Wedding Woes

Health Care Debate

I'm so confused and the news isn't helping...

Today they voted in favor of opening the floor to debate the health care bill, but do we know which bill?  Last I heard there were 3 options:

1.  Repeal ACA with no replacement
2.  Pass the BCRA (Senate plan whose name bothers me because it's oddly like BRCA - the breast cancer gene)
3.  Pass the House Bill as is
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Re: Health Care Debate

  • edited July 2017
    I'd like option 4. Leave it TF alone!
    House Dems have a bill to "fix" Obamacare.  I haven't really seen an analysis on it, but I'm curious.

    ETA - The talking points per The Hill:
    • Create an annual $15 billion reinsurance fund. ObamaCare had a reinsurance program for three years from 2014 to 2016 to provide payments to insurers that enroll higher-cost, sicker individuals. 
    • Continue ObamaCare's insurer payments, which reimburse them for giving discounts to low-income patients. Insurers have blamed the uncertainty over whether these payments will continue as a reason for their proposed double digit rate increases in 2018. 
    • Have "robust marketing strategies" to ensure that more people enroll during open enrollment periods.
    • Allow a buy-in option for Medicare for people nearing retirement age.
    • Expand tax credits by age, geography and income to help people buy insurance. Currently, about 84 percent of ObamaCare participants get a subsidy.
    • Expand the availability of catastrophic health plans that include essential health benefits and coverage for primary care for younger enrollees. These plans, meant to protect people from worst-scenarios, tend to have low monthly premiums and high deductibles. 
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  • All but the "robust marketing" sounds good. No amount of marketing is going to get someone to buy insurance if they can't afford it. 
  • I'd like option 4. Leave it TF alone!
    House Dems have a bill to "fix" Obamacare.  I haven't really seen an analysis on it, but I'm curious.

    ETA - The talking points per The Hill:
    • Create an annual $15 billion reinsurance fund. ObamaCare had a reinsurance program for three years from 2014 to 2016 to provide payments to insurers that enroll higher-cost, sicker individuals. 
    • Continue ObamaCare's insurer payments, which reimburse them for giving discounts to low-income patients. Insurers have blamed the uncertainty over whether these payments will continue as a reason for their proposed double digit rate increases in 2018. 
    • Have "robust marketing strategies" to ensure that more people enroll during open enrollment periods.
    • Allow a buy-in option for Medicare for people nearing retirement age.
    • Expand tax credits by age, geography and income to help people buy insurance. Currently, about 84 percent of ObamaCare participants get a subsidy.
    • Expand the availability of catastrophic health plans that include essential health benefits and coverage for primary care for younger enrollees. These plans, meant to protect people from worst-scenarios, tend to have low monthly premiums and high deductibles. 

    As an aside, this was a crazy TK move.  I quoted your original post, which was only showing as the first couple sentences.  But then my quote box had the whole entry, lol.

    Okay, Dems, let's not go nuts throwing around words like "fix".  "Bit of an improvement", would be more exact.

    I also heard there are a few Dems who want to put a 9.69% cap on health insurance costs for individuals/families who do not get any subsidies.  So if a person makes $60K and doesn't qualify for any subsidy, their health insurance costs would be capped at 9.69% of that, ie $5,814/year.

    Pffftt.  Never mind we should just have universal healthcare, like a civilized country.  But if we want to insist on this effed up system, I think there should be a 15% income cap PERIOD on all healthcare costs.  Including costs for medical, dental, and vision insurance AND out-of-pocket expenses. 

    But there I go again.  With my tin foil hat.  Feeling like there should be some social safety net for people who threw a bad dice roll in life.

    ------------------------------------------------------

    (As I bang my head against the wall again)...however, it is like nobody is addressing one of the biggest problems.  No matter how things are sliced.  The astronomical rise of health care.  Obviously nothing will ever be done with that.  The AMA and evil Big Pharma have lobbies that are too strong to allow any "mucking up" of their often outrageous profits (even including costs for R&D on nowhere drugs).

