Forced to Have Coverage, Can’t Afford It – Story
I was forced to take Obama care after leaving a full time job to run our family business and take care of my parents. The premiums are 40% of my take home pay. I live in NJ, so I also have the highest car insurance, property taxes and retail costs in the nation. I do not qualify for Medicaid I make $500 too much. This was a total payoff to the insurance companies, and to low income democratic voters. There is no reward for working, if I was unemployed I could get Medicaid and never pay a dime. I could give a false ss# and never pay a dime.
The Senate and Congress have gold level plans that don’t cost them a dime. We pay for them, for the uninsured, and for us. What incentive is there to work?
I fully expect this to get deleted, I understand that this was a useless waste of time for me to write. I will be voting against any pro obama-care politician at any level. I had to make a choice to help my family, or improve my financial situation, unfortunately I chose family and I am paying for it and everyone else.
Roy Wood
O Bummer we’re Bankrupt Care the crooked government leeching the public to try to force Insurance scam no coverage with Grand Larceny
Jindo Rehill
I got contract for 20hrs week not now being force to do more hrs have I got any rights
ObamaCareFacts.com
You are employer can require you to work more hours, that is not against any rules. They just have to comply with other rules. So for example if you work overtime then they have to pay overtime and if you work full time then they have to provide health insurance if they have 50 or more full-time equivalent employees (FTE).
Douglas
My wife and son lost their medicaid coverage because my income changed. I received a letter dated 1/19/19 on January 23rd, indicating they would be cut off as of 1/31 which gave me exactly 7 days to find coverage. I did bring home 1200.00 per paycheck after taxes and my insurance. So, I contact the marketplace and some brokers to see what our options were. After an exhausting search and multiple telephone calls with brokers and insurance agents, it was apparent that adding her on to my plan at work was going to be our only option. My coverage went from $147.00 per pay period for health, dental, and vision to $657.00 per pay period. One of my checks is gone!! My request to add my wife was emailed to the Benefits department 2/18/19. I read the language and requested they make her effective date 3/1/19. I was told this was fine. one week later when i got paid, I was shocked to see they had taken almost the whole thing for the current premium plus a retroactive payment for backdating the coverage to 2/1/19. I called and spoke with them and was told this was how it had to be done. i requested documentation showing this and was sent the following email….
FYI
As for loss of other coverage, it is pretty much the same as marriage. Assuming the employee or dependent requested special enrollment due to loss of group health plan coverage in a timely manner, the new coverage must begin no later than the first day of the first calendar month beginning after the date the plan or issuer receives the request for special enrollment.
This also ties into the general rule that cafeteria plan elections (including changes) need to be prospectively effective. The one exception to this rule is retroactive election changes for HIPAA special enrollment events for birth, adoption, or placement for adoption.
Regards,
S.
According to this, Coverage should have been effective 3/1/19 as my request was received by them on 2/18/19. first day is 1, first month after is March….
They are saying coverage has to take effect immediately they cannot wait. So, my car payment, insurance, and everything else has to be pushed back and late fees assessed because they feel they are entitled to a premium for which no claims were submitted.
Any assistance would be appreciated. I am hoping someone knows better.
DDS>
Regina heath
I think we should have a very affordable plan for people like me that is drawing disability and has to wait two long years for insurance . we can not afford health coverage and pay our bills to so tell us what we are supposed to do if we get sick or hurt we have a high hospital bill to pay on top of what we already pay out . there is no way any one on a fixed income can afford high insurance premiums
ObamaCareFacts.com
Medicaid may be in option in your situation if your state expanded Medicaid.
Nunyah
My husband makes 1,600 a mo, I’m pregnant and due in 3 mo. Jan 2019 I’m assuming I will have an outrageous hospital delivery bill due to the fact that these scum accounted me and my husband’s total yearly income which ends up at around 25,000 with my husband being the major bread winner. After they “updated” my already approved full coverage for Tenncare they said I don’t qualify for medicade and I’m only eligible for the bronze plan. Basically $400 a mo just for me puts my husband’s monthly income at around 1,200 and that’s not including $500 for our Apartment and $400 for food. Leaves us with $300 to buy baby must haves, any hygiene products we may need, gas for my husband to get to work car insurance, ECT. What I experienced on the phone today was a crime! Sabotaged my Tenncare application! Told me I had no other choice but to buy your stupid piece of ship policy. F You, F Obama-don’t-care and fuck all the other dirty people who choose to make a living off of others misfortune. Can’t stand for this!
ObamaCareFacts.com
You don’t qualify for Medicaid because your family makes just over the 138% poverty level (as expanded by the Affordable Care Act). You do however qualify for cost assistance. Your cost assistance should bring your $400 premium down considerably based on your income (because the Affordable Care Act included cost assistance based on income).
The cost of living is insane and people don’t necessarily have money left over for plans. The ACA’s assistance and Medicaid expansion is supposed to help, but for some people it isn’t enough.
I get the frustration, but honestly being angry at Obama for helping to expand assistance because it didn’t offer enough assistance feels like misdirected anger. If anything you seem like you want a solution that goes further, like Medicare for all, and not a solution that does less.
Anyway, man is it frustrating to struggle with healthcare costs. You have my sympathy on that one and I’m sure you have the sympathy of many even if we don’t agree on a solution.
All that said, do check with the marketplace again. I think you are seeing the premium before assistance and not after, with your income your premium should be in the double digits, not the triple digits.
Pam
What about the ACA’s Family glitch? The way the ACA is set up on how employer offered health insurance has to be affordable by not exceeding I believe 9.56% of the families income is only based on the indivual coverage of the employee. It isn’t mandatory for companies to offer affordable health insurance for the employees family. My husband makes $50,000 a year and to include myself and our daughters on his health insurance costs us $1000 per month. It’s a high deductible $3000 per person. Since my husbands company “offers” health insurance family plans we don’t qualify for subsidies if we buy through the exchange. We can’t save for retirement adequately and we don’t qualify for financial aid for our daughters state university tuition so we will have to resort to having student loan debt. This “family glitch” was not a mistake because if my daughter and myself would be qualified to receive subsidies for buying insurance through the exchange the Federal government would be picking up the tab. Why didn’t they make companies have affordable health insurance coverage based on the employees family? These are smart men and women that wrote this bill and then voted for the passing. Nobody can tell me it was mistake. This family glitch has been looked at and it has been decided that nothing will be changed due to the increased amount of money the government would have to incur. Really? What are people like us supposed to do? Maybe we would be better off just working part time jobs that don’t qualify for insurance, make the same amount of money and possibly more and then qualify for subsidies that would make our insurance premiums about $300 per money for the silver plan. The only option we have is that we could be allowed an exception in regards to the penalty if we didn’t have insurance. Why do the mistakes that happen that cause a lot of out of pocket expenses always happen to the middle class.
P
I I am in total agreement with you. I to work we cannot afford health insurance for my husband it is cheaper for us to pay the penalties. It’s not fair I totally disagree with the program. We are punished for holding a job.
Kiea
My husband I my combined income was 29000 before taxes . Yet we were fined 1800 dollars for not having coverage. Never mind I cant afford it. So now I’m forced to pay for insurance I cant afford to use. Yes, my copays are 35 dollars but I can’t afford the prescriptions so what’s the point of going to a doctor when the medicines needed are not affordable? Basically, I make 869 dollars every two weeks of which 215 dollars go to blue cross blue shield. I also have life insurance in case I die, you know from the illnesses I can’t afford to treat.
I was better off being able to go to the clinic for low income families on an as needed basis. My fees were based on my income and I could see a doctor get reasonably priced prescriptions and keep it moving. We also have small children whom we have to care for. Look I get why this was needed but you guys are screwing over people who are barely making it. On paper we look as if we can afford this but on paper isn’t reality. My gross isn’t what I live off of and you people don’t take into account the extra expenses most of us have to burden thanks to other regulations you all have put in place, like mandatory car insurance which I have yet to use but also eats up hundreds of dollar per month. We cant survive like this. You are feeing us to death literally. By the way I have voted democratically all my life but this sucks big time.
mary macqueen
My husband had two intracerebral brain bleeds , a stroke and organ failure. He was blinded at first. In NY we got Medicaid based on income and his health. We lost our home and came down south to NC. He is not eligible here at all. We do not have child in household. The market place wants 100 percent of our income to cover him. He will die without his medication. I would gladly go back up north on welfare to keep him alive. He has worked his entire life and in NC they will let him die. I am just so beside myself I don’t know what to do. So yes I read your post because I was looking to see if what is happening to us could be possible in our country.
Teresa Smith
BCBS OF NORTH CAROLINAJUST sent me a letter that my $550 mo policy will no longer exist and I will have ACT with similar benefits with premind of $1,500 mo. 300% increase! Really!
Katrina Mintz
ACA was a true blessing the first couple of years. I am a cancer survivor and a premium of $5200 per month for a family of 3 was unaffordable in 2008 when my husband lost his public job. Our premium started at about $389 for 3 and that’s less than the employer coverage we had with a public job. We now pay $683 for a great plan through Alliant Solocare. $400 per person deductible and $800 out of pocket but they are leaving our county. Ambetter is the only ACA left and this insurance was a scam. We had them last year for 9 months and they refused to pay for medication on their list and doctors laughed at the thought of accepting them. I will not have insurance next year as the insurance commissioner in Georgia knows this is a joke for an insurance company. I believe the ACA was started with good intentions but greed has taken over. I will have to do without insurance next year in order to pay for my medication because I need it. It’s a shame the greedy bad apples ruined what was once a blessing. I understand the complaints on here but please understand there are those like me that will be priced out of the market due to pre-existing conditions and I do pay thousands in taxes every year. I’m grateful for the medical care I have received this year but ACA should take a good look at what’s left on the exchange, especially in rural areas. As great as my insurance is, my deductible for out of network is $20,000 so if I have a heart attack or am in a terrible accident, I will have to risk my life to get to a hospital my insurance takes or put my family in financial ruin. Hoping for a solution. I agree able bodied folks that don’t work should not be extended Medicaid. I hope we can all come together for a solution. I don’t want my fellow Americans to suffer financially and I hope you don’t disregard me because I had cancer years ago.
C Gray
Yes, go a head and try and use that silver plan. You can expect to pay 2200 in deductibles before it will cover half of your prescription cost. I pay 3600 a year for my coverage then 2200 in deductibles. I just tried to fill my script that used to cost 50 dollars when I had a job now paying out of pocket for insurance I have to pay 365 dollars. The only one who benefited from forced insurance is the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies. Oh and the law makers who’s pockets they fill.
ObamaCareFacts.com
Indeed, out-of-pocket costs and deductibles can be a real obstacle for actually getting care. To be as clear as possible, we don’t deny that this is a problem and a very real consideration. It is vital we all understand that this is an issue the next time congress starts talking about healthcare reform. This issue is something that exists despite the Affordable Care Act in many ways, rather than because of it.
Bob
I should not be forced to have health insurance unless I want it. I’m young and healthy never get sick or have broken a bone. I do not qualify for any help. So I have just paided the fine. I would rather spend my money on other things that I want or need. And health insurance is not one of those things
John
I’m with you man! How much more are we going to take?! Gimme a break!!! Forced insurance that is impossible to afford! Funk Obamacare and ALL of the Politicians who abuse this country every single day!
Destinee
I AGREE. The income limits are ridiculous. A family taking home 55,000 a year is forced to in apartments, and live poorly. While you are next door to a 25,000 a year family being fed (ebt) , given free health care, thousands in tax returns, etc. Why would both parents try to work and provide for thier families anymore? It’s to end middle class we know it but do not want to admit it.
m
Sounds like what always happens when a socialist/Communist agenda takes over the running of a country. Why bother working when you can get everything free.
Obama destroyed a healthcare system that took more than 50 years to create. The wheel did not have to be rebuilt from the ground up a little tweaking would have fixed those areas that made it difficult for a small minority of people to obtain coverage.
The country was forced to accept a healthcare system that they knew nothing about. Would you buy a car without first reading the fine print in the contract.
Shame on the Democrats for ruining healthcare and shame on the Democrats for trying to jam a Democratic autocracy down the throats of Americans.
Get rid of Obama care and lets get back to the best health system the world has ever seen
Cathy Gemkow
I am so upset! my husband and I live on a fixed income. He is now trying to make money to pay for our health care. Its almost as much as our mortgage payment!. Who the hell has $1400.00 a month for two people to have health care! the deductible is now $ 2700.00 a year! rich no! he is so upset over trying to pay for this and we are fighting. After being married almost 30 years this is breaking my heart. This was something we never believe would happen to us in our older age! I am heart broken
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James and Brenda Barrs
They were going to charge my husband and myself almost $900.00 for insurance and there is no way we could afford that yet they want to charge a huge fine for not being able to afford the insurance and that is not fair because if we could afford that fine we would be able to get insurance
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Neal
When ACA (Obama care) became law the first thing my wifes employer did was reduce ALL employees to 30 hours a week and eliminate the company provided health insurance. This was a 25% loss of income for my wife plus we had to add her to my employer health plan and pay the premium as my employer only pays 50% of the employees coverage.
Over the years since the rates have doubled and tripled and the deductible and co pays have increased.
Now we pay out of pocket $1200 a month. This is equal to our mortgage payment. The worst part is I can no longer afford to use it because the deductibles and co pays are so high.
MRI was $50.00 now $575. CT scan was $50 now $475, physical therapy was $50 now $400. ETC
Retirement savings, no more. Now use that money to pay for health insurance coverage. I’m so happy that millions have insurance but if they are like me what is the pint if they cant afford to use it.
Terri
I feel sorry for you and agree with your thoughts on this matter…My insurance is crap and cost so much and covers no meds until you meet your high deductible I needed a procedure done at the hospital I was sent a letter from the hospital wanting they’re 20% and any deductible I still owed which would have been over $6,000 course I had to cancel the procedure I can’t afford this insurance but have to pay it and can’t afford to use it
Bruce D Heacock
I gross $18,000, take home around $15,500. I’m supposed to shell out $125/month for “coverage” with a $6,000 deductible? That’s absolutely absurd.
“Oh you can’t afford $125/month? Pay a fat $695 penalty on your taxes.”
F you. This Is a perfect example of a crooked government policy working only for special-interests, the wealthy, and the extremely poor. I haven’t been to a doctor in more than 5 years. F you. Pay $125 a month to still be F’d to the tune of $6,000 if I DO incur major medical expenses? F you.
Explain to me why the richest country in the history of the world can’t afford socialized medicine?
Too many people make too much F’ing money from this broken system, that’s why.
F you.
ObamaCareFacts.com
Always refreshing to see anger paired with a call for a better system and not just political fury and quips about deregulation. Takes all kinds to make a world, but I truly expected more responses like this from independents concerned more with costs than politics.
Let’s push for a public option! This is something we could really get, everyone from Burr, Upton, Hatch to Bernie to Obama support a version of it. Heck, Pence’s Medicaid is almost this. We can’t make this happen. https://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-and-the-public-option/
Doc Rock
So here we are, finally coming to the end of this disaster, yet you still have the myopic viewpoint to defend Obamacare. Every cloud has a silver lining. The disconnect of Obamacare supporters , their stubborn posturing, their utter contempt along with the sugar coating of the spin doctors delivered our new President. I can’t thank you enough for your stupidity. No more mandates, no more outrageous premiums and deductibles, cheaper plans that will allow the people to cherry pick a policy that suites them….ahhhh what a breath of fresh air to be free from the demogogues who shoved Obamacare down our throats. Happy ending for the hard working people of America!!
I knew this would happen, but not soon, thankyou to our new President Trump!!!!
ObamaCareFacts.com
You get though that what you say is like exactly what you accuse me of, just the right-wing version.
Look, it is 1,000 page law, lots going on. Mandate system is one of three options known to man on how to universal healthcare.
If Trump takes away the coverage of tens of millions to theoretically bring costs down for the middle class and it works, then that is half way there and half way further away.
What do you want? Take a balanced view, or listen to me take the other side. I don’t suppose you support a public option, or single payer, or…
Actually, here is a question: “what do you support” We know what you don’t like “bummer care”, but what is that you like now that the opposition has lost and people need real answers? I haven’t seen the GOP plan, but maybe you have ideas.
doc rock
So let me get what you are saying. You feel I am just as blind. You make it a left vs right issue. Maybe true to some degree, but I am not so political. My issue, (our issue- the many folks on this blog) is the right to have freedom of choice. We don’t what you, or some Ivory tower elite mandating what we need to buy. Secondly we want to pay a reasonable fee for health insurance. We never experienced deductibles so high that in effect “Bummercare” (by the way that was a good one) became very expensive ” catastrophic coverage in disguise” for the middle class. I prefer a system where the consumer has many different options available. I desire change in the balance of power. Insurance companies are way too powerful. Profit motive trumps quality of care motive. I am no expert. I do not think 1000s of pages of rules and regulation serves the public. It serves to confuse and convolute the issues. I am for a system that has clarity of pricing, allowing what a market and competition will bear in determining pricing. I want a system where the consumer will have some financial responsibility that drives them shop for the best value and service. No more going to the doctor or the hospital with the mind set of not caring what it costs as insurance will pay it. I would like a system of clarity without insurance,co insurance , deductibles, bla bla bla …. words that confuse the average consumer. Simplify… have 80/20 70/30 60/40 50/50 type plans , and that is all the time i have to spend on this. Finally , don’t be such a sore loser
Roderick Wright
I know some of you just trying to help by giving Alternatives and everything else to jump through but the plane sad fact is we shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to say we don’t want Healthcare I’m not going to go through some obscure website somewhere that makes me go through 10 million customer service related issues and questions and and what not I shouldn’t have to do that. and that’s the bottom line I’m not looking for Grants or anything else along that line. time is also a valuable commodity. I don’t have the time and I shouldn’t have to make the time either. It’s freedom of choice if I don’t want it then I’m not going to have it. So all you folks who put out those large winded paragraph about how you can get this money over there and that money over there just shove off. y’all probably work for the Obama Administration anyway.
