Affordable Care Act tore me up

[Deleted]

So many people living in this fantasy world where having health insurance means you won't be bankrupt if you get sick.

Have any of you people even dealt with the medical or insurance industry?

Do you really understand how much insurance costs, and what it really pays for?

That depends on the country tbh.

I can imagine that in the US, youre going to be screwed both with and without insurance.
In many EU countries however, you have almost zero financial worries when you get a serious sickness or disease. (And maybe in Canada too?)

[Gheld]

They took the Public Option off the table.

But there's no way the private sector could compete with the public option.

Private insurance is better.

But then how would the public option even compete?

*head explode*

[Shadowferal]

But there's no way the private sector could compete with the public option.

Private insurance is better.

But then how would the public option even compete?

*head explode*

Give me the same insurance that congress has...

[Delekii]

Fun Fact: You can save lots of money by never eating.

Again; the price of your health insurance is a function of the cost your health providers are allowed to charge, not obamacare.

Aim the fight where it is needed; cost regulation of healthcare providers.

[Gheld]

Again; the price of your health insurance is a function of the cost your health providers are allowed to charge, not obamacare.

Aim the fight where it is needed; cost regulation of healthcare providers.

The costs are fine.

The reason procedures that are 1000 dollars in one part of the world are 96,000 dollars in the US is because of the Coriolis effect. Cost regulation would put health care providers out of business.

[Kryos]

The whole concept was shit from the start. What exactly did Republicans do that ruined Obamacare? Not one damn thing

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politic...OP-voters-care

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patien...and_resistance

[Deleted]

Just gonna drop in here to say that I'm British & I love the NHS.

Also, fact: Americans pay more in taxes towards their healthcare than Brits do (and this was true before ACA was introduced).

[Rudol Von Stroheim]

My income for the year was too low so I didn't get hit with the penalty.

So... I 'unno! I have mixed feelings on the matter personally. The problem at the end of the day, is that all systems will be imperfect because greed and corruption will be at the core of them. Only way you can avoid that is by having an absolute leader that happens to have your best interests at heart; in other words, good luck with that.

I need healthcare myself and desperately need dental. No pains right now but I've got more than a few hidden cavities that need work; however, I have no money and no income. So I'm just SoL and I'm putting school going towards the end of the year or at the start of the next over all other objectives.

I can't wait to see how much debt I can bury myself under.

[Kaeth]

You get hit by a car, their insurance will cover your medical cost

Assuming the other driver HAS auto insurance, then also assuming that you are not so severely injured that your medical and miscellaneous expenses exceed his/her liability coverage limits.

While auto insurance is mandated in every state in the U.S., I don't know if any of them set aside public funds for victims of uninsured/underinsured motorists. Even if the person who hits you has state-mandated insurance, if you're crippled by an accident, you're probably still going to be ruined by your own medical bills and other expenses (inability to work, etc.).

[zenkai]

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politic...OP-voters-care

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patien...and_resistance

did you even read what you posted or did you just google? LOL

[Cthulhu 2020]

Im sorry you think you are some kind of expert in the field but once again its important to listen to real life experiences rather than your arm chair tax lawyering.

Supreme court ruling is pretty much the exact opposite of armchair lawyering. It is funny that you claim it to be unconstitutional via "real life experience" and the highest court in the land is less authority than you are.

You probably won't get audited, because Republicans have taken all the teeth out of the IRS, but it would be rather funny if you did, since the fines would be just as bad as a catastrophic health bill.

[alexw]

IMO, this is part of the problem. Pre-conditioning that it is part of life to buy health insurance. Hospitals and Insurance Companies know they have you over a barrel as there isn't a price that can be placed on "health" or "life", and you don't get to negotiate fees up front, so a simple PCP visit that leads to you having to see a specialist to run half a dozen tests, can cost $5,000 and the individual had no say in the matter, and still have the chance the doc can shrug their shoulders and I say "I dunno what's wrong with you".

So you end up with the greed of the hospitals and insurance companies pushing insurance to cost more than folks house payment. Insurance I haven't used in over 2 years is the single biggest line item in my monthly budget and I don't have a choice (pre or post ACA) on whether I want to get it.