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  • I'd like option 4. Leave it TF alone!
    Mehhhh... I don't really agree with this. Obamacare was a huge step in the right direction but there ARE problems with it. 

    What I don't understand is why people don't seem to want to preserve the good parts and fix just the bad parts.

    Oh wait, I DO understand. More money for rich people and political trophies.
    Unfortunately with all health care, it'll never be perfect or equal :( Canada has great health care for the most part, but there are flaws. May seem insignificant in comparison to the states but still there.
  • short+sassyshort+sassy member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited July 2017

    Another big problem with the ACA is a person can't buy their medical insurance over state lines.  That seems like such an easy one to fix.  And really obnoxious for people who live near a state line.  Potentially even working/living in different states.  Although I currently have a high deductible plan (really high) with my current employer, I've checked out the ACA plans for both Louisiana and Mississippi.

    I was utterly shocked at how different they were.  The monthly cost (without a subsidy) was about the same.  $700-$800/month for two adults (spouses).  Though MS was the cheaper one.  But the terms were where the major differences happened.  The LA plan was an $8K deductible before they covered anything, (and then they only covered 60% of costs!  barely more than half!), with a $12K OOP yearly Max.  And, of course, that OOP Max doesn't include the almost $10K/year you've paid just to have that crap insurance.

    In comparison, MS was $1500/$3000, with 80% paid after the $1500 deductible!!!  The monthly rate is still a killer, but what a world of difference in the terms. 

    Edited to add,

    LMAO, if I ever find myself needing an ACA plan for the long term, I would seriously either buy a rental property in MS or a cheap vacant plot of land and stick a mailbox on it.  Or "rent a room" in my MS friend's house for $50/month.  There.  Now I "live" in MS (eye roll).

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  • Screw this guy (Trump). Seriously he's an asshole. And a liar. Barring trans* folks from the military?! Just screw you. 
    I'm furious. And my heart hurts. 


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  • levioosa said:
    Screw this guy (Trump). Seriously he's an asshole. And a liar. Barring trans* folks from the military?! Just screw you. 
    I'm furious. And my heart hurts. 
    So angry today. 
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  • Screw this guy (Trump). Seriously he's an asshole. And a liar. Barring trans* folks from the military?! Just screw you. 
    Well they're distracting and expensive, so........ 
    Image result for ugh gif
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  • Screw this guy (Trump). Seriously he's an asshole. And a liar. Barring trans* folks from the military?! Just screw you. 
    Well they're distracting and expensive, so........ 
    Image result for ugh gif
    Clearly more expensive and distracting than the 26,000 annual sexual assaults in the military, but we'd have to have a president who wasn't a sex offender himself to have that recognized.
    I thought the saaaame thing when I read the distracting and expensive thing. So, cis dudes raping their female colleagues isn't distracting or expensive? I wonder what stats would look like for incidents of sexual assault next to times a transgender military member caused a lawsuit or distraction... But yea, ban the transpeople. 
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  • Screw this guy (Trump). Seriously he's an asshole. And a liar. Barring trans* folks from the military?! Just screw you. 
    Well they're distracting and expensive, so........ 
    Image result for ugh gif
    Clearly more expensive and distracting than the 26,000 annual sexual assaults in the military, but we'd have to have a president who wasn't a sex offender himself to have that recognized.
    I thought the saaaame thing when I read the distracting and expensive thing. So, cis dudes raping their female colleagues isn't distracting or expensive? I wonder what stats would look like for incidents of sexual assault next to times a transgender military member caused a lawsuit or distraction... But yea, ban the transpeople. 
    This may tie into a Dear Prudie thread from last week, but my sis once had a Korean war vet that was assaulted by his CO.  As a result of keeping that secret for 50 years, he never got married, or had kids or a family of his own, and became a lifelong suicidal, depressed, alcoholic.  I can't imagine that was cheap for the US Taxpayers Donny-Boy is pretending to protect.
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