Affordable Care Act

[DooDiligence]

My previous employers obligation to provide me with COBRA insurance came to an end on 30 September.

 

Faced with the need to mitigate the potential risk to all that I've worked for & saved, I stopped in

at the BCBS service center which is conveniently located right across the street from school.

 

I had been paying Chouest $437 a month for the same great coverage which had previously cost me $104.30

(I thought the higher premium was still a bargain, thank you Gary Chouest!) & I expected to have to

start paying the same or more for a significantly higher deductible.

 

Instead, the ACA will provide assistance, which will result in a monthly premium of just $22.55 with no deductible &

a $2500 annual max out of pocket expense.

 

If you make less than $12,060 per year you get zip.

 

Passive income counts & I qualify for 2019 with the following projections:

 

$8,200 - Pell Grant estimate

$12,000 - expected dividends & cap gains

 

I expect to take advantage of this until May of 2022 when I'll earn a Bachelors degree & get back to work.

 

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I thought this might interest anyone who has a friend or relative who needs assistance but hasn't yet gotten it.

Open enrollment is going on NOW.

 

Anyone who feels like I'm a slacker for doing this should examine whether they enjoy professional musical entertainment after a hard day at the office.

(They should also follow me around for a week to see how hard this stuff actually is...)

[LC]

No good slacker. Just messin'  ;D ;D

 

I keep telling my wife to cancel my insurance because it will provide me incentive to never get sick or injured. She says I'm worth more alive than dead but hasn't shown me the math to back it up :P :P :P

[rb]

Yo, if you give me a place to crash I'll follow you around and document the experience. I'll also shoot the shit and buy the beer. You see... it's getting cold in Canada now and you live in Florida.

 

Also, by virtue of freezing my nuts in the north, I don't pay anything for health insurance and mostly have no idea what your acronyms mean. But I'm totally serious about my offer. Maybe you'll teach me about them.  :D

[gfp]

Another Obamacare success story!  Glad to hear it is working out for you DD.

 

If you make less than $12,060 per year you get zip.

 

Is this "zip" as in not eligible for ACA exchanges because you would qualify for Medicaid and get all your healthcare for free?

[DooDiligence]

No good slacker. Just messin'  ;D ;D

 

I keep telling my wife to cancel my insurance because it will provide me incentive to never get sick or injured. She says I'm worth more alive than dead but hasn't shown me the math to back it up :P :P :P

 

You are definitely worth more alive.

 

Yo, if you give me a place to crash I'll follow you around and document the experience. I'll also shoot the shit and buy the beer. You see... it's getting cold in Canada now and you live in Florida.

 

Also, by virtue of freezing my nuts in the north, I don't pay anything for health insurance and mostly have no idea what your acronyms mean. But I'm totally serious about my offer. Maybe you'll teach me about them.  :D

 

ACA is the Affordable Care Act

BCBS is Blue Cross Blue Shield

 

COBRA is the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act which requires an

employer to continue coverage under the same plan, albeit with higher premiums.

(the ex-employee is not required to continue paying for the coverage.)

 

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Bring it on. PM me for the address.

 

Another Obamacare success story!  Glad to hear it is working out for you DD.

 

If you make less than $12,060 per year you get zip.

 

Is this "zip" as in not eligible for ACA exchanges because you would qualify for Medicaid and get all your healthcare for free?

 

Not sure about this one, but I think an individual of my age (56) would not qualify for Medicaid unless there was some kind of disability?

 

I know that if you do take Medicaid, it will affect your eligibility for ACA assistance but am not sure exactly how.

 

A really important aspect of the program is to make sure you notify HealthCare.gov of changes in income

as this can have a significant impact when you file your next tax return.

 

ACA premium assistance is paid in advance, to the insurer, based on what you CLAIM will be your

next years income, so if you make more than you claimed, your assistance will decrease and

you will have to pay back the difference.

 

Also, as your income rises, although the premiums for the same plan will not change,

your assistance will decrease and your deductible will increase.

(Not sure but there's prob some clawbacks here as well.)

 

I'm overestimating my capital gains income but may actually reach the projected

amount and will be very forthright with any known or projected changes.

 

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I have no idea how all of this ACA assistance will affect future generations.

 

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Apologies for being so defensive at the end of my initial post  :-X

[LC]

No good slacker. Just messin'  ;D ;D

 

I keep telling my wife to cancel my insurance because it will provide me incentive to never get sick or injured. She says I'm worth more alive than dead but hasn't shown me the math to back it up :P :P :P

 

You are definitely worth more alive.

Thanks, she knows it but I like hearing her say it  ;)

 

 

[DooDiligence]

No good slacker. Just messin'  ;D ;D

 

I keep telling my wife to cancel my insurance because it will provide me incentive to never get sick or injured. She says I'm worth more alive than dead but hasn't shown me the math to back it up :P :P :P

 

You are definitely worth more alive.

Thanks, she knows it but I like hearing her say it  ;)

 

Simplification of relational polynomials:

 

( :-X  +  :-* ) =  :)  :D

[LC]

Hahaha excellent :D

[Cigarbutt]

From recent surveys, the percentage of US respondents who:

-would support single-payer system managed by government: 60 to 70%

-would distrust the government always or most of the time: 60 to 70%

?

 

From a recent survey:

What is meant by a health insurance premium?