As much as I hate to have to go back to Military / VA style government healthcare (long waits, impersonal / borderline rude service, etc.), I don't really see a good alternative as healthcare costs continue to escalate.

The gov doesn't need to be involved in the provision of healthcare just in the payments, incentives and cost control. That is how it works in most of the rest of the world. The gov uses its massive bargaining power to drive down costs, it substantially increases the efficiency of the overall system because its paid for through highly efficient taxation (there is exceedingly little overhead in collecting taxes vs the continual buying selling marketing and billing of healthcare plans), and setting incentives for early treatment and preventative medicine, so that problems are treated when they are cheap to fix vs extortionately expensive.

Do that and healthcare costs per person will literally halve.

[Cricket22]

So many people living in this fantasy world where having health insurance means you won't be bankrupt if you get sick.

Have any of you people even dealt with the medical or insurance industry?

Do you really understand how much insurance costs, and what it really pays for?

Why, yes! I certainly do.

My husband was hospitalized for a week, intensive care, almost died. Total bill came to over $100,000.

Of course we had insurance, but after insurance paid their share, our share was close to $15,000.

However, after my husband came home and got that bill, he spent the next 2 months calling the hospital, insurance company and doctors, and spent several hours every single day, screaming because his illness was entirely caused by a severe reaction to a medication he had previously been prescribed at that exact same hospital, and he had been complaining for months on end about his bizarre symptoms.

Bottom line. After 2 months of daily complaints, the hospital wrote off the entire bill. We paid nothing.

So yes I do know how even with insurance, bankruptcy is entirely possible, and the medical professional sucks.

[Cthulhu 2020]

The whole concept was shit from the start. What exactly did Republicans do that ruined Obamacare? Not one damn thing

Refusing the medicaid expansion for their states is one start. They've done everything they can to make sure it was as poorly implemented as possible so they could point and say "see! It sucks!" You know someone is spouting bullshit when they preach doom for a situation they helped create.

[alexw]

The costs are fine.

The reason procedures that are 1000 dollars in one part of the world are 96,000 dollars in the US is because of the Coriolis effect. Cost regulation would put health care providers out of business.

This is wrong. American healthcare costs are way out of line with what they actually should cost in an efficient system. US healthcare is extremely inefficient, and prices are set at what the market will bear rather than what it should cost.

[Rudol Von Stroheim]

Refusing the medicaid expansion for their states is one start. They've done everything they can to make sure it was as poorly implemented as possible so they could point and say "see! It sucks!" You know someone is spouting bullshit when they preach doom for a situation they helped create.

The only thing I don't get about the claim that they forced the option in the first place, is that we had a Democratically controlled government at the time of. So Obama & Co. could've readily said, "Nope, kiss our ass. This won't work without X and Y and we're not going to let you make fools of us." Something like gun control I could understand but if you truly believe a bill in its entirety could be so beneficial, then why do it harm and yourself in the process? The logic makes no sense to me. All they've done is leave room for doubt.

[alexw]

Just gonna drop in here to say that I'm British & I love the NHS.

Also, fact: Americans pay more in taxes towards their healthcare than Brits do (and this was true before ACA was introduced).

Its insane isn't it? The UK treats its whole population for less than ~40% of the population on a per head basis.

[Orbitus]

The whole concept was shit from the start. What exactly did Republicans do that ruined Obamacare? Not one damn thing

Well, lets see, it was their plan to start off with. So you can blame them for the base plan. Then the 60 hours of meetings to compromise to get the healthcare law that both sides would be happy, that included taking the public option out by the hands of the Republicans. To say that they didn't do anything is completely asinine and rewriting history like you tend to do.

[Felya]

I think the bigger issue here is that someone making 150k after taxes, cannot afford dental care. What the heck do you do with your money?

[zenkai]

Well, lets see, it was their plan to start off with. So you can blame them for the base plan. Then the 60 hours of meetings to compromise to get the healthcare law that both sides would be happy, that included taking the public option out by the hands of the Republicans. To say that they didn't do anything is completely asinine and rewriting history like you tend to do.

how is this a counter argument? Also http://www.politifact.com/punditfact...are-plan-1993/