Ash
I shouldn’t be FORCED to have healthcare, especially if i cannot afford it. And it’s even more bullcrap that I have to a pay a fine out of MY taxes towards the government because I can’t afford it.
Luis
I worked for a private school all the teachers have insurance but me .I’m a private security hired by them s pacific is a re li just school .work full time.plus .I rent a furnish room pay car isurens.I always eat out do need to get another job with medical insurans.
Squirrel!
I was quoted $570/month at the ACA site. I am a freelancer (not by choice), I do engineering work in AZ, but I have to do contract work because companies dont want to hire Americans full time, the would rather hire H1B visa and GREENCARD workers. I am so sick of that GLOBALIST OBAMA ! I am glad he is gone, I was not put on this earth to pay for eveyone elses medical care. There people who pay $100/ month for them and there kid. DONT HAVE KIDS IF YOU CANT AFFORD THEM ! Better yet, in this case, lets get rid ofbthe insurance companies all together, they only add inflation to the medical system, they are parasites.
Melinda Hamrick
I was forced to get Obamacare cause i would get fined when i filed taxes now they took all my taxes i make 27000 a year i look forward to tax time paid it all in for them to take all of it i get 200 how is this fair i would have been better off paying the fine at least i would have got more back so now i cannot catch up my bills now this is heartbreaking and wrong i sure hope Trump can fix this cause its unfair and why are we told to do something we can’t afford to do. i work hard to so i can catch a break now i don’t know what i am gonna, plus all these people getting free insurance and they get 1000″s of dollars back on taxes it’s just wrong
Margarita
Obamacare is a disaster, and I strongly believe , that D.Trump has to stop to force American people to buy an health insurance ,and removed the penalty fees.I believe we are free to make our own desision and choose what is best for us in our life. Former president Obama does not have a right to make desision for my family and me to force us to buy an health insurance.We are free to make our choice.
Mark
I am counting on my return to get caught up on bills and to survive! Way to kick a man while he’s down. Hell let me use the tax return to get insurance for 2017 not just fine me so some alcoholic drug addict can get free healthcare. 2016 has been a struggle and now I got to pay $500+. I did see something about if you got a ultilty shutoff notice you can be exempt, I got a shutoff notice almost every month last year with shutoffs, wtf they expect me to do just pay the obamacare payment and go to the hospital (they have lights and ac/ heat.) Bunch of communist BS. I haven’t been to doctor once for 2016 why do I have to pay for everyone else I thought thats what my taxes already are for! And no I don’t have cable or a expensive phone bill, yes I need a phone for work and life, guess you should get on welfare and get a free obama cell phone. I’m so glad he’s out of office. Spread the wealth around my A**, what wealth?! I didn’t even make 25k in 2016.
Zoomzoom
Obamacare is a joke, it has always been to make the rich richer, never to help hard working Americans, if we were worried for our lives we would take precautions or enroll in some health insurance ….. tell one of those greedy government officials that passed this law to work for a living and barely make it for their family, then to get penalized at the end of the year is complete horse shit… life insurance is not mandatory, car insurance is mandatory but we are not penalized, home owners insurance is not mandatory , and not to mention some refuse the chemicals doctors give you when most of their antibiotics can also be replaced with home remedies safe for your body….. yet Obama wants it to be mandatory to benifit the upper class,,…,, the American people should have a choice in this free country if they want health insurance or not, some people that refuse doctors should not be required to carry it and then a penalty for not having it. I couldn’t be happier with donald trump as my president !!!
God bless this country
look at our debt clock and stop partying in the White House. Vote against Obamacare
Diana
I was denied obama care i was willing to pay for y coverage thru obama care but that was not an option. So for the past 2 years i have paid a penalty for not having coverage. I tried to get insurance thru all kinds of companies but the premium was to high for me to afford due to my age. Unfair
Peads
I am 62 single white female 6 years out of bankruptcy., Living in Phoenix Az.. Bank of America relieved me of my home of 22 years during the Great Deception oh I mean Great recession. Hard time finding work, because I’m old now. Work 40+ hours a week just now
with a raise to $11.00 an hour. Living in an apartment that is the cheapest that I can find,
and still can’t afford it. Don’t use heat or air can’t afford it. I don’t want Health insurance I need health care. I can either save money to (on the rare occasion) get health care or pay monthly premiums cut back on groceries, and NEVER have any health services .And have the great good fortune to pay my penalties, because I am poor. Is this still America, or am I just having a nightmare?
Austin Morgan
“We are the only major country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee health care to all people as a right.”
-Bernie Sanders
Alice
I simply cannot afford health insurance. What should I do, pay my rent or health insurance, should I pay my utilities or pay health insurance, should I pay for groceries or pay health insurance, And If I cannot afford health insurance why in the world would I penalized. I am born and raised in this country and feel like I am being penalized because of it.
On another note, I’d like to know where I can sign up to become an illegal, because they have more rights than I do, the government is more concerned about the foreigners in this country than the hard working citizens that are born and raised here. Its a disgrace.
Thomas Jefferson Hutchinson
I am still in sticker shock. My wife decided to get insurance through her place of employment, costing her approximately $1700 per month. We’ve tried to use it but we’re told we don’t have it. This is month three of paying for it but still cant use it. We’d be better off investing the money in stock in the medical industry. Not to mention the alternative plans(Obamacare) with deductibles so high, it would have to be an extreme dismemberment to ever have the insurance kick in and this is after she told them to drop the plan at work but just was informed they took out another 600 + dollars.
No point in trying anymore
There is NO REASON to have a THIRD PARTY PAYOR – there is NO LEGITIMATE reason to PAY SOMEONE ELSE to pay your doctor (or other healthcare provider).
Health insurance is supposed to defray the cost of healthcare – yet THEY are the ones who determine what the costs are (it’s called a fee schedule, and it’s set by the INSURANCE COMPANY, not the doctor or healthcare provider). Insurance for things like catastrophic and/or critical illness makes sense – having insurance for routine or preventative care is RIDICULOUS and UNNECESSARY. Think about how much money you would throw away if auto insurance and home insurance were the same way – you buy auto insurance for the big stuff, but you don’t pay your insurance company to pay for all the small repairs and/or maintenance done along the way.
Health insurance as it currently exists is an IMPEDIMENT to the delivery of quality healthcare – it hurts patients and healthcare providers alike. There is NO BENEFIT to having health insurance. And it’s a DISGRACE that people are mandated to support this – an absolute disgrace!!!!!
Health insurance is NOT synonymous with access to actual healthcare – and anyone who thinks that it is IS PART OF THE PROBLEM. PERIOD.
No incentive to be part of the working class anymore with this as it is – better to just drop out of the work force and just apply for medicaid since you can never get ahead anyway.
aaron
My work offers insurance,but since the not so affordable care law,my wife and son lost their Medicaid,now the only option for us is for me too pay $200 a WEEK,yes I said $200 a WEEK,now factor in that I make $12 hr plus lots of overtime,I would bring home every week is a little over 300,I’m the only person that works. Now I received a letter saying that a unconstitutional law is gonna force me to pay a 2200 fine,so people that don’t work and live on the government teet get free coverage,but the coverage we did have got removed due to this law,says I make too much money,I strongly disagree with that.
I didn’t even mention the $6000 deductible I’d have to come up with.
is there any way I can avoid the penalty,and why if the average working person is forced to buy this crap,why isn’t the corrupt government officials forced to follow the laws they makeup to line their pockets
Pat
We live in a free country, excuse me we used to live in a free country where if you wanted something you bought it. I live my life the way I want to, I buy the stuff I want when I want it. I know what I can afford and when I can afford it. I work my a** off so my family can do the things we do and have the things we have. And now I am forced to spend money on something I don’t want, and if I don’t purchase I get a fine. The dirtbag criminals don’t even get fines this high, you can get an open container and pay 125$. And no one knows what each individual can afford, some people lead different lives, they have and want different things. Just because you make a certain amount does not mean you can afford insurance, not one of them people in wAshington has a clue,they take an average and then figure all the dead beats that refuse to work and stick it to us the working class that builds this country. The jacka**es in DC sit back and watch us struggle as long as there lifestyle doesn’t change they don’t care. I have not had insurance and I WILL NOT GET until it is my choice.
Mario
This is why the Democratic Party will lose again and again they no longer represent the working class of America
They are not in touch with realty
They need to investigate all the fraud and fake welfare and SSI that they give people our tax dollars go the the scams of this country
My new health care insurance bill is %40 of my income and I can’t write off dental and the deductible
I will not pay for the freeloading of this country
Brandi
I believe you. I remain married to my estranged husband because there is no way I could pay for health insurance for me and my son (who has Autism). I looked into getting a policy for my child and I so he could be the therapy he needed. The only plan I could afford the premiums for (around 300.00 month) had a deductible of 10,000 before we got ANYTHING from our plan. I couldn’t even wrap my head around that! Who are the people who are crying that they will lose their coverage if Obamacare is repealed? What coverage? I’m being completely serious. Who are these people???
Jerry
Back in 2014 I been looking for job until I found one. I was force to get a healthcare because of 2015 fees for not having one. I got pay weekly base average $350 a week. The healthcare premium prices for be back them for me was $680 a month which was too much for me to the point that cause me to get deep depression. At first, it was okay for 4 months but later in 2015, it has been hurting me ever since so I have done job jumping. Going for one job to the next until I find a job that have their own insurance. I hate paying bills over $100 because I have enough bills to pay for myself. Obamacare only showing me their plans to pay average $650 a month which I hate and in my new job, I get pay average of $280 a week part time. I spent $90 for gas a week, $150 electric a month, $50 water, $350 a month for food to feed 8 people, and $100 for car insurances. I hate obamacare and their prices set. Well, my part time job is the best since I only get to pay $75 a month vs obamacare $650 a month because I choose cheap over death. I don’t use health insurance and never will. I know some people need it and some people don’t. I know I don’t need it since it has been hurting me ever since back in 2014-2015. Years in 2016 is the best year for me to find something under $100 and something that I will never going to use. That is the fact for me. I’ll never going to use it and never will. Plus, I don’t really care about getting a part time job just to get a company health insurance. All I did was get a part time job company health insurance just to avoid to pay a fees of not owning one. If I have to pick owning health insurance or death, I choose death. If I have to pick owning health insurance or foods, I choose foods. If I have to choose owning insurance or family, I choose family. Me and my family have their own health insurance which we all never use and it is cheap that way plus just because we live in one house, we don’t share our money to each other. We don’t combine our money to pay our own bills. We pay our own car insurance bills and useless health insurance. Everything else like foods, electric, and water bills, we take turn paying it per week. I always ending up having $80-$150 for myself. Here is a fun facts, more people are getting poor because of obamacare and have to lost their house because of it ending up living with their parents or shelter. One of my friends ended up living with their parents because of this. Hopefully, someone fix this system because it has been broken for a while or we all might have deep depression again.
M.
As I was scrolling and reading and agreeing and disagreeing mentally with all the folks texting in I came across a note from May 24.
This actually happened to me! I was filling out the forms for my granddaughter who lives with us. I chose not to put a race. All of a sudden I could not advance to the next form. I had to get out of online service and start over.
Question for fact thing:
How are the funds distributed that are collected in premiums, deductibles, and fines?
ObamaCareFacts.com
The question seems simply but involves explaining the Fed, Treasury, fiscal policy, monetary policy, etc. Generally, tax payments go to the IRS (part of the treasury) and that pays down the debt / helps fund Congressional spending. For tax credits, money goes to insurers after spending is approved by congress.
Mike
I will define poor for you in REAL terms. Poor is not eating 1 or 2 days a week because of fines or costs levied upon us for something we have no choice. Poor is not being able to have a car to work at a decent job because of obamacare. Poor is not going to the doctor because we cant pay the fines or copays or anything else. Poor is the absurd reasoning behind min wage. Poor is waiting all year for a refund to play catch up and then having the government take it because we have no choice. Pooor is poor and if your poor you know what this means if your not then you will just have false reasoning to defend an unjust law that was pushed through without the peoples consent.
ObamaCareFacts.com
I agree with the first part about poor. Disagree about the last point about the law.
Medicaid was expanded to provide a safety net for all our nation’s poorest making under 138% of the poverty level. If you can only eat a few days a week, then you are probably in this income bracket. In this case the ACA and income taxes cost you between zero and getting money back.
If you make more, you have cost assistance.
If you make more, you can be in a tough place (the place I know many readers are in). At this point, you can eat, but you can’t afford a $7,000 deductible after all costs and debts. I 100% get this group and want to help reform the law to help them… but I feel like you are mixing together a few points here.
We can’t throw out all the good the ACA did in an effort to reform. Lets fix what isn’t working and drop the political games.
Ronnie
Medicaid did not expand in all states as it was laid out in the plan. I live in one of them. The year we had Marketplace coverage we ended up having to pay back because one of us got a job after 6 months unemployed and the income was tallied up retroactively yearly at tax time. unflexible to peoples changing lives. this year we decided not to have coverage and are paying out $1400 of our $2300 refund back to the gov. the lowest bronze plan for our area is $700 amonth with an $11000 deductible. We made jointly 42000. Affordable health coverage yes, but you can not afford to use it. Sell me a $700 car and charge me $11000 at the pump see how far i get. we were turned down for medicaid. we did not fall under the exemptions listed with the marketplace site. We would have been better off with National Health care, put that $15 billion tax payer dollars into the health care system not the insurance industry. If we used tax benefit the government would have paid $7176 for a medical plan I could not afford to use. By choosing not to have insurance I saved the gov. that money and had to pay a $1400 penalty for saving taxpayer money. Even if I used that plan we would have paid $80 a month in premiums. I don’t know about you but I can’t see paying $80 a month for something I can’t use or does not benefit me in any way. It is not improving medical technology, it is not keeping me healthy, only broke. There is Zero positive aspects of this plan. Even my Doctors are not happy with it, because their patients can’t afford to come see them. And those that do I’m being told the runaround they have to get claims filed is the worst it has ever been, Especially those that do have medicaid. My daughter was able to get the peachcare in our state (not quite medicaid but very low premiums because of medicaid -little confusing) and half of her visits we are getting bills for because they won’t pay the provider.
Sam Feguson
It is sad that most people in this country do not know what is really happening here. While most of you seemed to have financial difficulties, immigrants or foreign-born citizens get the most of what this country has to offer. These people have close family ties as part of their CULTURE. As such, it is normal for them to live under one roof even some members of their family are already married and have children of their own. Their parents always live with them. In 1 household, there is just 1 person working; the rest are on government assistance. Note: living in 1 household easily qualify the parents or other non-working relatives to obtain government assistance. How do they do it? After petitioning his relatives, he will wait 5 years for the relatives to become citizens. Once they gained citizenship, he will put them on government assistance—SSI, Medicaid, Food Stamps, etc. This is not only true to poor families but to rich families as well. How do I know it? I’m a foreign-born myself and I work in immigration
Julie Cooke
I am so frustrated with this mess. My husband has insurance through his employer but it is too expensive for me to get on that plan. With Obamacare(not) my premium would be 600. per month. We can’t even afford that. We are middle class 60K a year and are basically living paycheck to paycheck. He can’t claim me on our taxes, I am unemployed, yet he gets nailed w/the penalty. This is so wrong. Our other option is to get divorced and then I would qualify for Wa.state apple med. What does this say about our country while these fat cats in Wa. have the best ins. and don’t pay a dime?
Nissa
My kids, husband and I pay 1,245 a month for high deductable medical insurance. Who can afford that ??
Michael Nunley
I agree, I work hard for the little money I have while I see others living off the government st my expense. My taxes are supposed to help improve my life, not pay for excuse after excuse. Welfare is out of control and it looks like there’s no end in sight of the welfare train. I don’t get food stamps because I make a few dollars over the limit, and only a few. I can’t afford insurance because Obamacare rates are more than any insurance I ever checked into. Now I don’t get a chance tax return because it pays for “unfortunate” people. What about my health? Thank god I’m not sick and pray I don’t get sick. Even with this so called insurance i couldn’t use it because the deductible would bankrupt me. Meanwhile the insurance companies take in the money. I could get better care in 1950 Soviet Union. On the other side of the coin the medical industry wants to shove dangerous and overpriced narcotics down my throat and run unnecessary tests that inflate their bill. Now with Obamacare forcing me to give up what little money I got at years end I get to pay for their equipment and give them and insurance companies subsidies that are illegal. I wonder what Obama got in this deal. This is one of the greatest robberies in history. Is anybody going to be held accountable for it? Meanwhile I starve because companies won’t hire and cut hours so they don’t have to pay for insurance. I don’t blame them, many smaller ones simply can’t and big ones don’t want to lower that profit margin. Why should my employer be responsible for my health off the job. We need something that works and doesn’t punish people for trying to work and have an honest living. I didn’t ask for obama help and I don’t want it. I was fine before this mess was forced on us. I hope the best for this country but I don’t see a bright future. We won’t be here much longer if we keep allowing this kind of leadership.
Erin
You have made a lot of good points in your comment, but you also said “Obamacare rates are more than any insurance I ever checked into”. Obamacare is not an insurance plan, it is a law that regulates all insurance plans. The insurance rates found on the Marketplaces are set by the insurers and those insures offer those same plans off the Marketplace (though they offer more plans that don’t count as minimal essential coverage outside of the Marketplace too). People often seem to confuse the law regulating insurance (the Affordable Care Act/aka Obamacare) with the private insurers who are offering plans through the Marketplace created by the law and that simply isn’t accurate. Insurers have lots of rules under the law, but they are still responsible for setting their own premium rates.
