Health Care bill passed by House

[Lamb]

What things should we know about this bill?

 

[Ruth]

I think those with preexisting conditions will pay a lot more for healthcare. Those on medicaid will likely lose it in a few years. It's not good for everyone but some.

 

[Josiah]

I know LITTLE. Only that Planned Parenthood and the Liberals hate it and seem really upset (which SUGGESTS to me it might be a big improvement). I actually read a REALLY long article in the paper today.... and gleaned next to nothing about what it actually does and how it is different than Obamacare (which I also never understood what it does and doesn't do).

Obamacare, you'll all remember, was passed before the bill was written: there was no final bill at the time, no one read it before voting it in because there wasn't anything to read. They just got a fuzzy SUMMERY of waht Obamacare would be eventually brought out to do. I hope it's not the same with Trumpcare.


THANK GOD I have an excellent insurance plan with my employer. It's outstanding. It covers everything (health, dental, vision, psychological, rehabs, disability). I have a clinic right at the office all totally free. It's a PPO so I can go to any doc or specialist I want. There's a $20. co-pay and then nothing after that. At the Hospital, it pays 100% with no deductable and no limits. Generic meds are no co-pay, name brains are $20 per month co-pay unless there is no equal generic OR my doctor states I should have the name brand. My wife gets heath insurance through the school district (she's a teacher) but mine is better and so she's under mine (which the company totally pays for.... covers all my kids if/when we have any, until they are 26 (paid for by the company). BTW, the company also gives me life insurance at three times my annual salary. I don't want the government messing with this...... But yes, the company tells me the cost of my health insurance: it averages around $1200 PER MONTH, PER PERSON (don't recall the exact cost) and they informed us that the cost has SKYROCKETED under Obamacare and that they've had to change the company they use to a much more expensive one because of Obamacare.


We'll see what the Senate does to it. Then it will go back to the House. Maybe at some point, we'll actually be told what it does and doesn't do. And maybe the truth will be told this time. With Obamacare, we were all told we'd be able to keep our doctor and our insurance plans (ALL COMPLETE LIES) and that costs would go down (IT"S GONE WAY, WAY, WAY UP). It would be nice is the press would tell the truth now and then... Not just "here's who HATES it" "Here's what so-and-so is yelling"


God save us all from the government....


- Josiah

 

[Lamb]

I have read a lot of estimates of what it will do. But I don't see anything that is fact, just guesses.

I have a lot of friends on Facebook complaining about their conditions being called pre-existing...yet, that's exactly what they are. I'm not sure if they know what the true definition is or they've been living a lie under Obamacare for so long that they're in denial?

 

[psalms 91]

What I do know is that if it passes the Senate millions will be thrown off medicaid and it will hurt millions. If it does pass I hope every one of them get voted out, they care nothing about people, if they did they would adequately fund medicaid. This is exactly why I cant vote republican

 

[Ruth]

What I do know is that if it passes the Senate millions will be thrown off medicaid and it will hurt millions. If it does pass I hope every one of them get voted out, they care nothing about people, if they did they would adequately fund medicaid. This is exactly why I cant vote republican

I agree with you Bill. It will not benefit those who need it the very most IMHO.

 

[Wilhemena]

I am worried about what the bill will do to medicaid patients who rely on that and it has been difficult finding firm information in regards to whether true cuts are being made or not. Doesn't it seem as if some of the new bill relies on the states to hunker down and make the cuts?

 

[psalms 91]

It really doesnt matter at this pouint, the Senate has said it will write its own bill and wont even vote of this one but if the Republicans are writing it you can count ion poor people being hurt

 

[Josiah]

This seems clear: Planned Parenthood is MAD! And insisting this will hurt its abortion business. I say, "GREAT!"

 

[psalms 91]

This seems clear: Planned Parenthood is MAD! And insisting this will hurt its abortion business. I say, "GREAT!"

So do I but the cuts to Medicaid I say boo and shame on them

 

[JSales]

The Dems passed Obamacare before anything was in writing with Nancy Pelosi sayin “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.” I'm hoping the gov doesn't do that to us twice!

 

[tango]

I think what the country really needs is to separate medical insurance from medical maintenance.

Insurance is to cover risk events, rather than ongoing preventative maintenance and foreseeable costs. Maintenance is the day-to-day stuff that looks to avoid bigger uglier stuff later on. It seems a good comparison is to look at motor insurance.

When we take out a motor insurance policy it's to cover us against the financial impact of a risk event - an accident, fire, theft etc. We don't expect our car insurance to foot the bill when we go to get an oil change, or put gas in the tank, or have our routine servicing. Yet with medical insurance apparently we expect it to pay for a routine checkup. Motor insurance doesn't pick up the tab if we find we need a new suspension coil, or a seatbelt fails its inspection and needs to be replaced. We might take out a separate insurance policy (typically called a warranty, but serving the same purpose) to cover us against a different set of risk events - component failures etc. Even then the warranty doesn't cover routine maintenance, doesn't replace anything that is considered consumable (oils, filters, fuel etc) and typically doesn't cover anything at all unless some kind of service schedule is followed (which the owner is required to pay for).

