Everybody should be able to go to the doctors soon

[Bernice]

It passed!!!!
Those of us lacking healthcare or paying out of the side of our necks should be able to get treatments needed without fear!!!!!!
Wonder how if in any way this will affect pass bills owed due to healthcare?

This is big y'all, it's big!!!!!!!

Not perfect, but a plus in the right direction!!

[Calli66]

I'm glad it passed, too.

C

[Pisces24]

I am just worried about how much it is gonna cost. In time they can't drop you from coverage but they can make it so there is no way you can pay for it.

Maybe they need to turn into nonprofits or at least an acceptable level of profits. Right now they are making a ton of $.

[salsen]

Everything I have read that if you are with a group insurance this bill will not really effect you.  If this is so then it will not change the problem of my increasing premiums and deductibles every year.  That is were I need help.  Everything goes up but the paycheck.

[Calli66]

I read today that the insurance companies would like to move people from HMOs into higher deductible, higher co-pay plans, so they can continue to maintain their high profit margins (even if some constraints are put on them by the new health insurance reform bill). HMOs were supposed to have been the previous effort to "control costs." Now the companies are hard at work coming up the a new strategy to squeeze us dry. Sigh....

C

[Bernice]

Right now you are only able to be a part of a group that you are a part of, it will be that you will be able to CHOOSE from LARGER GROUPS, the larger the group, the lower the cost!

Even if you have pre-existing illnesses you can not be denied, you will choose from the larger pool for lower costs.

And you will not have a cap on your costs per year!

Plus if you have children that have illness they can not longer be denied, your sons and daughters will be able to stay on your coverage until the age of 26, if need be.

These are major for most!!!!! ALL of these start NOW!!! IT'S THE LAW!!!! NOW!!

Some others will come in place later, but these and others are NOW!


I am using caps cause I want people to benefit, NOW!!

[c991]

Even if you have pre-existing illnesses you can not be denied, you will choose from the larger pool for lower costs.

And you will not have a cap on your costs per year!

Sorry to burst your bubble, but while you can not be turned down for "pre-existing" illnesses, you can be turned down for having to high of a "risk profile". Remember this law was written by lawyers with plenty of money (er lobbying) from insurance companies.

Whats a risk profile? Try to buy life insurance with a bad knee that requires surgery, no problem. Try to buy life insurance with an autoimmune disease, no way. The first example is a pre-existing illness, the second a risk profile.

No worries if you get turned down you can get medicaid/medicare, oops that's being cut by 21% and already has rules like 3 days in the hospital is always enough time for all forms of pneumonia so that's all they will pay. That is a real "cap". Plus as the new health plan is phased in they will hire 14,000 IRS agents and build 10 new regional centers for them to help administer the new plan. Why? the new medicaid plan will have spend down rules like the current medicaid does for nursing home care, but it will apply to people who place an unfair burden on the system. Spend down, means sell your house, car, empty your bank accounts, etc. and then you'll be covered. Don't have any of those things? well as long as your spouse doesn't work you'll be fine. It's not clear if a divorce within the two prior years before a major illness will be considered valid for medicaid purposes, transfers of real property and assets are not valid during that period for nursing home care under current law. Any guesses as to who will be burdensome? Maybe the same people who can't get life insurance.

I'm sorry to say that in the short term things will seem better, but by 2014 they will be worse. After all, our government is insolvent and has been for some time, why should we expect that they will suddenly handle even more money better than they have in the past?

[Calli66]

There has always been a spend-down for Medicaid. Let's see what the actual changes are.

Source please? I have not read of any plans for the IRS hiring 14,000 (or the number 16,000 came up recently).

The new reforms will no longer give Medicare money to the private insurance Medicare Advantage Plans, which is a cost-saving measure.

While not ideal, I believe the new law will make health care available to more people, which is a step in the right direction---a humane thing to do.

C

[c991]

Source please? I have not read of any plans for the IRS hiring 14,000 (or the number 16,000 came up recently).

The original article I read was on CNN on the 8th, but when I followed the link the article was for a different day altogether. Anyway, I believe the 14,000 number was an estimate. Here's a similar article.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/63864

Oh yeah, the pre-existing condition vs. risk profile recently happened to one of my adult sons. He lost his employer paid insurance and when we went to buy him another policy he was turned down because of his "risk profile". It appears he may be able to quit his job and get a state sponsored plan, but even those have limits.

[Bernice]

What with so much mis information being generated I say let's wait and see how it all plays out. As informed as we all would like to think we are we DON'T have ALL the answers! One thing that can honestly be said is that the current state of things ain't good, something has to change, let's wait and see if it's for the good or worst!

The only thing that confuses the heck out of me is those politicans and others that hope for the worst in this new plan.

I admit I don't have all the answers, but I do hope for the better and don't want to shoot it down before I see it fully in action. Even then I accept it will have it's flaws and needs of revisions.

[Calli66]

C991,

I'm sorry about your son's experience with risk profiling. You just feel so trapped these days if you have any preexisting condition at all----just afraid to move or change insurance or jobs or doctors or anything.

We were surprised when our son applied for life insurance. At 25 years old, 6'4" and 155 lb. he was considered "too thin" and a possible risk for being anorexic----phew! that was a surprise---too thin ("underweight by 5 lb. according to them). So the insurance cost more.

I looked up the IRS "agents" question, and Factcheck.org had this info: http://factcheck.org/2010/03/irs-expansion/

Like Bernice says, we'll just have to see how it all works out.

Calli

[navydad]

How ever it works out,, you can bet it wont be to our advantage,,

[Lesleybird]

  I'm not that happy because people like me who work and pay for health insurance premiums will have to pay higher rates and higher taxes to cover the extra people who want something for free....

[Bernice]

Yeah, I know what you mean about paying taxes, shoot nobody likes to pay taxes! I on the hand am not one that meets the level of income that will be taxed under the new law. We live pretty well, but not there, yet!

I have insurance, always have. This I am very thankful for, BUT I do understand "need" I understand that there are people that are in need, not all are lazy unwilling to work type of people, most aren't, but people that are in need. Many of them have worked and tried all their lives until whatever or for whatever places them in NEED.

While I do not like paying taxes I would hate to be in a society that refuses to take care of it's people's needs. and until we find another way, paying taxes is the best solution we have to do this. It used to be that neighbors used to care for each other, shoot now even families don't want to care for each other, without stipulations! It would stand to reason that those that do have the means are not willing to help others that are in need if not forced to do so, at least not for a long period of time. It seems their limit of generousilty wont last too long, they for some reason are the very ones that resent helping others in need, sure they will give just enough to say they gave and those with less are more likely to help but don't have a whole lot to give for a long period of time before it wipes them out, so that system of people helping people really ain't a reliable one, especially living in a present day "every man for themselves" society. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, but unforunately not enough, otherwise we wouldn't need to pay taxes for this reason.

Most people that are in this bracket that requires them to pay higher taxes under this new law are likely to be o.k even after being taxed. Most of the ones in need will still be in need after receiving this help, but it does at least helps to relieve them of the financial burden of being sick and allowing them to seek much needed healthcare, a chose I would dare to say they themselve did not willing choose for themselves, plus it just may free some up to become more financially sound by being able to apply the money they are spending on health care on better housing, schooling, food, etc and to seek more gainful employment after becoming more healthy, thus becoming able to afford health. insurance.