I read plenty of articles that bash President Obama, but I am rarely affected or feel the need to share. Tonight's front page article on Yahoo! really hit a string. Obama makes a quick remark in which he says he is sorry.
The end of the year is my favorite. I enjoy the holiday season. The end of the year is busy in preparation for the following new year. Recently, we had our annual insurance plan meeting. I was shocked to learn that my insurance plan rose a little over twice as much the amount I am currently paying. I was very upset. By the way, I had 48 hours to make my decision, another unfortunate finding. Needless to say, there is no pay raise with that raise. After reading the following article, I was reminded that I kept my insurance plan; even though, I am now going to pay more than twice as much for it. Sorry does not cut it. I am sorry I have to pay more; yet, I am paying more. I feel like I have been pushed off a cliff and my aggressor is yelling sorry as I am falling. The man who a month ago would not budge on negotiations regarding the Affordable Health Care Act is now sorry? With that, take a look, and off to bed I go.
http://news.yahoo.com/president-obama-he%E2%80%99s-sorry-for-americans-losing-insurance-plans-233753421.html
Aurora
Not to be rude, but if your plan is doubling its cost, why are you keeping it. Go to healthcare.gov, and see what's available.
ReplyDeleteI realize you're in Florida, with that bald teabagging troll of a governor fighting tooth and nail to keep people from getting healthcare, but there are still options. Yes, you have to go to a little extra trouble because your insurance carrier doubled your rates, but are you honestly blaming the President of the United States for an insurance company acting like... well, acting like an insurance company?
Who did you blame last year when they raised your rates? And before that? How big was the bonus that the CEO of your insurance company got last year? Was that the President's fault, too?
He took an unregulated market, and imposed some regulations. Yes, they're kicking and screaming. The same way the meat packers got all up in arms when the FDA started imposing cleanliness standards on the slaughterhouses.
You had an "insurance plan meeting" - does that mean that somebody had researched available plans? Or that they just said "well, this is the plan we've always had, and it's getting more expensive"?
Don't go blaming the President of the United States because somebody isn't willing to do a little research and find a better plan.
I did do a little research. I went on to the open market on the government website and it was about 40 dollars more expensive, which might not seem like alot, but the deductible was two thousand dollars higher. The lower the deductible, the more the proces soared. I was really disappointed. I had several questions for the insurance agent and he answered them quite amazingly. He has been in the field 18 years and he said each year it would be worse. I respect your opinions, but the act which was supposed to fix things left several loopholes and cornered insurance companies into penalizing us, middle-class, healthy people.
DeleteDitto what RN says. The insurance industry is raising your rates, not the Affordable Care Act. By the way, the President didn't create or pass the AFA, that was an act of Congress, the only body allowed to make laws in this country. The President was under no obligation to negotiate a law that had already been passed by Congress. The Republicans wanted to rewrite the rules and force the President to enter into a negotiation over a bill that had been vetted, discussed and passed by Congress four years ago because they didn't like the outcome. Tough shit. They can change the law the way it has always been done. Offer a bill that amends the AFA, get it passed by the House and the Senate, and submit it to the president to be signed.
ReplyDeleteThe AFA doesn't contain any provisions requiring insurance companies to raise their rates. That's capitalism at work, not the AFA.
Every new program, law, etc., someone gets the shaft. Sorry to hear it's you.
ReplyDeleteThe people, by majority, wanted the feds to get involved because of the decades of abuses by the private insurance companies. How can we save money when a private insurance company's goal, is to make as much money as possible?
I live in WI. Walker is not going along either, and 100's of thousands in WI will get the shaft. Not to mention, Walker is going to end all State medical help, and send you to the new government program. Except, WI does not have exchanges, WI is not going along with the program. We should just eliminate the private profiteers and save ourselves billions of dollars.
I suspect this is a game the HC insurers are playing. People are comfortable with what they have and may just pay up rather than looking for something cheaper. IMO this is just another scam. I'm with the anonymous poster above... single payer and get rid of the greedy scammers.
ReplyDeleteI tried. I turned to the government website. I have a spouse and I am not allowed on his insurance plan because I am offered one at work. I am very disappointed because everything I tried looking into failed...
DeleteFirst off, the health insurance market is a highly regulated industry; every state has an insurance commissioner. So, lets not confuse "regulation" with "standardization."
ReplyDeleteSecond, ACA (not AFA) was designed to standardize healthcare. Oh, and President Obama could have very easily have "grandfathered" in existing policies if he desired to do so. You cannot blame Congress because this was a totally Democratic bill (as no Republicans voted for it).
Third, welcome to the world of unintended consequences.
Aurora, your employer raised the rate they charged you and since premiums this year on a national average went up about 7%, which is considerably lower than the historical average and as insurance inflation is dropping dramatically your employer saw an opportunity to lower their expenses and took it.
As far as your insurance agent goes; well lets just say the vast majority of insurance agents don't like ACA because it cuts into their business and their income. So remember that.