep their existing plans but that's not the point here. The point is why shouldn't the people that foisted it on us and have to enforce have to live with it themselves? Are they better than us?

[speechlesstx]

The emperor has spoken and apparently has unilaterally taken it upon himself to provide an Obamacare fix for Capitol hill.

Hill gets Obamacare fix

Lawmakers and staff can breathe easy — their health care tab is not going to soar next year.

The Office of Personnel Management, under heavy pressure from Capitol Hill, will issue a ruling that says the government can continue to make a contribution to the health care premiums of members of Congress and their aides, according to several Hill sources.

A White House official confirmed the deal and said the proposed regulations will be issued next week.

Just Wednesday, POLITICO reported that President Barack Obama told Democratic senators that he was personally involved in finding a solution.

The problem was rooted in the original text of the Affordable Care Act. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) inserted a provision which said members of Congress and their aides must be covered by plans “created” by the law or “offered through an exchange.” Until now, OPM had not said if the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program could contribute premium payments toward plans on the exchange. If payments stopped, lawmakers and aides would have faced thousands of dollars in additional premium payments each year. Under the old system, the government contributed nearly 75 percent of premium payments.

Obama’s involvement in solving this impasse was unusual, to say the least. But it came after serious griping from both sides of the aisle about the potential of a “brain drain.” The fear, as told by sources in both parties, was that aides would head for more lucrative jobs, spooked by the potential for spiking health premiums.

Read more: Hill gets Obamacare fix - John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman - POLITICO.com

Maybe if we had some brain drain we would never had gotten this terrible law. And once again the people foisting this train wreck on us continue to run from it and demand special privileges.

[smearcase]

WG,
I am not arguing your point, just trying to be educated here.
Don't those private pay individual plans have to meet the requirements of obamacare, such as no pre-existing condition clauses, no yearly/lifetime maximum payouts, etc?
How will insurance companies make all their individual plan rules fit into obamacare regulations when they are providing for example $ 5,000 deductible policies and not covering the items that obamacare requires be covered? And how will they do it still keeping the premiums the same. Insures in my neck of the woods have already announced that private pay policy premiums will rise 50 to 100%.
This Forbes article touches on some of that:
Democrats' New Argument: It's A Good Thing That Obamacare Doubles Individual Health Insurance Premiums - Forbes
I am John Kerry-like. I was for it before I was against it. I am a retired highway engineer. We always tried to make sure we knew how high the bridge needed to be and what load it needed to carry, before we started building it. Obamacare was a shot in the dark(?), or was it designed to fail and morph into universal healthcare when the chaos gets out of control?

[Wondergirl]

WG,
I am not arguing your point, just trying to be educated here.

I hated econ class in college, so don't take my word for this -- but it seems the market will eventually correct itself once the millions of new insureds will be buying policies (and they will be looking for the most bang for their buck which will force competition among the insurance companies and eventually lower prices).

[tomder55]

they will be looking for the most bang for their buck which will force competition among the insurance companies and eventually lower prices

You know and I know that is not the intent . The intent is to drive private insurance out of business so we are all forced into state and eventually Federal "exchanges " .

[talaniman]

I have been recommending for some time now the article by Steven Brill in Time magazine, for some valuable insight into how the insurance companies and private businesses actually price the cost of health care. A must read for understanding why the costs go up.

I compare it to why big corporations don't raise the wage of it workers. I too am a retired engineer, and have already been informed my insurance premium will not rise and they have already met the standard that the ACA mandate. That was 2 year ago, so my take is that some are making progress in implementing the upgrade in standards the new law brings, and some have not, choosing to fight it.

I am faced with the option of making Medicare a secondary insurance in a few year, and that a good dilemma to be in. As for keeping what you have, they may not comply now, but soon will have to and for the first time in history you can shop and compare where before there were no option to the rising costs.

I have to tell you the best thing is an individual investigation to know what your own options are that best suit YOUR own situation. While the speculation is wild on the business side of things, its you that has to make a choice if what you have is worth what you pay for, or if you can do better.

A question I have asked and never got an answer to is If employers cannot offer the benefit of health insurance do they have to pay the employee the cash rather than a benefit?