This is the part where people typically complain that it's too expensive to see the doctor, but a large part of the reason prices are so high is because of insurance. Some years ago I took my wife to the ER after an accident in the woods. We were paying our own way expecting to claim from sources other than a typical US health insurance provider. The hospital bill was reduced by 50% if we paid within 14 days. When we went to collect the prescription the pharmacist asked about insurance and as soon as I uttered the magic C-word ("cash" for anyone wondering) the price dropped by slightly more than 50%. No hesitation, she just went to her computer and the price dropped from the high $70s to the low $30s. It's hard to conclude anything other than the price being hiked so high because insurance companies are involved. Whether that's because the insurance companies just pay without question, or because they stall and negotiate and then offer half the money for a "quick settlement", isn't really the point. The clear observation is that use of an insurance company results in prices being increased by 100% or more.

The most obvious difference I can see between health insurance and motor insurance is that a health-related risk event doesn't necessarily get resolved within a single billing cycle. If you crash your car the insurance company pays for it to be repaired and then the matter is closed. They might write off the car and send a check, in which case the matter is still closed. If you are diagnosed with cancer it might take years of treatment, which becomes awkward when insurance companies may decide to exit a market completely.


The trouble is there is no obvious method of funding healthcare that isn't subject to abuse of one side by the other. A system that relies on the individual to fund their own healthcare becomes little more than a gamble that the individual won't be diagnosed with heart disease, cancer etc and financially ruined by the associated costs. A system that funds everything centrally is wide open to abuse by those who lean how to game the system (the NHS in the UK is a prime example of this - some hail it as some kind of healthcare utopia but if you fall through the many cracks it's anything but, and some of the incompetence and inefficiency within the NHS has to be seen to be believed).

 

[tango]

The Dems passed Obamacare before anything was in writing with Nancy Pelosi sayin “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.” I'm hoping the gov doesn't do that to us twice!

As far as I can see Obamacare has taken a bad situation and made it worse. Back in 2012 I was looking into the cost of what was then called a catastrophic policy for health insurance. To cover myself and my wife we were looking at about $3-400/month depending on policy specifics, for a policy with a deductible in the region of $4-5000. For 2016 a broadly comparable policy was just shy of $700/month, and for 2017 the closest comparison (given most of the operators had pulled out of the exchange by then) was somewhere north of $1000/month. I'm not sure what part of increasing the premium by some $700/month counts as "affordable".

 

[Lamb]

As far as I can see Obamacare has taken a bad situation and made it worse. Back in 2012 I was looking into the cost of what was then called a catastrophic policy for health insurance. To cover myself and my wife we were looking at about $3-400/month depending on policy specifics, for a policy with a deductible in the region of $4-5000. For 2016 a broadly comparable policy was just shy of $700/month, and for 2017 the closest comparison (given most of the operators had pulled out of the exchange by then) was somewhere north of $1000/month. I'm not sure what part of increasing the premium by some $700/month counts as "affordable".

Our health insurance went up by 33% per month because of Obamacare. What happened was the insurance companies were shocked to find they didn't get enough business so now we have to make up for the money they anticipated receiving from the Obamacare sign ups. It's such a scam.

Has there been any new insights to what is happening in the senate now with this bill?

 

[psalms 91]

Our health insurance went up by 33% per month because of Obamacare. What happened was the insurance companies were shocked to find they didn't get enough business so now we have to make up for the money they anticipated receiving from the Obamacare sign ups. It's such a scam.

Has there been any new insights to what is happening in the senate now with this bill?

No probably wont here much more till August when they will come back, they are getting ready for their summer break

 

[tango]

Our health insurance went up by 33% per month because of Obamacare. What happened was the insurance companies were shocked to find they didn't get enough business so now we have to make up for the money they anticipated receiving from the Obamacare sign ups. It's such a scam.

Has there been any new insights to what is happening in the senate now with this bill?

For us it went up more like 70%. In fairness that's not a strictly like-for-like comparison in that the new policy is far more comprehensive, but it kinda-sorta-is on the basis it compares the most suitable policy from 2016 with the most suitable policy for 2017. The options went from an array so bewildering I had to ask someone to explain them all, to four options (two options each from two companies).

 

[Lamb]

For us it went up more like 70%. In fairness that's not a strictly like-for-like comparison in that the new policy is far more comprehensive, but it kinda-sorta-is on the basis it compares the most suitable policy from 2016 with the most suitable policy for 2017. The options went from an array so bewildering I had to ask someone to explain them all, to four options (two options each from two companies).

We are paying more and receiving less I'm glad that my daughter can still be on our insurance for 2 more years though. I doubt she'll be able to afford anything though on her own once that ends.

 

[tango]

We are paying more and receiving less I'm glad that my daughter can still be on our insurance for 2 more years though. I doubt she'll be able to afford anything though on her own once that ends.

A friend of mine found a policy to cover himself that only costs him something like $40/month. I'm not sure how much of that is thanks to advance tax credits, but it's certainly affordable. Although something that makes things affordable by throwing huge sums of public money in the form of subsidies does seem rather counterproductive.

 

[Josiah]

God save us from the Government.

 

[tango]