Obamacare... Anyone Using It?

Well, I've got coverage through my husband's work right now-- but was denied coverage before that, so I'm excited that I can't be denied it again based on my pre-existing condition of having a uterus. I know, what a liability, huh?

My in-laws have griped about Obamacare, but their medicare bill went from a hundred eighty a month or so down to $20 a month. I also think that if Obama were to drop dead all of a sudden, they would think that he died wrong too. There is nothing he can do that will be right in their eyes. ;) Even if it's saving them $160 or so a month.

I am so glad I live in Canada and have Universal Health Care. I have never in my life had to worry about the cost of visiting a doctor, or wonder if I could afford to be hospitalized if I were sick.

Can i just say wth are Medicaid doctors? What an insult. As a former practicing OB/GYN I would take a few patients here & there that had FAMIS/Medicaid. That didnt make me any less of an awesome doctor! Pffft. Some people need to educate themselves before they spout off
P

I think people don't understand the Affordable Healthcare Act - it's not a SINGLE PLAN that everyone must have! It's a requirement that everyone have coverage - and it's a connection to a state-by-state network of plans from which to choose. If you go to the website (healthcare.gov) and choose your state, you get directed to the plans/connector in your own state. Then you look around for the type of plan you want, see what you qualify for, etc.

There are even people who say they oppose Obamacare but they like the Affordable Care Act! (So they are misinformed by the media - a lot of people just like to hate something that has Obama's name attached to it - and that "Obamacare" label was attached for that very reason. So I think it's essential that people find out for themselves and not just let rumor or certain media outlets convinced them one way or another.

Obamacare is NOT forcing anyone into a "one size fits all" plan from a particular provider/insurer - it's a link to what's out there and a requirement that everyone have a certain minimum. The only plans that were canceled were the substandard plans that didn't have enough coverage (with a little push-back from certain insurers who are miffed).

Yes, if someone has a high premium plan, certain supplies are going to be covered that you don't need because others you DO need are also covered. If we all chose only what we need in our own families, it would be impossible to administer these plans. And it's the insurance companies who set up the different tiers, not the president. And the post that mentions "lactating supplies" - please, this was a huge victory for women! I'm sorry if your husband doesn't need it and you feel it's wasteful, but the inequity in women's coverage has long been a problem.

I live in Massachusetts and we've had a Healthcare Connector program for years, passed and set up under Governor Mitt Romney. It hasn't changed due to the Affordable Care Act. So if I go to the government website and choose "individual and family" and "Massachusetts", it takes me right to the same Massachusetts Healthcare Connector website I could access directly. Other states have their own programs, so the government website is making that easier for people to find who have not used it before.

And those who say they don't want to pay for this - we have all been paying for years for everyone who doesn't have any coverage at all, who don't get care until they are much sicker and the care is much more expensive, and who have no choice but to use the ER. We ALL pay for that, every day. And it's wrong.

And as others have noted, the ACA doesn't affect people who have higher cost plans and like them.

Um EVERYONE using health insurance is using "Obamacare." The Affordable Care Act IS the law the governs health insurance.

I didn't sign up through the exchanges because I am already covered through my insurer. HOWEVER, I have already started seeing the benefits through my existing employer provided plan.
1) No copays for flu shots.
2) No copays for son's well visit/ physical
3) No copays for "yearly" exam (pap spear etc.)
4) I'm off of birth control now because of my migraines, but even my last Mirena was free because of ACA.

I am so confused by some of the replies. Yes, I signed our family up through the ACA and my bill went down by $400/month and we keep our normal doctors. It's great for those of us who have "pre-existing" conditions and can actually get insurance. Both my husband and I were denied coverage recently for illogical reasons, since we are two of the healthiest people I know and hardly ever need medical care. So, I'm not sure why people are saying we won't have normal medical care and access to our doctors. We now have better coverage than the $1300/mo I was paying last year and we have free preventative care. We do not qualify for a subsidy, so we do not get any cost break and it's still much cheaper than our previous small biz or private insurance policies in the past. Also, I was able to shop on our state's website and find amazing plans with various deductibles and premiums, so there are a ton of options for people who might have different medical concerns. Some plans are better for those who need more prescriptions or those who hardly go to the doc, for example. It's great to have that choice.