Jcdew67
I am unemployed and take care of my parents. I do not get ANY healthcare,my state didn’t expand Medicaid so at least you have a income.
N. Spencer
I run a small business and just got a my first premium notification for health Obama’s “affordable” health care for 2017. The premiums are $1,168.20 PER MONTH which is OVER 100% of what I paid last year! When I called The Marketplace, the Market place couldn’t give ANY information on our coverage, and couldnt direct us to anyone who could, but only said that our policy would be sent to us AFTER we paid our premiums. WTF? Obama care is nothing but a pyramid scheme of widespread insurance fraud with the system is so gridlocked in confusion and unaccountability, and with insurance FRAUD buried so deep, no one one can find it or prosecute the offenders. And remember… Just because you have a health care PLAN, doesn’ t actually mean you can get health CARE.
Erin
You need to contact your insurer to find out information about why your premium has gone up. The marketplace is only a platform for insurers to sell their plans and people who are eligible for cost assistance to receive it. They have no direct control over the prices insurers choose to charge or the benefits they offer. When you insurer raises you rate, you may want to shop around for a different insurer who is charging less, but rapidly increasing premiums is a problem in many regions around the country and the ACA clearly didn’t do enough to address this. However, because of the ACA the insurers are required to disclose and justify rate hikes of over 10% and they must use 80% of the money from premiums to pay actual claims (or return money to those enrolled). That clearly hasn’t been enough to reduce the rising costs, but prior to ACA insurers had no regulations at all with regards to premium rate hikes and premiums actually went up at a faster rate (average for the whole country) in the 10 years prior to the ACA, then they have since. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of data about how fast deductibles rose prior to the ACA, but those have clearly risen a lot in the last 5 years which is compounding the problem. I hope that you are able to find insurance that is actually affordable for you you, but if not, you may qualify for an affordability or hardship exemption from the requirement to have insurance or pay a fee. It wouldn’t get you coverage, but you’d be able to use the money you save to either pay for medical care out-of-pocket or get a catastrophic health insurance plan (which usually has much lower premiums and would ensure you have coverage in the worst-case-scenario).
Lucia
I also cannot afford Obamacare nor do I qualify for Medicaid. I had a full time job up until August of 2016, and have little to no income to claim for the remainder of the year. I made under $30,000 during the time I was working, which is too much…. So regardless of having no money now, I am going to be penalized financially for being financially inadequate. How does this make sense???
Erin
That is frustrating. The fee for not having insurance is per month not covered and everyone gets a 3-month coverage gap exemption (but if you go over 3 months, you are responsible for the fee for all the months not covered). If your employer insurance went into September (even by 1 day) then you are fine and you will not owe the fee for 2016. If not, then I suggest you go to healthcare.gov and apply for a hardship exemption. There’s no way to know if you’ll be approved for that exemption, but Trump’s recent executive order told HHS to “grant exemptions from” taxes and regulation within their control. That includes hardship exemptions. For 2017, if your state expanded Medicaid and your projected to have no income for the year, you’ll qualify for Medicaid. If your state hasn’t expanded Medicaid, it’s a bit tougher, but you can get an exemption from the fee by simply applying for Medicaid and getting denied. Just keep the Medicaid denial letter in case you ever get audited. You’ll need to be able to project 100% of the Federal Poverty Level for the year in order to be eligible for cost assistance on the Marketplace in 2017 and the open enrollment period has closed… so even then, you may not be able to sign up without an event qualifying you for Special Enrollment period. If your income is below the filing threshold in 2017, you’re automatically exempt from owing the fee for not having insurance. I know that is a lot of information and doesn’t necessarily solve all of your financial frustrations with the law, but I hope it helps you some.
Heidi
Obamacare takes half my paycheck. I *HAVE* to pay out for the insurance. It’s the law now. However, I can’t afford my bills or rent. I work full time at an “okay”wage. I do not qualify for Medicaid. Yet I cannot afford the basics of living. This is Twisted. My son needs minor surgery. Should I work only PART TIME so that I can qualify for Medicaid for my children? It almost makes more sense since I don’t get to keep my hard earned money right now anyway, an pay so much towards health insurance. NOT HAPPY.
Erin
If the cheapest plan you are eligible for is more than 8.13% of your income, you will qualify for an exemption from the Mandate to have health insurance or pay a fee. You must apply for that through healthcare.gov. Depending on your income your son may qualify for CHIP (Medicaid for children) even if you don’t. States income egibility for CHIP varies a little, but it’s higher than the limit for non-disabled adults (some offer it up to 200% FPL) and being offered employer sponsored coverage isn’t disqualifying in itself, its based on income. CHIP was around before the ACA and it didn’t change under the ACA except that now that people are required to have insurance, more people have discovered that they can get CHIP coverage for their kids (many are still unaware).
linda
I can’t afford health insurance so I’m paying the penalty I get paid every two weeks my husband don’t work and gets a whopping 103.00 dollars pension once I pay my bills i have hardly anything left to live on i don’t understand why I can’t get medicaid maybe I should lie like other people do to get it or have a bunch of kids I work hard and have to struggle to pay for other people I’m tired of it
E man
I’m a single homeowner.
I can’t afford health care. Thank god I havent had any real issues in my life.
Now with Obama care they are hurting me more by penalizing me 200.00 the first yr I didn’t enroll in a plan. 900.00 last yr. Looks ike no end in site. Ill probably lose my house because of obama care and what my elected politicions have done with this country They just want the hard working healthy middle class people to pay for all the lazy unemployed and and crooked immigrant job stealers in the country.
Thanks alot.
Mary K Eckert
Hi I work making 7.80 an hour but I do do as much overtime as I can cause there are nine of us in the house. I am the only one working my one daughter is on ssi and my other daughter has 3 children and one due in march. Anyway I was getting Medicaid for my insurance and I do have health issues. Anyway Medicaid just kicked me off gave me 1 week before it ended to try to scramble and get my meds before I lost it. Anyway my job don’t offer insurance and I even applied to hipp which is a program through welfare to help pay for insurance but my job has none. Medicaid is saying I make too much even though I’m in debt with all my bills!! So I called obamacare and they say I don’t make enough so my big question what do I do now? I don’t even make near enough in a month to pay for insurance outright!!! My whole family is on Medicaid but because I’m working I lost my insurance but who do they think is taking care of them? If I don’t get my meds soon I will get sick and wind up losing my job and will be back applying for welfare!!! You think they would help me!! I’m just wondering where do I get insurance at?
Ace
Sorry to hear that 🙁 I honestly think that your best bet right now is to start a fundraiser on a crowdfunding site to help you pay the medical bills; I don’t think you will be able to afford insurance from the Marketplace- last time I tried to get it, they wanted like $ 600 per month, while our combined income is less than $ 2000. Good luck!
Danny
I am self employed and I make 130,000.00 per year. Before obamacare I was able to put a little money into a personal savings account for me to retire one day. I know that it seems that 130k is a lot of money but by the time i pay my house note , home and car insurance and feed my family there is not a whole lot of money left… remember uncle sam takes 35k of that Gross in taxes. Before obamacare I was paying 650 per month to blue cross, it then jumped to 900 per month and now it is 1450 per month.. AND THE POLICY SUCKS!. I am now losing money out of my savings account every month and it seems I will have to sell my home (by the way my health insurance premiums are higher than my house note) to be able to afford health insurance. It seems the gov. is trying to break me and make me rely on them and vote democrat ( that will never happen lol) Is there anything that I can do to make my premiums affordable ? like maybe 700 per month?
Steve Woz
I understand your position. I am pretty much in the same boat, and I agree 200% with you. My premiums doubled from 2 years ago, and the more we go, the more I pay, the less I get.
Me on my wife are making together $66k/year (gross) ($64K is the maximum to get deductions, so we are screwed) – Remove the taxes, and we take home about $50k. I am 52, she is 51, We do not smoke or drink.
I do not consider myself living an “extravagant” life, but rather a simple one. I have my own little business, and I haven’t taken any vacations in 7 years.
So lets do some very basic maths here (those are give or take numbers, but I am close):
– Mortgage (+ ins + prop taxes) : $18000.00/ year
– Vehicles (2) – Nothing fancy (incl Insurance): 9000.00/year
– Gas (for car): $1400.00/year
– House Amenities (Water, Electrical etc…): $4500.00
– Internet and TV: $1600/year
– Food+Necessary stuff for house: 9000/year (750/month)
– Cel phone: $1500.00/year
This adds up to 45K leaving us about $400.00 of “pocket money” per month.
The newly “increased” plans for me and my wife would cost $890.00/month (and that is one of the worst even seen plan, from a company I’ve never heard of)
Here is what I would get with the “magnificent” plan:
1. My “out of pocket” would be $14300.00
2. They “estimated” my total yearly costs $11,481
3. Emergency room care: 50% Coinsurance after deductible
4. Generic drugs: $35
5. Primary doctor: $45 Copay before deductible/50% Coinsurance after deductible
6. Specialist doctor: 50% Coinsurance after deductible
Wonderful ain’t it. Basically, I will simply throw out of the window 12K”. How the heck am I going to pay that????
Morality of the story… I am skipping Obamacare and they will fine me 3% the following year. Am good with that. At this point, this is utterly ridiculous. If this was “so beneficial” to people, why is there a Law to enforce it and to force people to take insurance (or else…). Who are those people in the Government to tell us what is best for us… Where are we? In 1960 Russia?
Here are also “some amusing” facts:
– Two years ago, I did get a neck MRI. I had no insurance and paid cash: $450.00.
– This year, I had to get another one (I had insurance this time). The MRI Facility charged the insurance $7200.00 for that SAME EXACT MRI, and I add to pay:
– $75.00 Specialist Visit
– $250.00 co-pay for the MRI that the insurance charged me afterwards…
You do the maths, and I was paying almost $600.00/months in insurance for my wife and I.
If I had to go see a doctor because of whatever… my co-pay this year was $35.00/visit. (If I was to pay cash with no insurance for that same visit… $50.00)
Same for the Specialist. $75.00 with Insurance Co-Pay, or $100.00 in cash with no insurance.
Do you guys see where the problem is? On top of everything, we as guys, HAVE TO PAY FOR MATERNITY. WTF!!!!
So I have now 2 solutions in front of me:
– Solution 1: I just don’t take Obamacare and pay out of pocket, hoping for the best, and I will pay the fine at the end of the year
or.
– Solution 2: I close my little business, work off the books, and put myself on Medicaid ask for food stamps and I will be living better than the way I do currently.
Being a good citizen, I opt for solution 1.
This Obamacare is just a freaking Mess, and I prey for Donald J Trump to rectify that presto… because the way things are going… something is going to hit the fan. It cannot continue like this.
In conclusion: Let’s make America Great Again!!!!!!!!! and screw Obamacare!
ObamaCareFacts.com
To those that want a true fix, careful with the politics. The GOP replacement plan isn’t exactly going to help a situation like this… in fact, it could hurt.
If instead of praising Trump and decrying Obama, or vice versa, if we instead hold Trump and the GOP accountable, then we all win!
See:
https://obamacarefacts.com/the-continuous-coverage-exclusion-for-pre-existing-conditions/
https://obamacarefacts.com/2016/11/22/house-gop-better-way-plan-explained/
https://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-replacement-plan-facts/
We have to be careful to distinguish between “costs are high because Congress keeps giving handouts to healthcare companies” and “costs are high because the program needs a better design”.
bilbo baggins
Sounds like me.
Sharron Kilburn
My family has been screwed over by this online system. Obama care is a MESS. I was a manager at a fast food restaurant where we cut everyone’s hours to less than 30 a week so they didn’t have to pay insurance. . Forcing people to come on here and apply. Since some were single people with no dependants they didn’t qualify for Medicaid or any help..I had one employee fined for not having coverage. Me myself have lost my insurance twice because this apply to automated system thing.. you click the box saying to automatically hook mine up every time I need to recertify.. instead.. it means they can run my name as many times as they want to try and make it so I don’t qualify. They sent me a notice cancelling my insurance because “your income of 0.00$ is over the allowable income of 45,000. ” when I call to try and figure it out the lady argues for 20 minutes before admitting there is a glitch with my application system.. IT’S NEVER BEEN FIXED.. now I’ve recertified and it won’t go through. . . Oh and forget going to DSS for help.. this system has made it so they no longer need to talk to us low lives so they don’t help at all any more.. it’s sad.. this program has ruined America.. THIS USED TO BE THE LAND OF THE FREE.. WE ARE A LAND RULED BY THE RICH TYRANTS AND HAVE BEEN FOR YEARS.. THERE IS NO FREEDOM WHEN THE GOVERNMENT FORCES IT’S PEOPLE TO BUY THINGS THEY DON’T WANT AND CAN’T AFFORD ANYWAYS.. health insurance should be a RIGHT of the American people.. not something we buy and the government and big companies make profit off.
Cherra L
Greetings to You! I absolutely agree with you. It’s ridiculous. It’s like saying to a family, pay for this healthcare insurance and live in a tent, sleep in your car or be homeless, or the family choose to continue living in their home and not have insurance. Although they may want to have it or simply must have it, but just can not afford it. To add insult to injury. When it’s time to file your taxes, if you do not have the health care insurance. You get penalized $695.00. Keep in mind, the family is already having financial challenges. Who is this insurance program really designed for? Certainly not your low income families. Please put someone in office with common sense for the common man, woman and child. That would be great! Peace & Blessings!
Keith
Get this I just got off the phone with my preacher we are a small church so we can’t pay a lot. He just told me him and his wife’s BCBS in N.C. just went to $2,400.00 so they told her she needed to quit her job so they would qualify for more subsidies!! He told the adjuster they have bills to pay they both have to work or lose everything they have. He’s exhausted every option and they will be going without insurance and hoping to stay healthy until something id resolved. AND THEY WONDER WHY THEY LOST THE ELECTION!!! Oh and BCBS sent they bill out before the election.
Tracy Smith
I believe it is extortion!! Why would I pay $1493.00 a month to cover NOTHING until the deductible of $14,000.00 is paid and then it covers 40%!! Between my husband and I we only bring in $68,000 after taxes!! My mortgage payment is only $1050.00 a month. I can’t afford a second home that is much nicer than the one I live in!! This is NOT insurance! If something happens to us then we still go bankrupt with this policy!! Outrageous!! I’m for a single payer system. You shouldn’t have to go bankrupt for getting sick. Any system that profits off our health should be criminalized. No matter how you TRY and rationalize it, it’s killing the middle class and we just can’t afford it! The money is not there.
Darnell
What if we absolutely can not afford Obamacare
Douglas Adcock
Legalized extortion
s m
My wife and I do OK after many years of self improvement and hard work. Our insurance premiums for a family of 4 will be over $1000 a month. This is over 20% of our take home income. This does not include the $300 a month we are paying for last years deductible bills. Now we are going to start accumulating this year’s deductible bills. I’m a fine print guy, and I have run the numbers every which way – different plans, on exchange, through employer, etc. etc. We are screwed. I am seriously considering just not having insurance. It’s a choice between slow certain financial death or a random chance that something major will happen while we are uninsured – fast financial death. I’m still hopeful that we can increase our earnings enough that we can afford all that the government demands of us, but what is enough? Over the years, our income has steadily grown, but the money we see keeps going down. I see people all around us, people we know and love, friends and family, living off the government. These are good people, but the systems that our government has put in place, encourage them to not work – or work very little. I don’t blame them. They are playing it smart. They have more leisure time, more expendable income, more quality time with their kids, and better health and dental care than I do. I think we need to stop calling it redistribution of wealth. It is really redistribution of life. These government programs designed to “help the poor” have also encouraged, and in some cases, trapped good, capable people into a life of reliance on government handouts. These handouts come at the price of hard working people’s sacrifice. It’s not just money, it’s time, it’s children, it’s experiences, it’s opportunity, and it’s sacrifices we make to support ourselves while others reap the rewards.
On another note, while I disagree with almost everything obamacarefacts believes, I want to commend them on their civility and helpful attitude in the face of some very disparaging comments.
JJ Kelly
I am a 58 year old female, living in the state of Florida. In the past 18 months, my health insurance premiums went from $475 per month, and will now be over $1000 per month. Deductibles are higher, and prescription medication benefits are non-existent. I do not qualify for ObamaCare subsidies. $24,000 per year for basic coverage for myself and my spouse is patently ridiculous. Thank God in heaven the Democrats are on their way OUT. And they wonder why they lost the election – the middle class in America is being raped and pillaged by the self-defeating liberal agenda. (Bet ya don’t print this one!)
Virginia L. Wallace
I apparently make $300.00 too much on disability to be covered by medicaid. I had it and was cut off. Now I either buy something I DO NOT want. And I Can’t keep my Dr. I either eat, or pay for this crap.
Have a broken arm and cannot even get it fixed. What do I do?
Vanessa
Well, I’m just thinking here. My insurance was $260 p/m before the supposed AHCA came into being. Now it’s close to $600 p/m. My available drs are shrinking and my deductible has REALLY increased. I called in insurance company and they said there are subsidies available. I don’t want to take a subsidy to pay for something I didn’t ask for NOR did I vote for. I do not want to go on assistance of any kind! I pay taxes to help with welfare, infrastructure, education. I shouldn’t have money bleed from me AGAIN so someone else can have an ER visit, an abortion or anything else.
Since when did healthcare become a right????
