MrsKirkley
MrsKirkley's JournalWhy is nothing being done about the family glitch?
So much is being done for people who lost their worthless insurance policies, but absolutely nothing is being done about the family glitch. Anyone who has access to health insurance through an employer is ineligible for subsidies, regardless of income. This includes spouses and children of workers as well. But the 9.5% affordability test doesn't count the premiums of spouses and children. It only counts the premium of the worker. It also does not count co-pays and deductibles. As a result, many low income workers are paying for family health coverage they can't afford to use and are ineligible for the subsidies and cost-sharing they desperately need. Families making 139% FPL can't afford the $5,000 deductibles and $10,000 annual out of pocket maximums for family coverage that many employers offer. What are people in those low income families that have expensive chronic conditions like diabetes or cancer supposed to do? Both of these conditions are fairly common and most if not all of these people end up owing a huge chunk if not all of their deductible every year. Another thing that's fairly common in the US is low paying service jobs. How many people working at low income service jobs have families? The government is doing everything to help the people whose worthless insurance policies got cancelled, but nothing for low income families caught in the family glitch. If I'm wrong and something is being done, someone please tell me what. I really want to be wrong.
Does the Affordable Care Act make it illegal for hospitals to demand entire deductibles up front?
I'm glad the health care law is helping so many people get health insurance, but I hope it can be improved to help more. Unfortunately, the way the law is written is leaving many poor American families ineligible for the subsidies they need because their low paying employers offer high deductible family health insurance. I've read that if a patient needs surgery or expensive cancer treatment, hospitals can demand the entire deductible up front. What if the low income family member needing treatment doesn't have good enough credit to get a $5,000+ loan to pay for the deductible or doesn't know anyone who can come up with it? Does anyone know if the health care law makes demanding entire deductibles upfront illegal starting in 2014?
Would you let your adult child or parents live with you?
I've read that multi-generational households are becoming more common. I'm curious about how common this is and the effects it has on dating for single parents. What would you do if you had an adult child who wanted to live with you for awhile? Maybe they just graduated from college and were looking for their first job or wanted to pay off student loans. Maybe they lost their job and are going through cancer treatment. Maybe they and their spouse want to spend 2-3 years saving a decent sized emergency fund or for a down payment on a house. Would you allow it? Do you think the majority of parents would or would not allow it? Would you allow your parents to live with you? If you were single and looking for someone, would you date anyone who had family living with them or would that be a deal breaker?
Walmart Health Insurance
Here's a breakdown of the plans for 2014. All rates I listed are for non tobacco users.
The deductible on the HRA plan for employees is $2,750. For families (including partner and/or children), it's $5,500. After the deductible is met, insurance pays 80%. The annual out of pocket maximum on the HRA plan is $5,000 for employee only coverage and $10,000 for family coverage. Monthly premiums are as follows: $36.80 for a non-smoking employee, $123.80 for an employee and partner, $59 for an employee and children, $147.80 for an employee, partner, and children.
The deductible on the HRA High plan is $1,750 for employees and $3,500 for families (including partner and/or children). After the deductible is met, insurance pays 80%. The annual out of pocket maximum is the same: $5,000 for employees only and $10,000 for families. Monthly premiums are: $122.60 for employee only, $310.40 for employee and partner, $172.80 for an employee and children, and $339.20 for an employee, partner, and children.
Fighting Obamacare subsidies to avoid paying $18 a month for health insurance.
A group of businesses and individuals are trying to get rid of subsidies in states that refused to set up their own exchanges. One individual fighting against the subsidies doesn't want to choose between purchasing health insurance for $18/month or paying the penalty, which figures out to $12/month. His reasoning: If he wasn't eligible for subsidies, he would be eligible for an exemption.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/judge-declines-halt-obamacare-insurance-subsidies-183920540--sector.html
What percentage of yahoo readers don't know "and" isn't the same word as "an?"
I often wonder that when I'm reading comments about someone being "and" idiot or someone making so much "and" hour.
Obamacare's potential negative effect on the next election
Americans in general are very upset about the recent government shutdown and most are blaming republicans. Obviously, that's a good thing since they are to blame, but how long will their anger last? Americans are also upset about the family glitch in the health care law and many are blaming Democrats (I'm always hearing and reading that Nancy Pelosi said pass the law first without reading it to see what's in it. That's NOT what I think, it's what other people are saying). As the health care law goes into effect, more and more Americans are going to discover and be negatively impacted by the family glitch. Those hurt the most will be low income families. Unlike the shutdown, unless the family glitch is fixed, it will impact families all the way up to the next election. Because of the timing, I'm afraid the family glitch will hurt Democrats more than the shutdown will hurt Republicans. Who else is concerned about this?
My problem with the Affordable Care Act
Two years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer. At the time, I was lucky to be eligible for breast/cervical cancer Medicaid. I had four cancer-related surgeries and lost my job because my FMLA ran out. (My degenerative disk disease severely limits the type of jobs I'm able to do, which are pretty much non-existent in our area. Now, I've developed bad knees and am unable to pass the physical to go back to work at the place I previously worked for.) When Medicaid claimed I was no longer eligible and gave notice of their intent to drop me, my fiance and I hurried to Vegas to get married so he could put me on his insurance to avoid a coverage gap. Nobody knew at the time if the ACA would make it through the Supreme Court and 2014 was 3 years away. The problem is, my husband is paying for coverage we can't afford to use. He works at Walmart and our deductible is $5,500 and annual maximum $10,000. I haven't seen my oncologist for over a year and I'm supposed to go every 3 months to be monitored for recurrence. I am happy that the new law is helping so many people and I don't want it to go away. But it needs to be improved and I don't see that happening until Democrats regain control of the House. I do NOT blame the Affordable Care Act for refusing to expand Medicaid. I blame the Supreme Court and the state we live in. What I do blame the law for is making family members who are offered health insurance through an employer ineligible for subsidies when their premiums aren't even counted in the 9.5% affordability calculation. The only way for me to be eligible for subsidized health insurance with a 94% actuarial value (meaning I only pay 6% of everything) is for my husband to drop from full-time to what Walmart considers part-time (33 hours or less, which may change to less than 30 hours in 2015). Walmart only offers health insurance for spouses to full-time employees. Several others have shared their experiences, both good and bad, so I thought I'd share mine.
What's the deal with health insurance subsidies?
The Kaiser subsidy calculator http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/ says I'd be eligible for a Silver policy with a 94% actuarial value, meaning I would only have to pay for 6% of everything. The value penguin http://www.valuepenguin.com/ppaca/exchanges mentions nothing about this and has co-insurance rates much higher. So do 94% actuarial policies exist or not?
What happened to the ACA insurance policies with acutarial value?
According to the Kaiser Calculator http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/ people with lower incomes were eligible for policies with certain actuarial values, meaning they are only supposed to pay a small portion of everything. This shortcut http://www.valuepenguin.com/ppaca/exchanges shows much smaller subsidies and no policies with 94% or 86% actuarial values. In fact, the no deductible policy silver plan I saw showed a 50% co-insurance with subsidy! Aren't Silver all plans without subsidy supposed to pay 60%? I thought this new link was supposed to give answers. Is anyone else confused by this?
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: Kansas
Home country: United States
Current location: Kansas
Member since: Mon Sep 2, 2013, 12:08 PM
Number of posts: 180