Yup. I signed up through my state's website for it. (some state's set up their own websites and some did not...luckily mine did)
It was super easy, I had a "navigator" from my local hospital help me, it was free, and now I have health care. I haven't had health insurance in about 7 years. Feels good!
L.

Yes, we used the Covered California website to sign up for insurance. We had insurance previous to this, but because we own our own small business, our rates had been completely outrageous. So, I'm pleased to say that we went from $1450/month for Kaiser (which is barely health coverage, as anyone who has it knows) to $780/month for Blue Shield Preferred PPO. We are thrilled! Finally, we can be part of large group insurance (where the rates are obviously significantly cheaper than they are on the individual market).

Yes, but we didn't sign up through the government website. We bought it through our regular insurance agent, who was very helpful.

The monthly premium for my family has dropped from $2000 to under $1200. As the owners of a (very!) small business we were eligible to switch from a small group to an exchange plan. Thank goodness, because the cost of insurance was crushing us. Our new deductible is higher, but with a savings of $800 per month we should still come out way ahead.

Not at present. I have great family coverage through my employer.

But it's a huge relief to know that should anything happen with my job, we COULD get coverage. My husband has a significant preexisting condition. This legislation isn't perfect, but without it, we'd be in for a world of hurt.

We have coverage under an employer.
But good to know if we change employees, no O. can be denied for preexisting conditions, young adults can remain on our coverage longer, if needed. My son will be able to get healthcare on his own even if he doesn't land FT employment immediately after graduation.
My hair stylist --a single mom-- enrolled herself and her daughter at considerable monthly savings for her.
Oh--no lifetime caps!
Here's a summary of advantages & protection you gained even if you're enrolled with an employers plan:
http://m.whitehouse.gov/healthreform/healthcare-overview
So ... Yeah.

ETA: what I find REALLY amusing is the people longing for the status quo of yesteryear when they were happy complaining about "leeches" clogging up the ERs and using the ER like a doctors office and paying nothing. Pretty sure enrollment=paying a premium now, except for the very poor. Isn't that better? Sheesh. People are never happy!

Nope, but I don't live in the US. I live in a country with universal health care. My government has just brought in free dental work up to $1000 for children under 17. Found out by accident when we took my eight year old to the dentist. Very handy indeed.

I'm not using it but I'm sure paying for it!

Well we received a letter that my husbands plan is canceled at an unspecified date and that our existing insurer will pick a plan similar to our existing plan. Although we have no idea of the cost. Btw he has a great plan that he was happy with. (My husband has a small business).

I think this whole thing sucks and I am livid that the president is getting away with the fact that he so blatantly lied to the American people.

My SIL family's plan was also canceled. Their son has a pre existing condition so although they found new insurance it is costing them $300 extra per month. $1,400 total. Not really too affordable! (They too were happy with their plan and doctors. My BIL is the owner of a small business too)

EDIT - Diane B. We have a high cost plan that we like and we are loosing it!! Please don't tell me that the ACA doesn't affect me. It sure does and I know other self employed families that it is effecting negatively as well. Wait until next year when the big company's start sending out notices that their employees plans are cancelled. In addition to the 5 million plans that were already canceled there will be a heck of a lot more people scrambling to get "affordable" insurance.

@rosebud- hopefully you can continue to keep what you have and like. There are certainly no guarantees of that.