Brenda
Obamacare has destroyed the middle class. My husband owns a small business and I am a physical therapist assistant and a registered nurse. We live in a very desolate area and jobs are difficult to obtain hence having the 2 college degrees. Since my husband owns a business it’s my responsibility to carry our family health insurance. Since Obamacare my insurance has become unaffordable. I pay 968 a month in premiums with a 12,700 deductible for a family. My paychecks are barely over 900 a month now; I don’t even make enough money to pay my deductible???!!! I have 1 child in daycare and another one to arrive in March, I have no idea how my family will pay the medical bill for my c-section and other care needed as everything else so far ( prenatal lab work and ultrasounds as well as Dopplers for heart rate have me already over 2,500!!!! Because these are diagnostics not prenatal care per insurance providers???? My husband and children cannot get a plan on the market place to see if it’s more affordable because we don’t qualify for a substidy as my employer offers insurance. We can’t even afford to put money in our savings now or retirement because of this. My husband and I are really considering a divorce to make health insurance affordable as we know a few people that have done this and it has helped them greatly financially. I’m also considering not working even though we can’t really afford it but I can’t afford to keep my job because of Obamacare. I’m so thankful that Obama is long gone as our president but it’s going to take years to clean up this mess he’s made and I can’t afford this any longer.
Kathy
I agree. I make less than $20000 per year. It would cost me! 140 per month for obamacare. It is more economically practical for me to pay the $625 penalty than to have health insurance, when I am a healthy person. Sad!
Gene Johnson
Yea It’s Nov 2016 and in Louisiana My wife is only working as I am trying to get disability for my back but in the mean time she making 30 k year gets us a 1435 dollar credit yet —the only insurance that will pay for mess costs me $ 980 math after the credit is applied .. Who can afford this? Everything else this year is you meet your deductible before copay for drugs and doctors kicks in yet the deductibles are$14,267 who can meet that? This should be labeled as a crime against the people .They knew this was going to occur.what good is gave insurance when you can’t get any help without paying half if what my wife earns per year????
Dianna
My husband and I have an MAGI of approximately $70,000. Based solely on that, we do not qualify for any type of healthcare subsidy. My husband is 60 and I am 57 and the least expensive Bronze plan available to us in 2017 would run $809 a month for both of us, or $9,708 for the year. That amount is more than $4,000 over the 8.13% of income tolerance for affordability. As a matter of fact, our $574 per month premium for 2016 totals more than the affordability tolerance amount by over $1,000. We simply cannot afford to pay over $800 a month for healthcare insurance; not to mention a $7,000 deductible for each of us if we ever had to use the insurance for anything other than routine primary care visits. It was sometimes a struggle to pay 2016 premiums. As I see it, we have a few options: 1) We forego health insurance altogether and pray nothing serious occurs, because we can’t pay tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills. Of course, we won’t know if a potentially serious illness might be averted, because we won’t have insurance and won’t be able to afford the cost of annual wellness screenings; 2) One of us gets health insurance and the other doesn’t, then we’re only half as much at risk as we would be if neither had insurance; or 3) We get a divorce after 34 years of marriage because separately we both qualify for some sort of subsidy and insurance for both would be around $500 a month. At least we do qualify for a healthcare exemption due to unaffordability. oBAM!acare indeed!
Des
It makes zero sense as a healthy single male to pay that much!!! I am 40 and have never ever been in the hospital so all I want and need is disaster coverage. But EVERY SINGLE offering wants more from me per month THEN ALL THE FOOD I EAT IN A MONTH!!!! So, because I never get sick, never have spent more than a few hundred at a clinic or hospital in my whole life, but some rich CEO is able to rape me while the law protects these SOB’s?!?!?! NO NO NO NO!!!! I am also a NZ citizen where the public health costs $200 per year, this crap here is just a big….HUGE money scam!
Anna Sabido
I am absolutely livid about the cost of health care for middle class income WORKING families!! If I was able to afford an additional $600 a month I would get a nicer house. We can’t afford the monthly premium and I have to ask my parents for money to help pay it like a beggar. We both work, and apparently make too much money to get any credit or assistance. I don’t take vacations and I drive a 2009 Hyundai with over 135,000 miles on it. Nor am I eligible for my children to go to PreK, only people who don’t work get those luxuries. Boy would I love to stay home with my babies while getting breaks left and right. We don’t even use the insurance. I could get the yearly vaccines for free anyhow!! What crap. We will have to go uninsured next year. I have no other options. Piece of crap good for nothing health care. $600 a month and the deductible is still $10,000, what a joke! Not to mention I have to pay out of pocket until I meet the deductible, why don’t you just come put excrement on my head while I bend over and ask for it? No thanks, I would rather declare bankruptcy if we have some kind of accident and start over. I think I will put $300 away in savings each month (which is at least somewhat affordable). I will use it for doctor visits, and to pay yearly fees for not carrying insurance, and at the end of my life I will have about half a million dollars if I am able to live a long healthy life. Maybe my children can use that to pay their premiums.
Justin
I could not agree more! I’m *barely* at the income level where I get no tax credits, and my premiums are out of control and the deductibles are just insane. The insurance is also complete crap – last year, I had to drive 2 hours away just to see a specialist because no one wants to accept the overpriced garbage plans.
Even the WEBSITE is still broken three years later – I have never, even once, been able to successfully enroll online.
This ridiculous failure known as the ACA can’t go on like this…
debbie
they need to get rid of this obama care insurance now.they are making the poor people poorer and the rich people richer.we the people need to take back our rights .and have a president who works for the people of the united states. stop spending our tax dollars on war and live in peace with every human being on this planet. love and peace is the only thing that is going to end this poverty and hunger of the human race.we the people ,black,white,red ,purpl,green,ect. are all one race, and that is humans. so love and peace to every human being. we are all spiritual beings in a human body living on planet earth. so please try to live peacefull . we are all brothers and sisters no matter what color our skin is.
francine browning
my premium just went from $50 to 545 as we had a good year last yr, this year not so much daughter has epilepsy,autism, and adhd and now hrs been cut due to his medical issues Denied SS for daughter because gross we make $2000 too much a yr. I am 45 and have worked since 15 cannot work full time due to daughters issues. How am I supposed to pay 545 a month plus a $3300 ded. for a total of almost $10,000 a yr which btw will put as poverty level with gross income? But if I was single mom from another country popping out kids no worries everything is covered. Now NY state of Health wants proof husbands hrs cut like with a special needs child I have time for this ,disgusted want to cry
Walking uphill backwards.
I’m in the same boat, I make more than twice as much annually now than i did 5 years ago. I should be making financial headway but since the increase due to Obama-care and the insurance companies(honest thieves) I am bringing home the same amount as I was 5 years ago. I just can’t get ahead and your exactly right about there just isn’t any pay off anymore for all the work we put in. What we are really insuring is depression and anxiety for ourselves.
Mike
The architect of “Obamacare” is Mr. Mitt Romney. I just got dropped by Medicaid because I got a job. They said I make too much now. My take home pay $700 /week is nothing in Washington DC, I can’t afford my bills and rent let alone insurance! There is enough money in the federal budget to give us all health insurance if we would just quit using it to arm Israel and bribe foreign politicians. A container with 10 billion in $100 bills disappeared in Iraq. The day before 9-11 Rumsfeld told congress the pentagon couldn’t account for 2.3 TRILLION dollars!! They have plenty of $.
That guy
You know, whats interesting is how every comment made by the moderators whom have been responding to these threads confuse and attempt to sideline the angry workers. The only people who are not complaining about obamacare’s insane cost is the unemployed and the top 1% of the populous. Insurance through my employer costs half my paycheck, and through obamacare’s offerings 1/3rd of my monthly income. Why praytell should insurance cost the same or close to rent. Let me break down the real cost of living for families.
House or apartment rent or mortgage (they cost about the same) = 45%+ of monthly income
Car/transportation costs = 20%+ of monthly income
Utilities = 15%+ of monthly income
Food and supplies for minimal survival = 30%+ of monthly income
Clearly most people have to deal with more expenses than this, such as student loans, children, various random life occurrences. So whats the point of prolonging your life using insurance that puts you further into debt, and the additional cost of paying medical bills you couldn’t afford in the first place, living past 60 when all you have left is a floor to contemplate your life as a slave, dying because you no longer receive care to give you quality of life, just preventative maintenance.
Seems there’s only two options for normal people now, slowly die as a slave or die a little faster in a third world country.
Christina
Hello Facts,
I’ve been reading through this page of frustrations, anger, confusion, and complaints. You’ve been largely blamed and insulted while trying to help people navigate through our current system of healthcare. In turn, I’ve seen you explain, with patience and humor, how and where to turn to make this more affordable (what seems to be the top complaint). It may not always apply to their specific situations, but you have been there consistently doing this in the face of an angry public. I want to thank you for all your efforts. It’s obvious that you care that people are taken care of and that we also care for society as a whole.
ObamaCareFacts.com
As you say, the compliments are few and far between. Thank you for the kind words. We really do try to help. For the next 4 years as we cover TrumpCare it will be interesting to see how and if things change.
anonymous
It goes against the rights as an individual to make them purchase healthcare when they do not want it. Not only are we made to purchase healthcare, the law bidding citizens of the United States are made to pay for the free room and board that the criminals get while sitting in prison along with their free education, weight rooms, their health insurance, etc.. with our tax dollars. We have to go to work and work our butts off so we can we pay for our own life and forced health insurance, while a murderer gets the things in life we work for, for free. Doesn’t really make much since. Maybe that is why there is so much crime in this country cause it pays to be a screw up. Our government is destroying this economy by making the working class pay for healthcare that we should have a right to choose if we want it, as well as pay for the criminals in this county and their healthcare. Tell me why do people have the right to choose if they have an abortion, but we do not have the right to choose if we want healthcare? Doesn’t both involve our body and what happens to it? It was not for Mr President Obama to decide what a US citizen needs in their life. It is our decision. A government that is built on how much money goes in their pocket doesn’t care about the people of the US. They only care about steeling from the working class to feed the rich like themselves. This Obama care plan whether it was good or not, which it is not, should be a choice of the people of the US. It should not be mandated. I do not need the federal government deciding how I am going to manage my health and I am sure I am not the only one that feels that way.
Jessica
He’s RIGHT!!!!!!! It’s cheaper to pay a penalty then it is to pay the premium!
MK
I think we’re going to find the health care and insurance costs will balloon endlessly until this country comes to grips with the need for a single payer nationalized program like ALL of the rest of the industrialized nations of this world have. The average Canadian will NOT give up their system, especially for one like ours. Just look at the drug costs – Canada’s are far lower. They can retire or change jobs without being concerned about insurance. Of course there is higher taxation, but 20% isn’t going into stock holders’ pockets and the administrative costs are far lower.
Realize, insurance is a “pay it forward” deal. Everyone has to pay their share all along. Unless a catastrophic injury or sickness befalls a young person they may not need insurance… until they are older. That is the fact – those who are healthy are, in effect, footing a bill now that they will collect from in the future. It has worked for the rest of the industrialized world as well as some third world countries that are actually ahead of the US in health care for the average citizen.
If the elected federal officials weren’t bought off by the insurance industry they’d have included a public option to put serious competition into the health care arena. In case you didn’t notice, once the public option was off the health care act, the insurance industry fell virtually silent – they had their hooks in you. Thank the republican members of the committee that drafted the legislation for that. They would also allow medicare/medicaid to bargain on drug costs like the insurance companies do. The US is the largest buyer of prescription drugs, but are not allowed to negotiate fair pricing? The insurance industry can screw the public for a 20% profit margin – same as Las Vegas gambling casinos?
Realize who is burning whom here. The insurance industry wants their pound of flesh and if they have to pay out more than they want they will raise premiums. This will continue until Medicaid/Medicare enters the picture, which they fear. The public option that isn’t in it for the buck.
It is time for real pressure for a single payer all inclusive system that will negotiate with the health industry to control cost.
TESS CALCINES
They talk about the 20 million that will be left without insurance if Trump has his way, but what about the other millions that cannot afford the very very high premiums to pay for Obama Care? Government is very generous with other people’s money.
Sarah
I completely agree! I make about $250.00 more than the “cut off”. You can not afford the insurance! Its outrageous and I don’t know how they can tell me “this is affordable for you”. No its not, this is going to put me under is what this is going to do. I would be better off paying the insurance fees every year! We go to the doctor NEVER, so I pay 500 in premiums a month, then if something happens, I still have to shell out $4000! I could go have a damn baby and pay less out of pocket for god sakes!! The insurance issues need to change! Whoever thought this was a good idea is an idiot! Great idea for worthless people that sit at home and don’t have a job! The people that work 14-16 hour days and go home to kids and work their ass off trying to pay the bills are the ones getting buried!!
Bob
I am 65 and have run my own small business for many years. My wife has taken care of our children and aging parents. (read, has not been employed outside the home, but has been working long hard hours) We have always managed to pay our individual medically qualified health insurance…..that is until the ACA came along. Our Blue program plan was cancelled due to the ACA requirements. No, we were not able to keep our plan. We were forced to the marketplace like many of our friends who were also self employed.
We selected an HSA plan in 2014 which was priced at twice our previous premiums…when 2015 came around…the plan was cancelled. So, we selected another ACA HSA plan….with another 33% increase….which we were just notified is not available for 2017.
Looking ahead to 2017…..I am finally on Medicare and ready to retire. However, my wife of 42 years is age 60 and her 2017 premiums for Silver coverage is $1055 per month….with a $4500 deductible. Our income is over the subsidy limit but we are far from being able to afford this insurance. Also, there are no PPO HSA plans offered, which will not allow us to put money aside to help with the deductible.
We have always had insurance and made the payments throughout our lives, and fortunately have not had to use the plans except for minor issues. I am considering paying the fine and taking our chances on my wife’s coverage….this isn’t the way we want to go, or the way we do things….but this ACA was not properly thought through in terms of being fair to hard working people who were not covered by employer group plans but did take it upon themselves to pay individual premiums all through their working years….only to be rewarded by this mess. There should have been a much better remedy to provide some coverage for those not able to obtain coverage or afford coverage without dumping us in this pool.
Bobb
OBAMACARE – R.I.P., November 9, 2016.
You will NOT be missed.
Elizabeth McKernan
I fully agree
Mark
MAGI , its like magic, just wave a wand and walla, you have everything you need…. except, it just more IRS like stuff to deal with, difficult to understand complexity (pretty much like ACA). So the lay person has yet another headache to deal with. The whole system needs to be scrapped and started over. Complexities cause stress, anxiety and thus health problems.
Look the IRS already has our tax info… why does it all need to be recreated. This takes time for everyone involved, insider knowledge helps… lets face it its all meant to distort, contort and boggle the masses so that they get sick in worry.
Michelle
Hey FACTS, your position is biased & not seated in reality or truth. First, let’s discuss the philosophy behind ObamaCare: to give a discount so people can afford healthcare. So, people that get coverage through an employer are paying their own way AND paying taxation to support ObamaCare. Remember, there is “burden of employment”, a calculation employers have to consider when they make an offer to employ someone. This INCLUDES not only their salary and time off but INSURANCE TOO.
When ObamaCare rolled in, it came down to 7th grade economics. High Demand with Low Supply = High Price. It’s as true on Wall Street as it is on the playground on Elm Street.
Everyone needed to get insurance (high demand) & Obama refused to withdraw the ZIP CODE restrictions so insurance companies minimized options (low supply). That equals HIGH PRICE in every book.
So, industrious, fiscally responsible families are paying for some to get “free” insurance. AND they are legally bound to buy EXPENSIVE insurance with deductibles they cannot meet so THEY DONT GET TO USE THAT INSURANCE THEY ARE REQUIRED TO PAY FOR.
We OWN our home because we have sacrificed in other ways. In 2017, after premiums & deductibles, we will pay $28,880…then insurance will pick up. AND THATS FOR AN HMO!!!! Our retirement was used this year. Next year it will be our home.
In the end, ObamaCare keeps raking more industrious, responsible families to the government dole. This creates MORE dependence on government. Eventually (and it’s probably not far off), the boat will sink. After all, SOMEONE needs to PAY TAXES to support the handouts!!!! Lest we all forget, government takes, it has no mechanism for production.
And as far as looking for loopholes to slip through….REALLLLLY? That’s pathetic! Why should that poster be required to do that when he was better off without the government shafting him?!?! You have the audacity to say slip through on a technicality…??? Disgusting!
ObamaCare has put our country in the fast lane toward collapse. My family is living proof. Unfortunately, we have soooo many people who work for govt, get their insurance from ObamaCare, or get coverage from their employer, they just turn a deaf ear to the reality.
It will be quite interesting to see if you “allow” this to post.
ObamaCareFacts.com
All comments are welcome. Obviously my position on the matter is informed by all the good it has done, while you zero-in on the bad. Glad to have all points featured here.
Bobb
I can sympathize. We too had to sell our home to get enough cash to cover our Obamacare policy for 2017. Over $1,000 per month with a $14.200 deductible. On a $35,000 income for 2 people, we will have to pay $24,000 BEFORE seeing ONE PENNY in benefit. That’s almost 70%, SEVENTY PERCENT of our income on healthcare, and we’re relatively healthy for our age!!! Affordable Care Act?? Hardly.
Well, we decided to protest silently, although dangerously. We will NOT pay one penny for Obamacare in 2017 and instead pay for routine care out of pocket. If something really bad happens, we will move, a qualifying event and sign up for Obamacare. Gaming the system? Sure. but Obamacare has left us no other choice.
Not only is Obamacare UNAFFORDABLE, it forces people to make lifestyle decisions, like selling a house or having to relocate SIMPLY to comply with the law and/or not go bankrupt. DEMOCRATS own this, I will never forgive them or vote for another DEMOCRAT as long as I live.
