The "Affordable" Healthcare Act.....

Well, the healthcare marketplace thingy is open. And now the lies are beginning to be exposed. Or confirmed. Or re-lied. Or covered up and sugarcoated.

Taxes, fees, and more lies.

Remember back in September 2009 when Mr. Obama said that requiring health insurance (individual mandate) is NOT a tax increase? (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/20/obama.health.care/)

"For us to say you have to take responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase," Obama said in response to persistent questioning, later adding: "Nobody considers that a tax increase."

Cool. Wait.....

Remember back in June 2012 when the Supreme court said that as a fee or fine (penalty) the individual mandate would be unconstitutional, however it is Constitutional as a tax? (http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/28/politics/supreme-court-health-ruling/index.html)

"It is reasonable to construe what Congress has done as increasing taxes on those who have a certain amount of income, but choose to go without health insurance," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. "Such legislation is within Congress's power to tax." He later added: "The federal government does not have the power to order people to buy health insurance. ... The federal government does have the power to impose a tax on those without health insurance."

Now that the healthcare marketplace is available.... guess what? It's not a tax anymore! It's a FEE! A PENATLY! (https://www.healthcare.gov/get-covered-a-1-page-guide-to-the-health-insurance-marketplace/, https://www.healthcare.gov/what-if-someone-doesnt-have-health-coverage-in-2014/)

"If you don’t have coverage in 2014, you’ll have to pay a penalty of $95 per adult, $47.50 per child, or 1% of your income (whichever is higher). The fee increases every year."

So, lets take a look at these "affordable" healthcare plans. By the way, for all you folks who voted for Obama and cheering on the "free health insurance" you thought you were going to get... There's no such thing as free.

What's it gonna cost?

According to the Obamacare site, "The plans are presented in 5 categories: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Catastrophic" (https://www.healthcare.gov/health-plan-information/)

One caveat here. I am not going to be able to give final prices without filling out an application, and I sure as heck am not going to be filling out an application, so these prices may vary. I'm going to show the prices as listed for my state and county (Shelby County in Alabama), and my situation (Family with both parents) As the site says, family size and income affect the final price:

"IMPORTANT NOTE: The prices here don’t reflect the lower costs an applicant may qualify for based on household size and income. Many people who apply will qualify for reduced costs through tax credits that are automatically applied to monthly premiums. These credits will significantly lower the prices shown for a majority of those applying. Final price quotes are available only after someone has completed a Marketplace application."

In my area there are 2 companies listed for healthcare insurance providers. Humana Insurance Company and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama. Both are offering PPO type plans. These figures are per month and are straight from the https://www.healthcare.gov/how-do-i-choose-marketplace-insurance/ website as of the writing of this post. By the way, this is just the monthly premium, not the copays, coinsurance and deductibles.

Humana Catastrophic: $473.50
Humana Bronze: $622.96
Humana Silver: $706.50
Humana Gold: $805.82
Humana Platinum: $908.50

BCBSAL Blue Protect Catastrophic: $497.94
BCBSAL Blue Saver Bronze: $575.72
BCBSAL Blue Value Silver: $713.56
BCBSAL Blue Saver Silver: $756.90
BCBSAL Blue Value Gold: $923.62
BCBSAL Blue Choice Platinum: $1111.46

Welcome to the world of "Free" healthcare. You can estimate your costs with the Kaiser Family Foundation health insurance costs and savings calculator. (https://www.healthcare.gov/how-can-i-get-an-estimate-of-costs-and-savings-on-marketplace-health-insurance/)

I plugged in my numbers and it says I would pay, for me and my family (taking in account the $1,691 annual tax subsidy they say I would get):

Catastrophic: "With a catastrophic plan, you would pay out-of-pocket for most health services until you reach the annual limit on cost sharing ($12,700 in 2014)."
Bronze: $791.66
Silver: "The plan will pay for 70% of expenses in total for covered benefits, with enrollees responsible for the rest"
Gold: Not listed
Platinum: Not listed

Based on the website , all plans cover "10 essential health benefits"  which include the following:

• ambulatory patient services
• emergency services
• hospitalization
• maternity and newborn care
• mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment
• prescription drugs
• rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices
• laboratory services
• preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management
• pediatric services, including oral and vision care.

This page shows an example of the difference between plans. Basically the more of a premium you pay, the lower percentage you pay when you actually use healthcare. So, if you have to see a doctor and get medicine, you'll pay a percentage of that cost on top of what you are already paying for the monthly premium. Here's how it shakes out for that:

Bronze plan: 40%

Silver plan: 30%

Gold plan:  20%

Platinum plan: 10%

So if I'm on a Bronze plan and take my child to the dermatologist for severe acne, and they prescribe Accutane, I can expect to pay my monthly premium of $791.66 PLUS 40% of  doctors charges and medicine costs. Lets just say the doctor is pretty cheap and only charges $100 for the office visit. My part of that is $40. Accutane is a pretty expensive drug and my 40% of about $420 (actual cost when we had to get it for one of my kids) comes to $168. So I've just paid $208 for a doctor visit and 1 month supply of medicine under Obamacare.