EDIT 2 - To all those who like the "free" stuff you are getting under the ACA, I hope you realize someone is paying for it. Nothing is free!! I anticipate I will be getting many thank you cards due to the law however because, like college tuition grants and scholarships, someone has to pay for it. You are welcome;)

i'm not. we have very good (expensive, but good) insurance through my husband's work, thank all the gods.
i have a surprisingly large number of friends who have availed themselves of it, though, primarily single moms with kids, and people where one or more of the breadwinners are out of work or disabled. (it's a fallacy that homeschooling is for the financially privileged, at least half the homeschoolers in my very wide network are struggling.)
the only people i've heard complaining about it are those who aren't using it and are bitterly, bitterly opposed to anyone else doing so.
the website gave some people problems, others had none at all.
ETA 'if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor' was never meant to mean 'you are guaranteed to always have a doctor you like'. insurance companies can and do bug out, but they are now prevented from doing so for pre-existing conditions and other BS reasons. but now there are options for people who have been dropped.
khairete
S.

Not sure what you mean.
From my understanding, this legislation applies to everyone --even those of us who already had health insurance. So we are all using it. I have had the same employer paid health insurance for the past eight years and I have already seen many changes that I regard as benefits. For example, I love that my older daughter can be covered under my plan until she is 26. At her age, I didn't have health insurance though I was working at least 40 hours a week.
ETA: My reply no longer applies since the original question has been changed.

We have company coverage. And yes, we pay more now. I am FINE with that. One of the things that people who actually CARE about someone other themselves understand, is that something HAS to give when the system is broken. Health care costs spiraling out of control with NOTHING to hold it back just cannot continue. Insurance companies having to answer to NO ONE except their shareholders will end up bankrupting middle class Americans more than any time in our history, other than the Great Depression. That's why the Affordable Healthcare Act finally was brought to bear. It's NOT perfect. How CAN it be perfect? You have bickering members of Congress/Senate and specialist interest groups all trying to get "theirs". It will take serious tweaking in the coming years to make it work for everyone.

It took a lot of courage and self-sacrifice to make this the hallmark of a presidency. Doing something this hard doesn't win any popularity prizes. But when companies sit there and flat out say to the President "We will NOT end pre-existing conditions and recission without a law telling us we have to", then it's either do what's right for the country and take the heat for the difficulty in getting the system off the ground, OR allow corporate America to continue to screw the rest of us.

Yes, it costs those of us with cadillac insurance more. But if people across the board are covered, I won't be paying through my nose in higher taxes for people to go to the ER because they have a bad cough. They'll go to the doctor instead. When it comes down to it, I'll be saving money in the long run. So will everyone else. Instead of self-pay people getting screwed by the hospitals (and they are - my insurance pays $700 for an MRI and Joe Schmoe pays $1500 - the one who can afford it the LEAST) - the costs will be more uniform across the board. Which is the way it SHOULD be.

We don't have socialized healthcare. Single payer insurance is socialized healthcare. We have healthcare that is subsidized now across the board, with young and healthy people paying into the system instead of just assuming that nothing will ever happen to them.

For those who only care about themselves and are bound and determined to push our country back into sprialing healthcare costs with no end in sight, I can only hope that one day they will find out what the bad end of that stick really means. Maybe then they'll actually understand how selfish it is to only think about themselves. Our country needs LESS selfishness. Less selfishness actually will translate into fewer people losing everything they own because of one illness or accident. Losses like this hurt the economy as a whole, and hurt the productivity of more than just the person who's sick.

I'm grateful that I have good health coverage. I'm more glad that other people have coverage now, period.

We're not. My husband works for the state. Anyway, I have a lot of consumers going on it and they sign up through our state's exchange. I have not heard one single complaint from anyone that has signed up.

My grandparents were talking about this. They were against it strongly. Then my grandfather laughed and said, "Hey I remember when Medicare and Medicaid started! Everyone said the exact same thing back then! And I remember when Social Security Disability started! Wow were people livid about that! Huh, history repeats itself."

Funny thing about history. As it takes more of a foothold, more people will call it what it is... the Affordable Health Care Act and fewer will call it Obamacare. More will remember that this Act has been in the process of 8 Presidents.

EDIT: What's really funny is that "Obamacare" is actually "Romneycare" but on a national level. Romney initiated this EXACT healthcare plan in MASS. The Affordable Health Care Act is heavily structured on Romney's plan so that they're nearly identical. Funny how people have forgotten that.