Rebecca
In my area of South Carolina, I was eligible to recieive medical care as medically indigent. I work as a substitute teacher, am a widow in her 50s, my kids are grown and I’m having no luck finding other work. I have too much education to be hired at entry level jobs, and not the specific experience for ones that are posted. Now I have to choose between having a place to live (rent payment) or being able to pay my deductable for the Obama care policy ($475) which would mean I can’t pay my rent. The echocardiogram is tomorrow (11/8) and the heart cath is 11/14. Before Obama Care I qualified for almost free care, but with the advent of this “miracle cure for no medical care access” the county lowered their cut off to just about $400 less than what I make in a year’s substituting. Go figure. And on top of this, Blue Cross has bailed on the policy I chose, trying to follow the law, and if I stay with them, in now almost a single sosurce situation, I will have to go to a policy that adds halg again to the out of pocket limit on the only BCBS policy offered to Obama Care people.
B Smith
My employer used to supply my coverage, but when it was going to increase by 100% they drooped it and that forced me to insure thru healthcare.gov. The beginning premium was approximately 75% more than the total I and my employer paid combined before he had to drop it. Now in November 2016 I just received a letter informing my that my monthly premium for 2017 is expected to be 110% higher. It has came to a point that I can choose to have health insurance or feed and cloth my family! Hmmm….what should I do? Retoricalquestion of course. What a mess Obama has created! A fraudulent president sold his constituency a fraudulent bill of health goods! What happened to the $2,500 per year savings? Oh, it flew out the window with the doctors we could keep. My 2017 cost, if i did pay it is about 50% of my income….affordable my American ever loving southern white a$$!!!
Ryan Preston
One thing our government, the current administration and the gaggle of stupid in Congress doesn’t understand. There are people in the United States that work, earn a meager living and pay their income taxes. Living paycheck to paycheck, just surviving, getting screwed by every large corporation at every turn (thanks to Laws made by the aforementioned gaggle of stupid) maybe have .01 percent of their income available for bowling night and a couple of beers. Not a great life by no means. I bring home $2616.00 a month (AGI leaves a $43.90 subsidy, wow thanks) and in the Chicago Suburbs it’s for lack of a better word crap. BCBS now wants $546.00 a month and will only cover half of any healthcare I may need after I pony up another $2600.00. Not sure what kind of math the Government does, but I am now forced to choose between renting a home or feeding the corporate Fat Cats because of this mess. I know many people have been helped and I fall between the cracks. Maybe stop trying to explain this junk and trying to find ways to feed the beast (Corporate Insurance greed). Kill the beast, get the tax paying citizens healthcare we can afford. We don’t need insurance, we need healthcare.
Tanya
I can not afford ObamaCare to this day! And, still wonder how we as Americans can be forced to pay out money or penalized. I dont understand it. I would like to sue the government for causing me stress, depression and many other health issues because of worry.
Gerri Franklin
No one can afford to pay for something that doesn’t work. You pay this premium and the hospitals and doctors are ahead of you, trying to get money out your pocket too. Everyone is scamming. There are 318 million people getting scammed in this country right now. And what do we do? We roll over. The type of country we are becoming is so sad. We need a John Wayne to come in and give us back our fighting spirit. We all logically know that not participating is the only way to make this go away. But we are all yellow bellied sapsuckers. For those who have never watched westerns that means cowards. This scheme is even worse than car insurance which is another way we get ripped off every month. They know we have to go work.
This is how much CEO of UnitedHealthcare makes, hmmm wonder where the problem is?
The $66 million that Hemsley made in 2014 included $45.5 million in exercised stock options. His actual salary of $1.3 million was minimal by comparison.Nov 20, 2015
The funny thing is like Obama I bet he gets free healthcare!
Noneof yourbusiness
No one can afford to pay for something that doesn’t work. You pay this premium and the hospitals and doctors are ahead of you, trying to get money out your pocket too. Everyone is scamming. There are 318 million people getting scammed in this country right now. And what do we do? We roll over. The type of country we are becoming is so sad. We need a John Wayne to come in and give us back our fighting spirit. We all logically know that not participating is the only way to make this go away. But we are all yellow bellied sapsuckers. For those who have never watched westerns that means cowards. This scheme is even worse than car insurance which is another way we get ripped off every month.
Terri
Sad. Just sad. I’m trying to put 2 children thru college and can’t afford it because our health insurance is too high. Pathetic
Richard Beyer
Yes I agree with this author. Obamacare ONLY benefits the very poor or the very rich. I am self-employed with a small business – technically I am middle class with no benefits and I am having a very hard time affording health insurance, which is going to cost me approximately 40% of my annual income when you factor in extremely high deductibles (which I have to have just to afford the monthly premiums). If it were just me, I would NOT have insurance and instead sock money into a contingency fund, and self-pay for service. But I have a family and I have to have medical insurance. This is causing me undue hardship and it is breaking the working-class Americans!
Michelle
I am a female, and registered democrat. I will now vote republican because of how disgusted I am with obama care. My cousin and I got the same plan. Mine cost 460 monthly for 1 person only) hers 120. Why? Because I work. I make too much money to qualify for subsidy. I make good money. But i also have two kids, student loans from a masters degree, day care, mortgage…list goes on. So for a family of 4….over 1000.00 a month with outrageous premiums and high copays. Repeal and replace people. Middle class screwed again.
Jirina foreman
I had to make a my choice if I like or get Obamacare.im healthy and I pay to my self Doctor every 3 month.so why IRS charge automatic my fee?? I live democratic cunntry…..I don’t have extra money for my self.
K.Lanni
I agree! I can’t even afford to be on my husband’s insurance from his job- it would cost me more than 25% of my annual income and have a huge deductible. Why bother working? Why don’t rich people have to pay 25% of their income to have health insurance? Why do I have to pay a fine for being poor? I can never go to the doctor when I’m sick and I still have to pay over a thousand dollars for punishment. This makes no sense.
[email protected] Erin
You likely fall into the family affordability glitch, but you may qualify for an exemption from owing the fee for not having insurance if the employer insurance is unaffordable. Here is a more detailed look at what is considered unaffordable employer coverage for the employee and for their family from Healthcare.gov’s site. This is also where to apply for that exemption.
Bobb
So, you can get an exception from the tax penalty, but you’re still left with NO INSURANCE. I thought the goal of Obamacare was to get more people COVERED, not force them out because by giving free insurance to those without, others are being forced out. Makes ZERO sense to me.
All you hear Obama say is how many NEW signups there are under Obamacare. He NEVER says how many have to go without health insurance because it’s UNAFFORDABLE.
RLj
I feel you, as many other Americans who continue to work knowing they are going against the grain. I too make to much and living in Maryland doesn’t help. The monthly premiums is not the issue, but the deductibles are a joke. Family of 3 expected to pay $650 a month with $4500 deductible at $13000 family max. So now I am searching ways to insure my family and maintain my household. It just seems easier to not even try, just go with the flow and feed off others hard labor. Eventually it will catch up to us, everyone will work low paying jobs in order to receive hand outs and we will be back to the same problem. By then, we may be dead but our children would be so government dependent that it will be pointless. I don’t want to give in and I sure as hell do not want my children growing to except government cheese. I will withdraw from this health plan and pay the penalties. What would happen if everyone expected to pay into this declined? Will penalties alone cover the costs? Either way I will continue to work for my family and pay my taxes. Just hope that the next President reads these post and work for the people, not the companies trying to milk us dry.
J
I did the math and decided to leave a position for a part time low paying job. Result was that I get $200 a month in food stamps free medical care and assistance for some bills(electric water etc.). I also get a little over $10,000 a year back in tax return about $6000 more than I pay in(earned income credit,kids) which I use to pay all the bills a year ahead electric cable water and so on. I could not afford the medical coverage for a 5 person household so I got creative. Thank you Obama instead of working a management job 60-70 hours a week I only work 20-25 and after adding it all up make about $200 less per month plus have never been healthier,lost 60 pound of fat and with a 50 inch chest and a 30 inch waist I look good. And it all started with being mad that I would have to pay a penalty for not having health insurance and with everybody’s hand in my pocket I just gave up on trying to get ahead..So thank you America!!
Mark
I almost fell over when I received my new Obama care 2017 premium hike announcement. $568.67 per month ($505.67 w/tax credit) for a single person with a $3,550 deductible. I can’t afford this. Being a small business owner, I have carried individual health insurance plans in the past and had great coverage for under $200 per month with low deductibles. You can buy a small home in Florida for this kind of monthly expense I am now being charged. I’m too rich to get a fair insurance premium and too poor to afford my current premium. People on this forum get emotional because many of us were raised to love this country and believe that the government would take care of us and treat us fairly. I don’t expect to get health insurance for free, but I expect much lower rates and better coverage. It seems to me that Obama care was a good idea, but some how the insurance companies are dictating premiums and getting away with charging whatever they want.
Dan penn
I’m suffering from the same dilemma my friend and it is nothing short of extortion and surly should be in constitutional .
My question is if congress had to pay 18% of their wages for this piracy rip off would they of voted for it ???
We have no leadership in this country that hasn’t been bought off by big business, big pharmaceutical companies, and mostly the insurance cartels!!!
They call their funnding sources lobbyist.
But it is bribery! Oh but we can’t use that term cause that would be illegal.
What a twisted demented criminally insane corrupted organized crime ring we have running this country!!!
APPALLING
Cleo snellenberger
House income is not right ,husband went on Medicare ,and he pays for supplant an prescription and that is not accounted for +I pay 3 times more than before
Robert
This is bs. I haven’t worked since 2004 due to PTSD and not only do I not qualify for disability, I didn’t qualify for assistance with my BCBS Georgia plan. I did the “things you mentioned to get more help”, but the system isn’t working!! I haven’t had any income and my savings will run out soon. I met my deductible for the first time in my life due to health issues and my plan is now going up over $100 (over $500 now). I have no clue what I’ll do but I cannot afford to pay this amount. Our system sux for someone like me.
B. K. Watson
My daughter and son-in-law both educators. Both have masters degrees. ACA is over $1000 a month. School insurance more expensive than ACA. This healthcare cost is paid on teacher’s salaries. They do not qualify for ACA discount as they make too much per year by a few hundred dollars. They have twin 15 year old sons. Parents will need to get parttime jobs just to pay bills….house, car, health & life insurance, utilities, food , etc. They were putting back small amount for savings and boys’ college, but have been unable to do that since ACA became mandatory.They pay full cost for doctors visits and a signigicant amount for prescriptions already. Daughter and one son asthmatic and cost of medication several hundred dollars and that is with insurance paying a portion. What with the monthly amount of healthcare going up significantly per month, I suggested they just pay the penalty.
B. K. Watson
My daughter and son-in-law both educators. Both have masters degrees. ACA is over $1000 a month. School insurance more expensive than ACA. This healthcare cost is paid on teacher’s salaries. They do not qualify for ACA discount as they make too much per year by a few hundred dollars. They have twin 15 year old sons. Parents will need to get parttime jobs just to pay bills….house, car, health & life insurance, utilities, food , etc. They were putting back small amount for savings and boys’ college, but have been unable to do that since ACA became mandatory.They pay full cost for doctors visits and a signigicant amount for prescriptions already. Daughter and one son asthmatic and cost of medication several hundred dollars and that is with insurance paying a portion. What with the monthly amount of healthcare going up significantly per month, I suggested they just pay the penalty.
Erin
If the lowest cost health plan they can get is more than 8.13% of their income then they are exempt from the requirement from having insurance and they are exempt from owing the fee for not having insurance. They must go to Healthcare.gov to apply for that exemption, but it seems pretty silly to “just pay the fee” when the large majority of folks (not everyone) who resign themselves to just pay the fee are doing so because the insurance offered them is way more than 8.13% of income.
peter goes inya
from premium 122/mo to 653/mo or get piece pf s*** coverage. Thanks Obama.
Katherine
I am in the same boat.
Bobb
Real Life 2017 Enrollment Example –
Estimated 2017 Income – $35,000, 2 people husband/wife
AFTER estimated Subsidy, BCBS Silver Plan, with cost sharing –
$1,030 premium / month
$3,500 deductible EACH (without cost sharing, $7,100 ded. each)
So, on a $35K income, we have to pay $20,000 before we see ONE PENNY in benefit from our BCBS plan???? THIS IS NOT NUTS????
We will be dropping out, and cross our fingers nothing really bad happens. I imagine many others will be doing the same. THIS IS INSANE!!!
Roberto
Obamacare is not affordable whatsoever. More like working class foot the bill act
Deb
I will be checking with a new compeny for 2017 as I can not pay for Obamacare what a joke . It’s sad I pay $568 a month but can’t afford the copays to get any tests done so why am I paying ? People please wake up vote Trump and we will be done with obamacare !
Paula
I can no longer afford my health insurance premiums. Went from 400$ to 1500$ a month. I amy so frustrated over this mandated policy. I hope in open enrollment I can change these premiums as my financial situation has changes with our small business. Voting for Trump thats for sure!
Mike
This is plan and simple tyranny
Deb Pascoe
Due to a financial crisis, my employer had to discontinue health insurance for employees. For the past year I’ve paid $34 a month for a policy that covers nothing until an over $6,000 deductible is met. Well, I get one office visit per year, and pay a $30 copay.
This week I received a letter stating that, beginning in January, my monthly payment will be $178. I make less than $12 an hour. I live frugally, paycheck to paycheck. There is no way I can afford this.
I work in the social work field. There are no job alternatives here, not in my field or out of it, that would both pay a living wage and/or provide insurance coverage. I made $2,000 too much to qualify for Medicaid.
I have kidney disease. Now I am waiting until I get my tax refund, hopefully in February, to get my needed blood tests done. I cannot afford it until then. I cannot afford to see my specialist twice a year. I thank God my medications are affordable.
Where do I turn?
Bobb
Obamacare is now in a death spiral. Here’s why –
1. Insurers are dropping out, leaving little choice of plans
2. Doctors are dropping out, making access very difficult
3. Premiums are NOT affordable, people are dropping out, going without coverage, EXACTLY the opposite of what Obamacare promised.
When open enrollment starts Nov 1, my guess is new signups will be more than offset by people deciding to drop out because of unaffordability.
On election day, just remember Obama saying “You can keep your doctor, you can keep your plan and you will save $2,500 per year”. All lies – and Hillary wants to expand Obamacare. Vote accordingly.
Fletcher Long
why am i paying all this money for health care when i’m not getting anything but more bills?
schrodinger
I’m married and my husband has employee-only coverage through his job. There is no spouse coverage. My job doesn’t offer insurance at all (very small employer and they’re exempt). My hours were cut last year and I make only about $300 a week. But because of the “family glitch” where the IRS assumes that I would be covered on his plan even though there isn’t a ‘spouse provision’, I don’t qualify for any subsidies at all and we can’t afford a single policy just for me. Nor can he go to the Marketplace or the private route to get us anything cheaper (combined plan for both of us) because we wouldn’t qualify for any help since he has coverage available through his job. We also live in Texas which of course didn’t expand Medicaid. Thus, I have no access to affordable coverage or subsidies to help with premiums or out of pocket costs such as deductibles and copays. Basically, he gets coverage but I don’t.
I have a chronic and painful medical condition (a genetic metabolic disorder that destroys my joints) that could be quite well managed and I could live a pretty good and productive life and continue to work like anybody else if I could just get the care I need. My condition could even go into remission with the right care. But without insurance and proper management, my condition will continue to deteriorate and I will ultimately end up completely disabled. No amount of proper self-care will prevent the progression of my illness.
Proper medicine including Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatoid drugs like methotrexate can make an enormous difference and preserve my mobility. Methotrexate isn’t very expensive, about $30-50 a month on average for a typical regimen, but it requires a prescription, which requires a doctor’s visit and lab testing to be sure that it’s safe for me to use the medicine, as well as follow-up testing to be sure it’s not hurting me. That’s what I can’t afford, and that’s why I need insurance… which I can’t afford, either. So I gobble ibuprofen by the handful to keep from hurting. It doesn’t stop the disease progression and I’m risking damage to my liver and kidneys, which would cost even more to treat if it doesn’t flat kill me… but it doesn’t matter, because if I don’t have money or insurance for a “cheap” problem, I damn sure won’t have it for an expensive complication caused by a lack of treatment and having to resort to “methods” that are less safe to just be able to function until my joints finally fall apart. Then I get to fight for disability, get denied the first time or two, then get approved and sit out the two-year wait for Medicare and other help. During that period, I’d be prohibited from working, even if I could work, so how the hell could I even WORK to afford insurance?
I looked for private coverage, but at almost $500 a month for a BRONZE plan– it’s out of reach. No Medicaid, either. Oh well.
Barb Walsh
We are in the same boat. Pay $773.00 per month with a $13,000+ deductible. Can’t afford to go to the doctor. We own a successful family owned small business. Our son’s insurance is an additional $202.00/per month. $975.00/month for what?? By the grace of God we are healthy. We would be better off to put our money in a HSA and be able to afford to go to the DR when we get a sore throat. Instead we have basically thrown away $11700.00 of our very hard earned dollars that we WORKED for. Will probably just pay the penalty for 2017 and save our hard earned money that we WORK for. We are a very generous family but we cannot continue to support all the people that feel they are entitled to the same benefits, and more, as those of us who work and the illegal immigrants and legal immigrants who are handed healthcare and benefits without contributing a dime to our country and its benefits. Just heard today that there will be a 16% increase in premiums for 2017-We’re out!!!!!!!
Bobb
I’m so sorry, I’m in the same boat. I pay $550 a month for unusable insurance and BCBS announced a 45% increase for 2017. I’ve decided to go without insurance in 2017, and if something bad happens, I’ll declare bankruptcy. I worked hard all my life, and because Obama wanted to give a few million more freeloaders insurance, I have to go without. This is not America.
Grace Martinez
Obamacare takes 40% of our take no,e pay amd is killing us. Never before have I realized that elections have consequences. The American people have been duped and We have to stop this big government trend.
Donald Reeves
I’ll keep it short. Why must I be punished by not being to afford Obomocare plan?