Under my current plan, I pay $439 monthly premium ($352.66 less than Obamacare Bronze), I pay a $30 office visit copay ($10 less than Obamacare Bronze) and $30 for a premium level medication ($130 less than Obamacare). Therefore, under the Affordable Healthcare Act, for one month's premium, 1 doctor office visit, and 1 month supply of medication, I will pay $500.66 MORE than I do now.

I currently pay $439/month in healthcare insurance. This is expected to rise by as much as 30% next year (if our employer still offers it!) thanks to Obamacare. Affordable? For those of you that voted for Obama and our current set of Democratic congress, when will you pull your heads out of your collective socialist asses?

Here comes Obamacare!

   

Choice

The cold war was a good thing, in a way...

This was supposed to be a Farcebook post, but I got long-winded so I decided to blog it instead. I haven't blogged in a while, so here ya go.
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So.... this thing with North Korea.... Normally I would scoff at their threats as the blustering of propaganda-loving maniacs. But that was when we had strong leaders in Washington, not leaders who go around apologizing to our enemies bowing to others as if we’re their subjects, and saying that our Constitution, the very foundation of our country, is outdated and short-sighted. With Obama as President, John Kerry as Secretary of State, Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense..... I fear how this is going to turn out. I don't know much about this Thomas Donilon guy that’s the National Security Advisor, but if Obama picked him, it can't be good.

Hey, all you teens and twenty-somethings, and even those in their thirties... There is a lot more going on out there than The Walking Dead and Duck Dynasty. Take a look at the world you're living in. It's a scary place. Scarier even than zombies. Your apathetic outlook is very possibly about to be shaken to the very core of your being, and you don’t even realize it. You voted in this current administration with a very short-sighted mindset and didn't consider the repercussions of placing an inexperienced socialist at the head of our government. He’s destroying our economy (stop blaming Bush, he hasn’t been there for over 4 years) he’s contributing to the moral erosion of our society, and he’s weak in the eyes of our enemies. And if the President appears weak, America appears weak.

You haven't been affected much by terrorism. Even 9/11 is a fading, vague memory for most under the age of 25. Most of you haven't been affected by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, because you haven't been THERE (thank you to those who have, you are truly heroes!). You've lived in relative peace, and unfortunately that has made America soft and weak. Terrorism has rarely affected us in our homeland and that has made us apathetic. We see the numbers and hear stories about the bad things that have happened in the wars, and we say, "That's terrible!" Then we turn on The Big Bang Theory or the XBox and go about our lives. I'm beginning to think that winning the cold war was a really bad thing. It took away the fear of the Red Menace. A little fear is good in that it keeps you aware and prepared. But, it also has diminished patriotism in the USA. It’s eroded our national pride. But the collapse of the USSR has done far worse things to the world than if they were still one of the top two world powers and we still lived in fear of their nuclear warheads.

It fostered terrorism. People look at Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran as the terror related countries. And clearly they are. But the many of the states created by the collapse of the USSR are dominantly Muslim. Azerbaijan. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan. Tajikistan. Turkmenistan. Uzbekistan. The Soviet Union was able to, for the most part, keep control over the people of these regions, and over places like North Korea, and even Pakistan to some degree. Now some of these countries have weapons grade uranium and plutonium, and Pakistan has nuclear weapons. Check out this web site for more concerning information regarding post-soviet nuclear issues. http://www.cfr.org/weapons-of-terrorism/loose-nukes/p9549

Yes, terrorism happened during the time of the USSR. But, mark my words here, terrorism is going to come home sooner than you think. Israel has lived with suicide bombers and gunmen shooting up marketplaces for a long time. I’m shocked it hasn’t happened here much yet. We had Nidal Malik Hasan kill 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas. There’s been numerous other Islamic attacks in the US in the past 40 years. Most of them you’ve never heard of or you’ve forgotten. http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/americanattacks.htm gives a good list. Check out the rest of that site too, it’s interesting.

I truly hope that the actions and threats coming out of North Korea are propaganda and bluster. But this time it may not be. America appears weak these days, and the North Koreans are desperate and crazy. They may be expecting Obama to cave under the threat of nuclear action, hoping, rather than standing up to them, he’ll just send them money to be quiet for another year or two. That’s probably what he’ll do.

So, go back to your XBox. Go back to your Game of Thrones. Go scream 'Go Green' and '1%' and all that while you can. But I have a feeling your world is about to change.

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