Well, let me tell you....my husband and I are biz owners, paying for our own coverage for years...high deductible, high monthly premium. So we were one of the lucky ones who got the cancel letter saying effective 1/1/14 we will need to go through Obamacare. So I went online, picked a plan (HIGHER PREMIUM than we are paying) and we don't qualify for the discount because our income is too high. I thought you had to make 250k or more to not qualify, but clearly not. I call Healthnet to make our last premium in December with them and I'm told that they already rolled us into a plan. It was not like the plan I chose through Obamacare but got some interesting information about the Obamacare website. Apparently, when you sign up for a plan through there, your premium is due on the fist of each month, NO grace period. This doesn't work for us, when we had Healthnet directly, I had the whole month to pay without penalty, which I liked because we are commission only. In addition, they said that any changes need to be made directly through the Obamacare website, Healthnet, although they are the insurer, could only make a few basic changes. I didn't like this either...why does the government website need to be getting my health insurance premium and KNOW all my changes I might make? So Healthnet said for 1/1 I could pay the premium on the policy they rolled me into, cancel the one through the Obamacare website, then go through their sales team and get a new policy that I want effective 2/1. So that's what we did. We were happy enough with the plan we had. I don't like that we were forced, like TF Plano said, to have a plan with extra coverage that we will never use. And at a much higher premium per month than we were already paying. =0(

Not yet. After and entire working adulthood of being uninsured and paying countless thousands out of pocket for every procedure and 3 child births, I now have ridiculous pointless private "coverage" that has done nothing but add monthly premiums to the cost of all of our out of pocket medical expenses which we still pay for because our deductible is so high. I just called my broker yesterday to walk me through ACA options to see if anything is better there. He'll get back to me. I wouldn't try to navigate website and I've been waiting for dust to settle to inquire.

The problem is that it's all still private insurers so I'm not hoping for any miracles. I do hope this whole adjustment period will push us closer to universal health care one day. Once people who became resigned to being uncovered (not a sustainable choice to anyone) because they couldn't afford coverage get sick of paying-or in some cases get used to paying for insurance instead of some other luxuries just like they have to for other types of insurance (if they truly can't afford it they qualify for free care as before)- people will be more interested in healthcare that doesn't cost everyone an arm and a leg and isn't private. Everyone I know who has spent up to 50% of their paycheck for private insurance for decades (several single moms I know) is happy with the new lower prices.

As for people griping that their great insurers are ditching them and raising prices because of the new rules of fairer play like actually having to INSURE people they used to deny so they "can't afford" to keep clients? They don't sound so great. No grand scam can last forever, you have to keep dodging and weaving, which is what they're doing.

Up until now the only happy people have been the ones who happened to have jobs who provided them with great coverage at no or very low cost (while scamming profits and refusing to pay for other people's care). Everyone else has had to suffer. I hope we can work things out and quit being the nation of health care morons. At least lots of improvements have been made for people with pre-existing conditions etc.

Hopefully this hard transition is leading somewhere better, because the U.S. has been the WORST for long enough.

No way! Not getting involved in that hot mess!

Not in this lifetime. The doctors are all Medicaid doctors. You will not have access to good medical facilities. If you desperately need a subsidy then go for it. If not, go directly to insurance company. Much better prices and you can have good doctors. I would not send my dog to the docs around here that accept it. It is a disaster

Checked out Obamacare. Deductible was $6,000 with max out of pocket. My policy privately $200 max out of pocket is $3200. Cost is only 75 more a month than obamacare. It's a no brainer.

Have access to great docs and the best hospitals.

We kept what we had.

Hubby and I had no choice. Our private/individual policies were set to expire 3/1 so we had to go through Covered California to get new policies. I believe that's the only way to get health insurance in CA now and the premiums are through the roof! We USED to have a really good policy for hubby for right about $250 per month. Those days are long gone! We do qualify for premium assistance which brings the premiums down to right around that, but if his work picks back up, we will be on the hook for almost $600 per month for essentially the same coverage we had been paying $250 for for years!