ObamaCareFacts.com
Well if you are under the poverty level there is no punishment. If you are over then you can get cost assistance. If you still can’t afford it and don’t have an exemption then, yes you are penalized for not obtaining and maintaining it. The logic is that you could have afforded it (by the standards of the law) but pay a fee to help fund the system if you choose not to (as in an emergency you will end up using the system anyway).
It isn’t always fair in practice, as we know some people are stuck in a spot where (after real life costs like debt and child care) cannot fully afford the costs, but that is the general logic.
Adam
At no point can this guy ever just admit that this whole thing is a scam. It’s actually hilarious reading all his deflections and defensive reasoning. A suckling of the State, without a doubt. And if he is ever backed into a total logical corner, he will say “further reform is needed”. As if the legislators and authoritarians haven’t done enough damage already. I really enjoyed reading the year of replies here ObamaCareFacts guy, it lets us know the kind of cold, calculated, ignorance in defense of the indefensible mindset we are up against.
Erin
OmabacareFacts.com didn’t write the law, they didn’t vote on the law, and they can’t make any changes to the law. This is an information website and they can only do their best to address the comments, concerns, and questions in that capacity: trying to provide the information. The ACA is complicated and it affected a lot of different people in a lot of different ways. It is wrapped up in Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP laws which are administered by states and where the specific eligibility rules and coverage options vary widely. This website has also tried to engage people in dialogue about potential replacement plans, the possibility of amending it, and engaging politicians (who did actually write, vote for, and can make changes to healthcare laws).
These comment threads become the place where everyone comes to unload their emotional baggage about Obama, the ACA, private insurers, state and federally administration programs, the IRS, and occasionally even people’s personal health problems. And that’s fine, but if it’s a problem that can’t be solved by information you shouldn’t expect ObamacareFacts.com to have a satisfactory answer. If you have a problem with the Affordable Care Act and actually want to see something done to change it CALL YOUR LEGISLATOR. Leaving a rude comment on an independent informational website isn’t an actual solution.
Ken
So what is being done by the government to hammer down these greedy pigs who are diving up the cost of health care and raking in the profits. It make no sense to argue over the cost when they get to hide in the shadows
George
Why do you think its your business to decide that I should/should not buy a crappy insurance product under the threat of a fine/tax ???
This is the height of arrogance from a tyrannical Democratic party that had a short-term temporary majority in the federal government.
Sounds more like the former Soviet Union than the United States of America.
ObamaCareFacts.com
Just remember that real people were unable to get coverage before the law was passed. So finding a middle ground between being taxed to death and being denied coverage is something we all need to find common ground on.
ObamaCareFacts.com
Just remember that real people were unable to get coverage before the law was passed. So finding a middle ground between being taxed to death and being denied coverage is something we all need to find common ground on.
CJ
I totally understand. I too can’t afford Obama care I live pay check to pay check. I have no idea what to do either.
Marissa S.
Female, 30 years old, live in Milwaukee, WI. I make $15.00 per hour and work a 40 hour work week. I do not qualify for state assistance because I make too much, and cannot afford Obamacare or regular insurance because I do not make enough to afford it. How does this help people like me? What are my options? I am uninsured because of this, and now I have to see a doctor and cannot, unless I want to pay for it all out of pocket, which I cannot afford, again. When I was looking into Obamacare, all it asked me was my income, not what I have to pay for on a monthly basis? Well, that $900 bi-weekly now turns into $300 after bills, rent, etc. Not including grocery shopping and any other misc. thing that comes up. Obamacare quoted me at $174 per month at the cheapest. Seriously??? Someone please help!
WiLiam Barry
I am a utility worker . I don’t know anyone that can afford to retire because of the cost of insurance. And after 3o years our bodies are shot I never thought I would be so disgusted with this country but yea now the US sucks if you have worked staying here was. A
a major mistake.
Lori
I am not surprised by the many angry comments I see and hear here and everywhere concerning “Affordable Healthcare”. Americans are really struggling under this heavy burden.
I believe that most Americans proudly want to help their fellow man in need, but the wagon is too full of needy, and the folks left pulling the wagon are a hardly able to handle the load.
You would have to be an insurance adjuster and an accountant to figure out all of the special programs and exemptions! Goodness, who has the time?!
Who believes that our money is being wisely stewarded by our big bloated government? And let’s not even talk about fraud.
We are being mandated by law to pay more than our fair share, putting undue pressure on families and small business. In addition, many Americans have moral objections to paying for birth control, abortions, immunizations, and the like- yet we are forced to pay.
Let’s carefully look at what our elected officials stand for and promise to the American people- and hold them accountable! Please exercise your right (and responsibility) to be an informed citizen and vote while we still have a voice! Let’s not give in!
Bobb
Keep in mind, Hillary wants to EXPAND Obamacare. Details are not very specific, but knowing the government and it’s inability to do much right, I can only guess it’s going to be more expensive.
Trump wants to repeal Obamacare, which also brings up challenges, like what’s the new plan going to look like, but I’ll take that over expanding a failed program.
Colton
I am a Utah resident. I’m 23 years old next month and I have been paying for my own health insurance all of 2016! What happened to me being able to be covered under my parents plan? I have to pay $162 a month with a $7000 duductable. I can go to the doctor once a year for free if I’m not sick! i am a full time student and only work during the summer months! I am being ripped off big time and there is nothing I can do about it. My wife is due in a couple weeks and if I add the baby to my plan my deductible jumps to $10k and $400 per month! Why don’t I just get a life insurance plan and shoot myself. Healthcare is the biggest load of bull crap I have ever dealt with! Why coudn’t Obama just keep his damn promises!
Shelby
I feel your pain! I am appauled. I quit my job so I could focus on school, my husbands insurance will cost over $900 a month to add myself and my children. For me to get a decent healthcare plan in Nevada, I am forced to shell out almost $750 a month, and that is with me paying $60 to go to a primary care doctor!! Such a rip off. I am tempted to take the tax hit, and just be a cash patient, at least I will be paying the EXACT SAME AMOUNT as i would if I had insurance, and I wouldn’t be out $750 every month. Oh and the kicker is, to get insurance that is THE EXACT SAME COVERAGE as the ones “Approved and proved to meet minimum qualifications”, that are $400 less per month, are not approved, and I will get hit on my taxes. AWESOME!!
[email protected] Erin
If the plan costs more than 8.13% of your families income you need to apply for an exemption from owing the fee or from having insurance. It won’t get you insurance, but it would be better than simply paying the fee. If it’s not more than 8.13%, consider shopping for coverage other than the employers coverage for the family. His employer is mandated to offer the coverage for his family, you are not mandated to accept it. You are only required to have minimal essential coverage that is “affordable” (less than 8.13%) or pay a fee on your taxes. Many have found better options by simply not taking the employer offered coverage for the family and instead shopping for health insurance (minimal essential coverage) outside the marketplaces.
All that being said, the Family Affordability Glitch is a huge frustration for many working families. I hope that it will be addressed ASAP.
Pyper Dunavin
I am a college student living on my own and paying for all my own bills even though I’m technically still filed under “Dependent Student”. I make only a couple hundred more dollars than the cutoff so I am forced to pay way more than that yearly for something I don’t want. The health care reform is an over all good idea, but not when it’s forced upon me. As a free nation we should be able to have the option to have health insurance or not and not be financially penalized.
Jason T
As far as I am concerned, doctors are still “Practicing Medicine”. There are people all the time being miss-diagnosed and murdered by these doctors tgat we are being forced to give money to. A hundred years ago, doctors traveled around like circuses peddling their miracle elixir “cocaine and morphine” trying to get anyone to buy it. Now days pill companies give kick backs to doctors for prescribing their meds before someone else’s… Mandatory health insurance is a crime!
MsRinkyDink
My husband and I are retired. We lost health care insurance from his pension package. We now pay $1400 a month for insurance. That is almost $17,000 per year. We have a net income of $74,000. But after paying taxes and such our income is $58,000. We are in the same bracket as people who make upwards of $70,000 all the way up to millions and yet we pay what they pay. NOT FAIR!!! I hate this scam. And to make matters worse, we are afraid to use our insurance because we have a $6500 deductible. We have had this plan for almost a year and have had 2 doctor visits. We are in perfect health.
Mary Contrary
Agree. I left my job to do consulting and found out my Kaiser health care plan would cost over $900 a month for my 15-year-old son and I!!! That plus rent plus Carr plus phone etc. etc. I’m broke as a joke and I’m now working for jobs and not sleeping and not well. Thanks for the affordable healthcare act !!!! I just think we didn’t even get to vote on this?! BS!!! I’m voting just to get rid of this tax payer abuse.
Terry L Ramby
This affordable health care “Obama care! Sucks I can’t afford this crap! They use this invisible gross pay to make me pay over 400% ! Remember uncle Sam gets his share first then the state and so on so on ,so where do I get this money for affordable health care! Bull### I tired of paying for all these dead beats you know the ones that get health care free! I’ve been working for 48 years! And these Obama bastards can burn!
Sharon Lindsay
I totally agree since Obamacare the cost of health care at the small business I work at has gone up every year minimum 25%. With this increase my deductible has doubled and my out pocket expense has thripled never mind presciptions. I will be paying monthly payments of 150.00 for my last two years of deductibles and out of pocket cost for another year. I’m a 59 year old single mother who works two jobbs trying to put her only child through college. My only dream was to someday own my home thanks to President Obama with the cost of healthcare and college that dream will never come true. My budget is so tight that when I got sick last week I had to choose whether to go to the doctor’s or buy food, I’m still sick. I wish someone could explain to me why the federal government and all the politians have a different healthcare plan than the one pushed onto us working class poor. I’m sure they don’t have to decide between eating and going to the doctors. There are so many families like mine and no one cares the healthcare industry keeps asking for more, they are all making crazy money off us working poor.
Daniel
i hate the way this nation is. Work and receive no help and get pealized. Or not work and receive help with food housing moneyschooling and much more. My wife and i both work full time jobs reciebe no benefits and barely afford the house we live in. Buy our food at such a low budget its insane. She needa surgery and we cant afford. Shes always in pain but she still works. I know so many people that scam the govt and get everything. I wish this nation would fall and have our leaders suffer as much as many of us do.
mec
this system is broken. i can’t afford it. and i’m afraid to get medical help.
i’m at the same job i was at 10 years ago. but 10 years ago i had good coverage. now when i go for a “free” routine check up, i end up paying a lot for “non-preventive” care i never asked for.
my only reason for going to a doctor now is if i’m 80 percent sure i’m about to die and i’m only 36 years old. this is sad.
Odessa
Can you still work and have Obama care
ObamaCareFacts.com
Yes of course. ACA assistance is based on your Modified Adjusted Gross Income for the year. This is probably the best explainer: https://obamacarefacts.com/federal-poverty-level/
Elane
I work 60 hours a week to try to get ahead and they want 600.00 a month for my health care. Why work at all. Live off the rest of the country working, like all of the people be benefiting from the health care that pay nothing!!!!!
darla meyer
We are in rough situations because you’ve stollen our insurance and given it to the lazy class that refuses to work.I had insurance but as soon as Obamas nightmare came into effect my famy was cut off. Now we pay 2,000.00 a year penalty into the (fund the illeagsls insurance pot). Bull sh@t. and stop spewing your lies. I’m sure you have lots of money most likely what belongs to us.
[email protected] Erin
Just to be clear, Obamacarefacts.com is not the Healthcare.gov website. They didn’t steal anything from you. This website is just an informational website that tries to help people understand the law that was passed by congress, help them navigate their options to meet the laws guidelines, and tries to answer their questions. In addition, they provide a space for people to voice their concerns and frustrations with elements of the law, insurers, and healthcare in general.
If you really want these issues to be addressed, you must contact your state and federal legislative representatives. Many of the issues can be solved at a state level using waivers to the Affordable Care Act, but most states haven’t taken advantage of that option. Other issues could be solved by federal representatives. Let your representatives know how you feel. Ask them to solve it.
BAB
I’ve been reading through these posts and have a couple of questions about responses you’ve given.
First, the info about HSAs was very helpful. At this point, like everyone else here, I have no way of funding one since expenses and debt and health insurance take up all my income. I assume that many employers offer HSAs that you can contribute to with pre-taxed income (I don’t think mine does.) Are there any other kinds of federal programs or tax credits or something that can be used to start one?
“If you are self employed you can write off 100% of premiums and out-of-pocket costs.” Is that really true? I am a part-time employee at 4 different jobs. I chose to go part time when my children were babies, and since I couldn’t find a full time job since I just kept adding more jobs. (Ironically, when I added my 4th job this year to try to make ends meet I lost my $50 tax credit for health insurance because my income went up. Hahaha!) Why is it that even though I’m self insured and have been since before the ACA, I can only claim premium costs that exceed 10% of my income when essentially I am an independent contractor – no health benefits, 401K or other benefits? Would it be better for me to just resign as an employee and get paid as an IC instead? I realize this question may be beyond the scope of ACA help and I apologize if it’s a stupid question. 🙂
ObamaCareFacts.com
So I hate to offer specifics here, as the best rule of thumb is go to HSA bank or another HSA provider and talk to them about the details. Essentially if you have a high deductible plan you can fund it. And yes, you can structure your business to get the write off for 401k and HSA and healthcare in general, but there are other considerations. So Generally you are on the right track, but don’t like to give specific advise because of all the moving parts. Good luck! Thanks for the insight.
Jp
I have two special needs children who are covered I have no ins for me and my wife. I have been sick for several yeas and I have to keep working.life is misery and my wife cries what will happen to our kids when we both die because we simply don’t have the money to go to the doctor. Politicians maneuver for election and good people die daily it’s sad.the American Dream died was buried with corporate greed and central bank thievery. They need their hot tubs and vacations in the Bahamas. I don’t watch the kardashians they make me sick. Hard word working people don’t make enough to eat sometimes. Much less less have insurance. Doctors have to lay off nurses because no one goes to the doctor or dentist they can’t afford it.
Danielle
Argh, so frustrating. We are a family of 4 and don’t even use our health insurance. I find myself on the verge of dropping it. I would rather pay the over $400 premium a month on alternative health care like chiropractic, acupuncture and massage! They offer these on the higher plans, but the bronze plan doesn’t get anything. I can’t figure out what we’re paying for exactly. If we needed major medical, coming up with the $6,000 deductible would be a problem in itself. The healthcare industry has just been screwed up for so long. In 2009 I became pregnant with our son and was in between insurance because we had just moved out of state. At that time, pregnancy was considered a PRE-EXISTING condition, so I was denied medical coverage. We were over the income limit to get covered by the state, so I made a call to the hospital to ask how much a vaginal birth would cost me as a cash patient. The lady on the phone told me if I had a birth with no complications it would cost $20,000!!! I almost fell over. You know what I did instead?? I had a homebirth with a midwife and it cost me $1,500. I had my son in the middle of our living room in a blow up pool from Wal-Mart. Thankfully I had a textbook birth with no problems, but the disparity in health care is outrageous. My son is now almost 6 and we would still be paying off $20K for his birth. The $5000 I’ve paid this year toward insurance premiums I could have saved for a medical emergency and put into the cost of my wholesome meals and more organic food! This is a huge reason so many people are getting sick nowadays! I feel like I’m feeding into the poison of our government who seems to slowly be killing us instead of helping us.
Sam
If this is your family business, structure it so you take out only a small salary. Have the company provide for other expenses. You can have your company cover your medical expenses (through company dependents), pay for your housing, and car, etc. Talk to a CPA to address all the legal issues and get it right; don’t take this as advice.
Mrs. O'Hara
This is absurd. My husband apparently has a heart issue that needs to be looked at. What the hell are we supposed to do? We can’t scrape up thousands of dollars to have this done; we’re already screwed paying over $3000.00 in income taxes because of idiotic Obamacare. We struggle to pay our mortgage each month. I’m heading towards my sixties, my husband is a few years younger. This country may be the greatest on earth, but it is so good at screwing the hard working Joe Public while the politicians get richer.
Vhunt
I pay a lot for insurance for me and my son, but because ACA, i was denied by insurance companies due to pre-existing condition. So although I feel that prices are high and some adjustments need to be made, i appreciate being able to have insurance. As a self employed business owner, what is the best option to obtain coverage. I also realize that people are frustrated, but reading through some of these comments, i feel that people are rude. It is frustrating being forced to pay for coverage, but their is nothing to do but to make it happened, but if there is a way to lower fees I would like to know. Right now I pay for individual coverage approx $400 month.
steve
profit driven healthcare system does not work, why it has done nothing other then to support the lobbyist for every health system provider to milk $ out of either the government or the American people – it is it most fraud driven, waste driven , inefficiency driven service delivery system in the world driven off by incentives that do nothing but drive up the cost of healthcare to those that least can afford it and continues to do so in the most adverse fashion Obama care feeds that system of inefficiency and fraud and waste
Ms Mann
I hear that scary story over and over again. I would love to do something else other than drive a school bus, but it gives me medical coverage that I can almost afford, if I do not use it. This is crazy crap. Medical insurance was affordable at my job till the Obama Care went into affect.
Christine
I just looked up costs for myself and spouse ages 50/59 both in good health and on NO medications with an annual gross income of $15,000….. The lowest quote I got was for round 11,000 per year. WTF!!!! You do expect us to perhaps eat, pay rent, electric, maybe have a phone and just how the hell you expect us to even put gas in the car to get to work. I’m not paying shit…. I don’t even go to the doctor and luckily no illnesses .. How are others affording this? If there’s a magic answer please advise cause this is downright the biggest scam ever….. I’m just at a complete loss regarding this crap
ObamaCareFacts.com
The issue is likely:
1. you can only enroll during open enrollment unless you have special enrollment access. Outside of open enrollment you’ll only find non-subsidized short term.