[talaniman]

you know and I know that is not the intent . The intent is to drive private insurance out of business so we are all forced into state and eventually Federal "exchanges " .

Medicare for all... YESSSSSSSSSSS!

[smoothy]

I don't know anyone on medicare that's happy with it NOW. In fact they hate it.

[Wondergirl]

I don't know anyone on medicare thats happy with it NOW. In fact they hate it.

We LOVE Medicare at my house. My husband had an $82,000 stent surgery a couple of years ago, and we paid only $1200 of that. There's no more copay for a doctor visit which are all paid for by Medicare.

[smoothy]

We LOVE Medicare at my house. My husband had an $82,000 stent surgery a couple of years ago, and we paid only $1200 of that. There's no more copay for a doctor visit which are all paid for by Medicare.

All my retired relatives HATE it... including my mother that always had decent insurance through General Motors. At least until the Bankruptcy took it away from only the BLUE collar retirees... now all she's got is Medicare and has nothing but problems getting anything taken care of.

[Wondergirl]

now all she's got is Medicare and has nothing but problems getting anything taken care of.

She shouldn't have problems. Why is she? What's going on? (My husband was blue collar too and lost his retirement coverage through his company.)

[smoothy]

She shouldn't have problems. Why is she? What's going on? (My husband was blue collar too and lost his retirement coverage through his company.)

You name it and she's got problems... half of it is even getting a doctor to even see her... and the few places that will have the worst reputations (and this is also the opinion of a registered nurse familiar with all of them).. and the places that do only half do what's required... or do unrelated things... and two things my mom is't... and that's either a drama queen or someone that's not capable of being very clear and direct with explaining her issue..

[Wondergirl]

places that do only half do whats required...or do unrelated things...

Is she still going to her regular doctor that she was seeing before she was eligible?

[smoothy]

Is she still going to her regular doctor that she was seeing before she was eligible?

No she had to change doctors... She told me why but I don't remember for sure.. it wasn't by choice though.

And its not an area wher she has a choice of only one hospital... there are at least 7 or 8 within 60 miles... but some of them have horrific reputations... and the only two decent ones that are even reasonible practical (I.E. within 45 minutes drive) the one is really difficult to get anyone to see her.. and the other requires a drive to West Virginia through the mountains in the area with the highest snowfall ammounts in that part of the country... a real problem in winter months.

ANd yes I do know that area well... I grew up there and traveled it for over 30 years... they get snow and a lot of it that none of the weather stations even predict will happen. Local micro climate in a small part of one county.

And being in her mid 70's that's no small thing to be traveling alone during.

[Wondergirl]

And being in her mid 70's thats no small thing to be traveling alone during.

I understand (born and raised in NC, and grew up in the western part, so I get it).

Around here, even if a doctor doesn't accept Medicare "assignment," the patient will get at least some of the cost paid for by Medicare. And there are lots of doctor and hospital choices within spitting distance of me. Maybe I should adopt your mother. :) In a different location, she would probably have an entirely different experience. Medicare isn't her problem -- it's the doctors and hospitals.

(My now-deceased uncle for whom I had POA had several serious surgeries and at least three 6-8 week psych unit confinements after he turned 65, and all was paid for by Medicare. His private-pay BC/BS kicked in a couple of dollars now and then. I know because I kept detailed charts of all this.)

[smoothy]

Bringing her down here isn't an option as she's still completely self sufficient.. and all her life long friends and family are in that area... that plus my wife and her don't get along too well for very long at a time.

[Wondergirl]

Bringing her down here isn't an option as she's still completely self sufficient..and all her life long friends and family are in that area....that plus my wife and her don't get along too well for very long at a time.

We just went through that with my husband's mom who refused to leave her home near us to go into assisted living (her first choice was an inexpensive place in SE Wisconsin near her summer cottage). She died last October at 93 as feisty as ever. (P.S. Medicare did take good care of her.)

[tomder55]

Medicare for all..........................YESSSSSSSSSSS!!

[Wondergirl]

freebies

Not at all. I've been paying into it since my first job at 15.