The CA site worked fine for me. I didn't have any problems getting in, navigating or applying.

No, did not sign up for 0bama(doesn't)care!

My husband's employer covers us...our premiums went up and our coverage went down.

No, I am covered under my employer insurance but my premiums went up about $20.00 per month so not to bad.

Yes I received a notice my insurance premium went up $200 per month. Can't say I'm liking it.

For all who say universal care is the answer...I have a dear friend in England who injured her shoulder. Took over 8 months to get an MRI. During that time multiple prescriptions for pain meds. Of course the shoulder atrophied. Now it has taken 3 surgeries to correct what has happened to her and she still doesn't have range of motion. She realized she had become addicted to the pain drugs and took herself off them. It was very hard and scary. Her husband had something similar happen to his hand. Again, atrophy before he could get it corrected and it's still hurting and he's loss use of his hand partially that can't be corrected.

A different example right here in the US. I tried to qualify a patient to have a tonsillectomy with her dad's HMO (which in my opinion is a bad thing for a suit who has zero contact with the patient to be making medical decisions) who said she hadn't been to the doctor the required amount of times in 6 months to qualify for the procedure. She developed meningitis and guess what the spinal tap proved? Her illness was due to abscessed tonsils. This little girl spends a week in ICU, very close to death, because the insurance company denied a $1,000 procedure?? A week in ICU was certainly a lot more expensive not only in the bill but on the poor baby's health. Any other insurance I dealt with would have approved it. The doc I worked for even got on the phone with them and they still denied it. NO THANKS!

Currently my sister is a PA in a Dallas hospital. They are talking about what's coming down the pike and it's scary. Did you know if a patient has a stroke there are certain steps a neuro doc will be forced to do even if he thinks it is detrimental to the patient? And if protocol isn't followed the doc will be fined first then possibly lose his license?

My pediatrician and internist are retiring this year. Not because they want to but because of the upcoming mandates.

I don't know what the answer is. I just know there's alot coming down the pike. I do not believe the government should have the power to make us purchase ANYTHING. That alone, in and of itself is wrong. It is against the constitution, period. I do not believe that anyone should be making important medical decisions regarding my health except me and the doctor who is treating me. I believe the doctor who sees me in his office and knows what my history is and can, gasp, think for himself, is more suited to caring for me than someone running numbers.

Blessings!
L.

The cost of my health care went up do to this program. Soon we will be like Canada and waiting months for surgery or treatment. Most good doctors are going to work on a cash only system soon or retire. We will be left with poor medical care. It also affected my job in health care. They gave our doctors 5 mins to see patients instead of the 15 to 20 mins before this BS.

The site, according to security experts recent testimony, is still not secure.

My private pay plan ends in a few months so I am holding off as long as possible and hoping they get things safe for my personal information.

I loved my insurance but it was cancelled. FIVE times I tried to sign up. Finally I went to the insurance company's website directly and signed up. Then they sent me the wrong policy. It took two months to change it. Now they still haven't sent me any cards and my printout says I pay zero, but one office says I have to pay the first $3250! They read mine and can't figure out how there are two different policies with the same name and number.
I have major costs so I am scared that I may owe the huge amount plus the monthly payment. If so, I will try to switch but I don't know if I am allowed since I have claims already.
Initially the government website showed me paying less than half of what I did last year so I was happy. I had major surgery and needed followup care so I could not have a gap in coverage.

My sister used the site, and got approved. Yeah!
She paid her money by New Year's and still hasn't received her card.
She went to her first dr. appt. yesterday to try and use it (the cost for the one appt. is about the cost of the monthly insurance, so one use would pay for the month kind of thing) ... turns out, that doctor isn't accepting the website or exchange insurances, so she still had to pay out of pocket.

Her choice now is to stay with the doc that knows her complicated history and pay out of pocket still, or change to a doc that accepts the insurance, and start all over.

She is hoping that all of her doctors aren't like that.