2. You may be under the Federal poverty level for a family of 2. $16,020 is the limit, so $15,000 (in a state that didn’t expand Medicaid) means no cost assisted coverage options.
https://obamacarefacts.com/obamacares-medicaid-expansion/
https://obamacarefacts.com/federal-poverty-level/
Not much to do about open enrollment, but for Medicaid the decision is in the hands of your state, and action can be taken to make a change. You can also look into local assistance programs, charities, and other regional solutions.
The “magic”(ish) solution is ensuring that extra thousand in projected income and then seeing what special enrollment opportunities you may have by calling healthcare.gov. Nothing easy about making an extra $1,000, but special enrollment is an option for some. https://obamacarefacts.com/special-enrollment-period/
steve
few Canadians are willing to cross the border to visit the US for fear if something happened and they are stuck in the US healthcare system with a bill – they would be financially ruined for life- that itself is indicative of how bad the US healthcare system is financially run by the HealthPlan and Pharmacy lobbyist that have driven up the cost of healthcare by several hundred % above what it should be – just ask any Canadian, one visited Hawaii and came back financially ruined when they had to go into a hospital and got a $600,000 bill
Angela
This ACA has destroyed everyone in the MIDDLE Class. My family and myself have always had insurance up until these idiots took over in 2013. Premiums MORE THAN DOUBLED and we are supposed to accept this and pay it to make others rich? I REFUSE to pay these premiums and then when I get ill I cannot afford the deductibles for care anyway. So then what ObamaCare? We are just left to DIE as you laugh your way to the bank. You can keep your corruption and thanks for destroying many lives of the hard WORKING people. Don’t respond to me with your bullshit “affordable options” because you have destroyed the insurance industry and my own family’s insurance!!
Kate
This insurance stuff is crap. I have only seen a doctor once in the past 8 years and go to dentist for checkup and cleaning once a year, never with cavities or issues. Lucky I guess or just good hygiene. The amount I pay out is very little per year. This is paid out of my own pocket. So why should I waste 3000+ per year for insurance premiums and not ever be able to use the insurance. LOL . Why make people get insurance that they will not use. What happened to hospitalization insurance only??? I grew up with family having only hospitalization insurance, which was a lot more affordable than this insurance crap including doctor visits & etc. which really doesn’t get covered by the insurance company unless you are a seriously sick person who practically lives at the doctors. Bull crap I do not pay out and waste my hard earned money for this faulty insurance that they are trying to sell. Ah I just mark yes I have insurance on my tax form and no penalty yet. I get a refund every year and no “no insurance” penalty.
Zack
I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do. I’m recently divorced, 28 years old, they take half of every paycheck to pay child support and I can’t afford the bills I have already. It would be nice to have health insurance since I end up owing money for not having it every year anyways. But for some reason when I apply it says I make too much. How is $25,000 a year too much.? Keep in mind half of that goes to child support throughout the year so really I’m only keeping around twelve thousand. Things were better before Obamacare health insurance should be free for those who can’t afford it or are in positions like mine.
Jim
I’m just glad I finally became eligible for Medicare. I spent two-and-a-half years uninsured living on SSI after being diagnosed with terminal stage IV cancer. I managed to survive on compassionate care and negotiating discounts (paid using SSI) for infusions and blood tests.
But I’m not alone. In Florida there are two-and-a-half million uninsured. They make too much from SSI to receive Medicaid. And since SSI is not considered income from an Obamacare point of view, they don’t make enough to be eligible for Obamacare. In the meantime, if they become disabled (as I did) below the age of 65 then they half to have to wait two-and-one-half years for eligibility for Medicare.
What a wonderful system that kills off its most productive citizens and rewards the least productive.
Kathy Anderson
I completely agree with this comment. In fact, I am in disbelief that a president of the US and the congress could allow this to happen to working people. Both my sons are victims of this. Prior to the ACA implementation, they had solid small business insurance through United (Oxford) Health. Makes me never want to vote for a democrat again.
Suzie L
I have found it difficult to get health insurance. My husband has a job that offers benefits, however they are 10% of the income and we could not afford it. I am a full time student and he is a teacher. We qualified for the exemption, however could still not afford the bronze benefits that the Obama care offered. We made to much to qualify for assistance but not enough to pay for this. I found this to be so heart breaking, I called for help and was told there was nothing I could do. I do not understand this system. I would have been able to afford this if Insurance was far cheaper. I was finally able to afford insurance because teachers get a raise every school year, not much however enough to now be enough to pay for and not put us in a hardship. I tried to get insurance for this month to be effective, because I need to see a doctor, possibly a surgeon and now I can not get benefits because I am out of the enrollment period and did not have a life change that was qualifying. I do not see how this helps me. I am so disappointed, and I am not sure how I am a tax paying American who can not get what I should have a right to. I really need to understand why this is the way that America is now run.
Suzanne
I dont think Americans should have to pay for anything they dont want. I refuse to pay for health insurance. I dont go to the doctor. Why should I pay for insurance? Im 47 years old and I can count on one hand how many times Ive been to the doctor. I refuse to pay hundreds a month for something that im not using.
Bobb
From The Chicago Tribune on August 2, 2016……
“Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, the most popular insurer on the state’s Obamacare exchange, is proposing increases ranging from 23 percent to 45 percent in premiums for its individual health-care plans, according to proposed 2017 premiums that were made public Monday”.
Can someone PLEASE point out what is AFFORDABLE about the Affordable Care Act? Even with a subsidy, this increase will force me to go without health insurance. This disaster has to end.
Philip
Agree 100% with most of what was said…I have been a type 1 diabetic for most of my life…and I had obamacare for 1 year…when I tried to apply for it the next year I was informed I don’t make enough to qualify…I thought the point of the whole thing was to make it affordable for the people who couldn’t afford it, not to make it less affordable for everyone and tell people they don’t make enough. Where are the extra taxes actually going? I now pay almost $300 for one vial of insulin, and let me tell you it doesn’t last long. This is what I would call extortion. I am required to pay full price because I can’t afford the insurance that is supposed to be affordable. Tax breaks don’t do a damn thing to make up for something that should be considered illegal. I know you are just going to tell me about all this stuff I can do to make up for it. But I won’t be reading this again. Just know that no matter how many times you feed people this drivel about making up for it…it doesn’t make up for anything
Joan More
You are absolutely. Right.I say obamacare should be abolished or make him be forced to live on his own plan for 6 months to a year. Damn him.
Chantel
I agree with you.. This was an awful law out into affect.. How are people suppose to make it.. And yes I work full time and healthcare cost are taking away a lot of my earnings where sometimes I have to decide what bill to pay and make extensions on..
Charlene Lange
If the American people would stand up and demand not for profit single payer universal health care for all as a right of citizenship, like every civilized nation in the world, we would not have this problem. At least Democrats don’t inflict death and misery on innocent people, like Charlene Dill, and leave little children motherless. They are the true pro death party.
Christine Edwards
Obamacare is not affordable for the majority of Americans. We make just enough that we are outside of the tax credit range, but not so much that paying $1000 a month just for a premium is affordable. Next we are looking at prescriptions of $500 per month. Many years ago we were paying $250 per month and I mistakenly thought that was too much.
It is very disheartening to work so hard and see us making no progress because a larger and larger percentage is going to health insurance w/ a $5000/$13,000 deductible.
We need reform. This is a large tax on working Americans and it is a disincentive to work hard.
very ticked off woman
I am sorry but I HAVE to vent on this as it has brought me to tears and I am beyond frustrated. This is killing my family. “Obamacare” is a JOKE. My husband and I live in Ohio and bring in 31,800 a year if that. We have two sons…one who is disabled and goes to PT twice weekly. We are denied medicaid (Even though every insurance place i try to get quotes from say we should qualify, he gets BCMH and SSI for his disability…so why not medicaid?). and the catch is my job offers insurance BUT Obama f*cks us because they go off the person who works the said jobs premium price then the TOTAL household income….WTF. Why not the cost for the entire family price? Of course myself will be less but how the hell is my family going to be covered and how is this fair? For just my family its 892 a month through my job, my whole bring home after tax paycheck! We cannot live off just my husbands income. We do not qualify for the help on the Marketplace because my job offers “Affordable” health insurance. WHY THE HELL AM I WORKING THEN? Please obama…tell me how I am to cover my family with your BS “Affordable” healthcare? OR then the funny part…YOU FINE ME if i cant shit out the money for your BS healthcare…wow…what has this country come to? It makes me sick knowing those who sit on their butts all day get free healthcare but since I work and try to make a living I am punished….my children are punished especially one who cannot even walk…because I cant afford to give my entire check to get healthcare with a high deductible. What am I supposed to do? Be lazy and not work, get on assistance and make everyone else pay for me? LOL….no thanks…I have more pride and integrity for myself and those of us who work our butts off in this country than to sit and be a bum.
ObamaCareFacts.com
A single mom working two jobs and still living in poverty after child care and other expenses isn’t a bum, its actually a common demographic of person who needs assistance. Lots of work to be done, lots of justified frustration, but lets not start throwing stones at the poor due to our frustration, lets focus the ire on healthcare reform and the politicians who don’t support reforms that help the bottom and middle.
steve
the US is the only free western civilization in western America without free universal healthcare and the highest cost of care in the world.
heck you can go to communist Cuba and get free medical care and a drug that cost $120 here is only 5 cents in Cuba – if you don’t think that is a problem – filthy rich lobbyist for the for profit healthcare companies ensures it stays this way along with the many other greedy licensing bodies for every healthcare provider etc that Ive mentioned before
the 3% of the high powered lobbyist in the US drive US healthcare policy – as long as they do – US will remain the highest cost healthcare system on the planet Earth and Obamacare will suck every last penny out of every business and individual to pay for the highest cost healthcare system on Planet earth – Obamacare feeds the system to create an even higher cost of care as providers are able to squeeze even more out of the bloated high cost health system
Bernadine
The so called m market place tell you lies and after you have signed up there is nothing you can do for a year. Also insurance companys refuse to pay claims and then after the renewal period is over you find the company you are with has doubled your rates. This ideas has not helped the public as much as I was lead to believe it would. This is just another way to put people in debt and penalize you if you say no..p.s. I am a retired demonstrate.
Natalie
It’s BS. I missed payments via debit card mishap. Now I can’t get insurance. I explained THEIR ERROR in billing. Yet I have a penalty and no insurance. I can’t buy insurance outside Obamacare til November despite being willing to pay for anything. I did the right thing. I work and pay taxes and I can barely live I can’t even keep $6000 deductible insurance. If I made $10k less a year I’d have no deductible a 20$ month fee. If I sat at home
All day and didn’t work I’d have medical coverage. I choose to work and if I get anything serious I will be out to dry. This is not for the people. It’s for insurance companies and government to profit.
Mecca McCloud
Totally agree, I just called the IRS who basically told me that there was nothing I could do bout write my congress, aren’t they the ones who voted this in. I feel that I am force to take something that I cannot afford and Obamacare makes you think they will help you but in the end they take back the money given to help with insurance care. What is the difference , just leave me to buy my own if I choose. If not I can pay out of my pocket like I have been doing. I will not vote for anyone who supports Obamacare!
Lisa Miller
What a sad ass world this is..Iam a single parent struggling as it is,I work everyday of my life and still can not put a roof over my sons head,if it was not for my mother I WOULD BE ON THE STREETS…Now you want me to pay for Obama care and i can not afford it ,i work for the Bayonne Board of Ed as a Teachers Aide and do NOT RECIEVE AN INCOME in July and August ,how the hell do i pay for health insurance,are you kidding me…..Now my 17 year old works part time and you want me to add his income to my annual income and have my rates go even hire,really how DOES THIS HELP ANYONE ,THIS IS A FRIGGIN JOKE !!!!!!!!!
My mother is sick and when she leaves this world i will end up homeless but i guess that is ok as long as i pay obama care right
ObamaCareFacts.com
Judging by your story there is a good chance that you’ll qualify for subsides by considering a family of two and part-time work plus your paid work with the school, especially if you take into account income after deductions (which can include an HSA).
I don’t have enough details to give you specifics, and realize extra income means extra spending, but increased family size means more savings (why those are connected for tax purposes).
See: https://obamacarefacts.com/federal-poverty-level/
D. Gross
Reading your reply and your solution, it is despicable you suggest seeking out further subsidies in order to survive the Obamacare fiasco, a failed and flawed convoluted policy that is all smoke and mirrors, forced on our citizens. It’s intention may seem to insure more votes for the Democrats, however it is counter intuitive. The better answer is a progressive health care plan that is truly affordable, without mandates, competitive with reasonable deductibles, and is transparent. It can be done, but not by this administration or any administration that will continue with these absurdities.
Brent Cousins
Duckers made me pay $850.00 for five months of obamacare, I was told by big brother that even if I don’t pay it I’ll still owe it??? I paid and got nothing but a piece of paper saying that I paid them. SO WHAT!
I don’t care what leverage they use against the elderly. That’s the last $850.00 the FEDS are going to extort out of me ever again..GOOD LUCK COLLECTING AZHOLES!
Chery
I totally understand your situation. Unfortunately I am unable to do the job that I love due to an injury on the job. I always carried our health insurance because my husband is self employed. We have been struggling to pay our health insurance premium (practically a mortgage payment per month) of $1800 per month plus Doctor, Dentist, Lab, Eye, Dermatologist Bills. and the list goes on. For example today I picked up a prescription for my son’s epi pen. The clerk at cvs said $55.00 please. I was dumbfounded. I said are you sure you have the correct health insurance information? She said yes otherwise they would kick it out. Then I asked how much it would be for the epi pens without insurance. She said $500.00. Something is so wrong. We used to pay $20.00 for epi pens. (2). This health insurance premium and all the other hospital, lab, Copays are bringing us down. We cannot afford to go on with these ridiculously high payments. We live in Mass. we also have Liability, Disability and all other costs. We only hope that this CHANGES with the Election. Highly Unlikely… Something has to give.
Sabrina Jones
I will soon lose my Medicaid bc now I make too much but I can’t afford my own coverage. I just make too much.
steve
which means by making more , now you have to shell out most of it to pay insurance premiums , making your net take home not much better off.
isn’t the health system great – everyone pays most of your earnings just to ensure yourself for that rainy day when something big and bad happens
that’s why insurance executives work the least hours of any profession and makes the most money of any profession even the actuaralist that underwrites the premiums for the insurance companies
Chris
I’ve never been able to afford health coverage in my life. I’ve lived from check to check and that hasn’t changed. I recently changed my ways and stopped using drugs and got a degree. I was stoked when Obama approved summer coverage for my grant. I graduated and went to work for the school I attended, but then came “Obama care” so the tax return I was counting on to help me with a vehicle was stolen by this so called “reform”. Is this really helping people that need it or just oppressing the people it was meant to help by only increasing the economic gap that has always been there? I still can’t go to a doctor and I can expect to pay instead of getting a return each year.
ObamaCareFacts.com
It depends on your income really. If you are saying you live check to check that is a sign you can get a good price on coverage from Medicaid or marketplace tax credits, if you simply forgo that cost-assisted coverage, but make enough money, then you could end up owing money back on your tax return.
The ACA is providing free or low cost coverage to tens of millions, some in the middle are about in the same situation as before with a bit better protections and a bit more rules, others really are paying more. Health insurance was pretty lackluster for many before the ACA, but it has a few more twists and turns today and not every one is pretty.
From what you say I have a gut feeling you are in the group it works out pretty well for, just gotta make sure you contact the marketplace or medicaid and get yourself with the right assistance for you income / family size. That will give you your healthcare options, then you can weigh the costs, taxes, and assistance for yourself to decide how you feel about things.
steve
everyone knows Medicaid is a 2nd level care system, accepted mostly by county run healthcare systems since the fees they pay are too low so what you end up providing is still the same old 2 tiered system , rich gets best care , they poor get substandard care – nothing has changed that
go to Britain and every hospital emergency visit, every drug and clinic visit is 100% fee and they even pay reimbursement for your taxi when going there and getting back – THERE is no billing system in Great Britain – no need for Health Plans and billing everything is 100% free and everyone gets 1st class same level of care and Healthcare costs are far less of GDP then the US
US healthcare system including Obama Care simply doesn’t work- but I must say at least it does give coverage for those that the Evil Health Insurance companies in the past would not have covered you if you had any health conditions that would have cost them and their bottom line at Least Obama Care provides that – but then all you healthy people subsidizes them – yes the healthy pays for the sick – that’s how the insurance system works under Obama care costs goes up for everyone else so that every one can be insured
instead of fixing the real problems of Healthcare of spiraling out of cost system run by lobbyist and special interest groups that go nothing but jack up health care costs – that’s the problem that needs to be fixed – instead Obama care rewards them by increasing health coverage demands so they get paid even more and every resident in US pays for that subsidizing of the even greater inefficiency incentive it providers to the healthcare system providers that game the system to enrich themselves
and that’s exactly how its worked out – count my words
it has done nothing but increase health care costs even further for the system
ObamaCareFacts.com
I agree with aspects of what you are saying. I’ll only note that it is sort of a glass half full view. I’ve read the law and followed the updates, when we look at the full 1,000-ish pages and follow the story of each provision we find lots of aspects that are working. Are the health insurance provisions so wonderful we should never revise them? Hardly. But, credit where credit is due, there are a lot of provisions that are working.