24% responded the best type of health insurance you can buy or a bonus you get at the end of the year if you stay covered.

??

 

Food for thought:

 

Definitions of affordable:

a)inexpensive to buy

b)inexpensive to maintain

[TwoCitiesCapital]

From recent surveys, the percentage of US respondents who:

-would support single-payer system managed by government: 60 to 70%

-would distrust the government always or most of the time: 60 to 70%

?

 

From a recent survey:

What is meant by a health insurance premium?

24% responded the best type of health insurance you can buy or a bonus you get at the end of the year if you stay covered.

??

 

Food for thought:

 

Definitions of affordable:

a)inexpensive to buy

b)inexpensive to maintain

 

Perhaps I can provide some opinion on how both can be true...

 

Single payer isn't my ideal system, but the country as a whole has made it clear that my ideal system isn't going to happen. Too much obstruction in the way of current laws, entitlements, and idealistic differences stand in the way of my ideal system.

 

So short of my ideal, which will likely never happen, I support a single payer which is probably the next best option given the current playing field. This is despite my misgivings and distrust of governmental regulation b/c the current system seems to be a mash-up of all that is unholy in capitalism and socialism with little, to none, of the benefits of either.

 

 

[gfp]

the current system seems to be a mash-up of all that is unholy in capitalism and socialism with little, to none, of the benefits of either.

 

Yes. Well said

[Spekulatius]

From recent surveys, the percentage of US respondents who:

-would support single-payer system managed by government: 60 to 70%

-would distrust the government always or most of the time: 60 to 70%

?

 

From a recent survey:

What is meant by a health insurance premium?

24% responded the best type of health insurance you can buy or a bonus you get at the end of the year if you stay covered.

??

 

Food for thought:

 

Definitions of affordable:

a)inexpensive to buy

b)inexpensive to maintain

 

Single payer does not necessarily mean that the government will run it. It does mean tha the government needs to provide the framework for it. The single payer insurance in Germany for example is not run by the government, but in Britain it is (I believe).

[Cigarbutt]

Single payer does not necessarily mean that the government will run it. It does mean tha the government needs to provide the framework for it. The single payer insurance in Germany for example is not run by the government, but in Britain it is (I believe).

The NHS in Britain is state-run.

The German example is instructive. If reform is considered in the US, the German hybrid system perhaps has something to offer. Interesting though if one looks through the prism of historical path dependency, I understand that the present healthcare "compromise" in Germany essentially rests on a set of political decisions taken after the Franco-Prussian war! Interesting also because the man behind the scheme, Otto von Bismarck was conservative, authoritarian and anti-socialist. The idea was to quiet the agitation of the populace in order to make it as a country. In 1883, he passed a law requiring laborers to insure themselves through sickness funds complemented by an employer contribution. The system has evolved but its foundations have remained intact to this day. The scheme is not perfect and some want more "reforms" but I sense that most Germans are happy with it. Do I get this right?

 

The way the German healthcare system functions may be a more palatable inspiration for the US because it means that the core societal values (personal freedom and responsibility etc) are maintained. Bismarck was able to introduce the concept of solidarity without naming it. But he was awfully shrewd.

[Spekulatius]

Single payer does not necessarily mean that the government will run it. It does mean tha the government needs to provide the framework for it. The single payer insurance in Germany for example is not run by the government, but in Britain it is (I believe).

The NHS in Britain is state-run.

The German example is instructive. If reform is considered in the US, the German hybrid system perhaps has something to offer. Interesting though if one looks through the prism of historical path dependency, I understand that the present healthcare "compromise" in Germany essentially rests on a set of political decisions taken after the Franco-Prussian war! Interesting also because the man behind the scheme, Otto von Bismarck was conservative, authoritarian and anti-socialist. The idea was to quiet the agitation of the populace in order to make it as a country. In 1883, he passed a law requiring laborers to insure themselves through sickness funds complemented by an employer contribution. The system has evolved but its foundations have remained intact to this day. The scheme is not perfect and some want more "reforms" but I sense that most Germans are happy with it. Do I get this right?

 

The way the German healthcare system functions may be a more palatable inspiration for the US because it means that the core societal values (personal freedom and responsibility etc) are maintained. Bismarck was able to introduce the concept of solidarity without naming it. But he was awfully shrewd.

 

Yes, I believe most Germans are happy with the system, especially if you would put up the US system as an alternative. I believe that Bismarck was shrewd to introduce health insurance because he saw a the huge potential for unrest and let’s not forget they Germany is the intellectual birthplace of communism (Marx, Engels). Without it, history may have been different and I think it is conceivable that Germany would have become communist without it.

 

The health insurance was the first corner stone of what would later to become “soziale Marktwirtschaft “ , which is capitalistic system with Social boundaries. This also means for example that many German companies don’t just see themselves as profit optimizer, but consider it their mission to make all stakeholders happy (employees, community, banks, shareholders). Some companies became more like US companies in terms of profit Maxime (Siemens was once a “caretaking” company and has become much more profit oriented, but some remain this way - BASF

, BMW for example).  This goes both ways, because if a company gets into trouble, the employees/unions are expected to stick it out and help with cost cutting and restructuring. Deutsche Bank is one that is also now much more Anglo/American and it hasn’t really worked for them at all.