I can’t provide the full justification of my statements due to the wide array of points to be made. But i’d say quality control, cost curbing, patient protections, and subsidies for Medicaid and low income come to mind. Seriously, look through our summary of provisions and you’ll find some great ones: https://obamacarefacts.com/summary-of-provisions-patient-protection-and-affordable-care-act/
So agree that some aspects need work, and agree the costs are a big symptom of the work that hasn’t been done yet, but disagree with being too critical of the corporate side and the tiered system. We have a ways to go in America before we give up on for-profit models, and for-profit models in health insurance and healthcare are always going to lead to rationing and tiers. Let us though do better and fight for more. Healthcare should be a right in my book, but i know others disagree with that.
steve
the gaming of the system by providers billing more and doing unnecessary services is disappearing due managed care systems getting rid of those incentives so the providers are being dis-incentivized to do more once all the pay per procedure is all gone with the capitated systems
but that doesn’t get rid of all the licensing bodies that enrich themselves with licenses and additional licenses and premiums to be paid for each level of licensure until nurses are making more then most of any profession as each level of health care providers fight to get equal bill for what they do – ie $100,000 plus a year for taking your pulse and weight etc. and key punching that info into a computer
providers of care and making a fortune
duplication of services 5 MRI’s in the same regional when only one MRI is needed due to 5 different competitors duplicating hoping to drive the other out of business
there is no collaboration in the health care system to save money because its viewed as anti trust collusion and kick backs when collaboration is required to save money
the above 2 are the 2 biggest drivers of health care costs
the 3rd is simply healthcare system has less of the management processes to see in highly competitive commodity based industry because healthcare still deludes themselves into thinking they cannot be turned into a engineered process to be followed like making any quality care product so everyone does their own thing and most of it is wasteful because they are special and cant be systemitized
Elizabeth Parker
I think the Insurence companies and the heath care field is fucked up as a hole need to cap the insurance companies and hit them hard with Taxes Taxes Taxes Humana is a company that is an example of LEGAL THEFT to the consumer. They have our Government officials wrapped around their finger.
Chris
Im 47, single, white (although I dont see why that is even a question these days) male (also, not sure why thats even asked since we can just pick genders at will these days) and I make just under 30k a year. I am a live-in caregiver and I work 7 days a week, no overtime no benefits.
The best plan available to me in Texas is $266 dollars a month with a $6500 deductible. I cant afford to pay that since I am on a payment plan to pay the IRS for last year’s penalty. This cant be happening. My government cant be happy that am being forced to shell out so much money. My god, its more than my car payment.
I feel like I should say I am disabled transgender minority with 8 kids just so that I can get some healthcare that I can afford.
I have skin cancers popping up. I have issues with my colon. I need to be seeing a Dr. I feel like going to the E.R. is a complete waste of time (since I dont have insurance and I am not an illegal. No bs, come to the University hospital in San Antonio and go to the E.R. and watch as illegals are allowed to cut in the line. I have seen it with my own two eyes.)
Im worried that the people in D.C. are completely unconcerned with the burden this has put on us. I cant pay, I cant get a second job, there are no raises in this job, and even IF i was able to somehow earn more money to pay this healthcare bill, I would have a higher premium with my income.
Honestly, do I need to just be poor so I can get healthcare? Poor, super rich or work in Congress to get healthcare?
Thanks for listening, I hope that other people like me can get some relief from the government that is supposed to help us. And if not help, then at the very least they should do is not hinder.
Thank you.
Anon A Mouse
I for one have a success story. Without getting into 2 many details I have been working 2 jobs for just about 4 years now. A 7 day a week work life. I have a wife that is disabled and is continually denied disability because of the amount of fraud in that system. Despite the fact that she has worked and paid into that system. I also have a child, a beautiful girl with autism. Unable to afford the health care at my full time job we went on the Healthcare market and found we qualified for assistance. Not a great amount, but not out on the streets amount either. One day I had an idea. A program design that can help my fellow co workers do some aspects of their job in 1/4 of the time and show case our products in a more professional manner. after 1 1/2 years of tireless nights and designing… and re designing and praying… and more re designing, I finished and presented the program. What a success!!!. By co workers love it!. My bosses love it!!!. The owners love it!!!. I am showered with praise. Awarded with a very generous raise. I can now stop working 2 jobs and maybe even think about home ownership. Then reality hits. Income tax season reveals the true serpent hidden in the shadows of this new health program. 1st. My return for the year is decimated as I have to pay back the assistance for Obamacare knocking my return down to… ready for this… $11.00!!!. We rely heavy on that return for car inspection. Every year that friggin car needs $700.00 or more in repairs or replacement parts to pass. But its ok… Breath… My generous raise can make it up soon. We just need to save. I can work the 2 jobs a few more months and we can make it. No no no… The raise put me over the qualifying mark and my premium doubled… just like that. My raise was instantly absorbed and I now make slightly less than before the raise. That is the Effin reward in this country for ambition.I don’t care about the poor and unfortunate. I came from there and battled my way out of it. The don’t deserve MY reward!!!. Mr. Obama (Never my president!!!) took that away from me and knocked me back down. I still work 7 days a week. My marriage is destroyed. I never see my beautiful daughter. She begs me not to go to work, she misses me, but I can’t afford to miss one day. I need to keep a roof over her head and food in her tummy. One day she will hate me. I was never there for her. This is the reward now for ambition. I have none left. No dreams. No aspiration for a better life. I see no future. I have no life left. Every day I wish to die. DNR .Pleeeeeeeeeeees DNR. I can’t afford it. There’s your Fact.
GC
We have been “lucky” as my husband was always able to get insurance through his job. We had to pay something but the company was able to get a group plan and paid for part of it. Our daughter, who is an adult, lives with us because she cannot afford rent on her salary. Sure, she was able to sign up for a plan, but has to pay a bit for a “halfway decent plan” (which still does not really cover that much). All Obama did was make the Insurance Lobbyists happy as heck and the COST of the insurance premiums skyrocketed. Thanks a heck of a lot, Obama! (YES! I am being sarcastic)! We have every RIGHT to be pissed. We work hard all our lives only to have some out-of-touch rich politicians stomp on our basic rights. I am personally tired of the government putting its nose where it DOES NOT belong. My family and I do not have our hand out begging for the government to GIVE us anything. (I am more than positive that many people feel the exact same way)! We have paid into the system for a very long time and when we do claim social security we ARE NOT being given anything as WE HAVE PAID for it already! (Hopefully, it will be there when we need it)? Obama and his family and his cronies have everything at their fingertips and have NO idea what it is like to really be with only a few resources (and to have to make due), so, of course, we resent the mess he has pulled. Of course, while Obama is on his vacation to Hawaii (or wherever), we are not able to afford one (and it’s not because we don’t save). None of us should be FORCED to purchase a product from their insurance lobbyist buddies. Sure, there are so called “exemptions”, but we should not have to explain ourselves if we decide not to purchase their “product(s)”. Personally, I really really resent the penalty that Obama and “they” have placed on people who do not buy the insurance. Like I said, my husband and I have insurance through his company, but it has been affected very negatively by ObamaCare. The real problem is that Obama does not care. This is looking a lot like a dictatorship. Guess the “Men in Black” will be coming for me next because I speak my mind. This is a free country? Really!!! @@@@ Lol …. End of Rant!
Terri
Obamacare is a joke. I had to take out that crud and they refuse to pay my Dr. & hospital Bill’s after making payments for the last 6 mos. I draw Mr
My retirment & in the winter months my husband works very little in landscaping.
steve
here is what is really wrong with the HealthCare system, the people providing the care are paid twice what they should be.
the nurse that takes your blood pressure and tells you step on the scale and put that data into the medical systems computer is paid a Six Figure salary for do just that – REALLY !!!
the greedy associations for nurses, doctors, and every other healthcare worker are some of the highest paid people in the Country.
fix that problem and maybe the healthcare system might work
all we got is a bunch of ego centric healthcare workers demanding higher and higher six figure salaries for taking you pulse – REALLY – I can get the same answers for free on Google
the Licensing bodies of Healthcare are robbing the rest of the countries resources paying all their members with sky high salaries or they all go on strike
Healthcare workers are taking all that money and going straight to the bank with their high salaries and 20 or 30 layers of administration Senior VP of nursing VP of Nursing Director of Nursing Assistant Director of Nursing , Nurse Manager, Nursing supervisor , etc etc. – you get the picture of how the skyrocketing healthcare costs came about
then the consumer doesn’t take care of their own health so the providers get to bill the Health insurance companies billions and trillions a year at the high rates they charge because the medical facilities that employ them have to pay everyone six figure salaries
and it goes around and around in a big circle unless the consumers that pay the premiums and out of pocket costs end up enriching the health insurance executives, the nurses, doctors, and administrators all their hard earned money like a pyramid scheme, spend more get more pay more and the consumers paid it all out of their pocket books
yOU BET like college tuition the cost of healthcare skyrockets because health insurance plans now can charge higher premiums, higher deductibles because the govt forced everyone to pay so the law of economics created a even higher demand which ratchets up the premium costs not saving people money – just like college tuition the more the govt pays tuition subsidies, the more students take on loans – the colleges just jack up their employee salaries and jack up the tuition
I think you get the point – yes the Govt drives up costs period in every thing they touch
if they put Me in charge of the healthcare system – I would not have F****ked it up !!!!!!!
Tony Horn
I HATE Obama care!!!!
He forces us to get health care insurance and these ducking companies I have called quoted me anywhere from $100- $500 a month or more for health care.
WHAT A RIP-OFF!!! Some people like myself who work a seasonal job and are forced to go on U.I. simply can’t afford it. Obama is a ducking aspwhole.
What he did was a dork move. Also my company offered me health insurance taking $67.00 outta each paycheck. That’s a $134.00 a month which I can’t afford to have. I need that cash to stay afloat. Working for a living sucks and there is no reward for it. OBAMA SUCKS!!!
Fucking As$**$e!!!! I’ll be glad when he’s outta office. FUnK U OBAMA! for making us pay for something we don’t wanna pay.
ObamaCareFacts.com
I think a lot of people are upset by the high cost of health insurance for those with middle incomes. The end result is often unfair. All the things the ACA gets right aside, those on the bottom and the top get hurt the least by costs. Costs were an issue before the ACA, but of course before the ACA one could just forgo coverage or get a shaky plan (or exploit their lack of preexisting conditions to get a cheap plan).
It is obvious more needs to be done. I again will state that I really do think health insurance as a tax (single payer) makes sense. The least bureaucratic version of this possible ideally.
Fedup
The co-pays are the rough part…yeah you have cheap premiums but pay up the nose when it’s time to see a doctor–if they take your lousy plan.
Heather
Don’t listen to this BS from these government/ DemocRAT mouth breathers. They are all same. Tell you a bunch of BS to line their pockets or to reach their agenda. Truth is there is nothing for working class people to do but to take being shafted by these people. I am writing this reply in 2016…June 6th to be exact and today we had to purchase a crap pile of a plan that is 10,000 deductible and includes absolutely NOTHING!!!! it is 100% unusable. It covers one (1) annual physical. It will not include doctors visit if you are sick, blood work, etc…just one exam to have a guy look at ya and talk to you for 20 seconds. It will not cover anything why? cause you’d have to pay that 10,000 deductible for it to pay anything…we are working poor and will NEVER be able to get that deductible paid EVER. so essentially to save our tax returns we have to buy insurance…in order to afford it we picked the cheapest option which is 130 some odd bucks a month…the more reasonably deductible plans (6000 etc) are over 300 a month for us…We can’t even afford to keep food in the house and they expect us to get insurance for over 300 a month? we have no cable TV we pay rent, gas in the car to work, and food when we can get it. You are 100% right OP…there is 0 incentive to work for a living. I am so tired of this…ironically the only time I can afford to eat right? is when we get tax returns. if we don’t get crap insurance they would rob that from us as well.
ObamaCareFacts.com
While the frustration is warranted, the first part of your comment is way off base (if you are going to speak in broad terms). There are tons of politicians and people fighting for healthcare reform that are 100% populist and pro-people over big business. While at the same time, in both parties we have those who are out of touch with the middle class and are passing policies that help them. The “funny” party is that your comment is displaying the sort of division of which they are using to divide us. The American left isn’t going to accept a solution that focuses on repeal and taking coverage away form low income people, but I know most don’t think squeezing the middle class is a good alternative.
Alan
These conversations shouldn’t even be had in America. If Justice Roberts doesn’t flip at the last moment we’re not. Corruption, nsa, blackmail….smh. Screw these a-holes that forced this unconstitutional tyranny and every last sorry sob that supports and defends it.
My votes goes to anyone committed to the abolition of this tax.
To be clear, I have lots of complaints, and don’t mean to invalidate anyone’s complaints, just giving the other viewpoint.
ObamaCareFacts.com
You do realize that millions of people who couldn’t get coverage before the law can now? I talk to these people personally (as you can imagine running a site like this). I wish we had a solution that didn’t hurt some tax payers but did help those who needed it. It easy to get overly focused on the costs and the not think about the sick and poor, but I think most people in America do actually care about the sick and poor and don’t want them dying on the street, so we have to deal with the complex and can’t just settle for abolishing a tax.
Concerned_Dad
So for the 100th time I keep seeing the “Obamacare Facts” people refer to access to health coverage as if its the same as access to health care. Yes a few Americans that did not have “health insurance” are now covered, but at what cost? How many more have lost or dropped their health insurance because it has become incredibly unaffordable? Were the poor and the sick really dropping dead in “the streets” as you claim before this monstrosity was passed…really? It is true nobody wants to see honest good people hurt and sick, but you can’t claim something as a victory because a certain few make out at the expense of the many. To use an analogy that I think is very to the point…if my car wasn’t working very well, and I bought parts to fix it that made it run even worse, would it make sense to buy even more parts and spend more time trying to make the bad parts work? This is where ideology and agendas fail everyone. The responsible thing would be to admit what you did broke the system even worse in spite of best intentions, remove what you did wrong, and start over. It’s a common sense solution that escapes most people while trying to force what they want onto others. You can spoon feed crap to people and tell them its wonderful, but it’s still just spoonfuls of crap.
ObamaCareFacts.com
All good points. I don’t disagree with this stance. Coverage is not the same as care. And we do on this site make that distinction and criticize the program for things like high deductibles and burdening the middle class more than the top .01% of earners and businesses (for example). I would be for repealing the tax-related provisions and replacing with a single payer system or even another system that sought 100% universal coverage. I am not for replacing it with the current GOP health plan which is too spending and doesn’t go far enough on ensuring coverage.
I think the best solution is catastrophic coverage as a tax, then let insurers sell supplemental coverage with as little burdensome regulation as possible. The goal should be to have a thriving healthcare industry, to bar no sick person from seeking basic or essential care, and to have government involvement minimized while ensuring the integrity of the system. But that is just one general viewpoint.
As for the “dead in the streets” part. I literally know people who were dying in the streets before the law. Not even being hyperbolic. I also know others who were just straight up dying without care. One of our employees who was in her 20’s at the time had premiums nearly $1,000 a month due to having hay fever once (she went without coverage instead of paying this). The old system wasn’t OK, but that doesn’t make the new one perfect. Like with many things, we need constant bi-partisan progress to ensure both liberal and conservative values are upheld while we also ensure a fair and compassionate deal for those in all classes.
Barbara
I too am stuck paying 500$ a month in addition to co pays! Now, between my student loans and my health insurance I’m out 1000$ a month! I went back to school, as Obama suggested to us, and decided to specialize in my field. Now, I’m not making that much more, just enough to end up bringing home less money than before because now my premiums and my loans are taking all my money. I go to the doctor and I hear one patient after another talking to the reception about their obamacare and I think, im paying for all of you and your kids to come here and get the same service I’m paying over 500$ a month for! It’s so unfair! Is rather get universal healthcare and this way EVERYONE has to contribute!
Tom
I’m sorry but you must be full of it !!! No way you can make $500 over medicare level and be paying more than $100 month with a very low out of pocket by choosing the second lowest cost silver plan that has a 97% benefit level. My wife and I are self employed and we each contribute the max to an IRA and a Solo 401K. So while we net before tax over $150,000 our AGI on line 37 of our tax return is 36,800. My out of pocket max is $400 and with the subsidy the premium for both of us is about $100 /month. So far this year my insurance company has paid out over $40,000 for several operations I needed, my cost $400.00 🙂
Seth
I agree it’s absolutely ridiculous. It costs me $170 a month for health insurance. I don’t want it. I’m perfectly healthy. I’ve never used it since I’ve had it. Yet I’ve paid well over $3000 dollars to financial corporations labeled as “insurance companies”. I canceled my insurance effective June 2016. My only choices are to pay the government crooks or the insurance company crooks. I made this decisions when I saw the insurance representative at my work drive away in a $60,000 car while I was eating my top ramen and struggling to get all my bills paid. When I canceled the rep tried every trick in the book to try to scare me into not canceling. SCAM!
ObamaCareFacts.com
You aren’t alone in feeling that way. We end up playing devil’s advocate on this page due to the sentiment being negative (see title of page), but I will say there isn’t a bone in my body that feels good over someone having a bad experience and feeling like they aren’t getting value out of their coverage. It is hard to feel good about health insurance, but it does seem we should be working toward not making people feel bad.
Sid
I am disabled. Because of crooked State politics, I was forced to resign from my position of 18 years. They took away my health insurance that supported my wife also, and I had to fight to keep my retirement fund and life insurance. Now I am paying almost triple what I used to pay for less coverage, without covering my wife, just to keep my doctors that Obama LIED about me keeping under ACA. I got my first bill…how am I supposed to pay this? I can’t work and all the jobs that offer opportunities to people with disabilities are just saying that – they won’t hire me, and if I do get hired my benefits will be cut, which puts me in a worse spot. I do not qualify for ANY of the exemptions or assistance offered to people who probably aren’t even legal US citizens (I’ve worked alongside of quite a few, most making higher salaries than me, collecting benefits every month, at a State agency no less). Tell me why, when the Obamacare online form asks for your race and I checked “Prefer not to answer,” errors popped up and the page would not advance until I checked “white?” Racists!
ObamaCareFacts.com
Wait, what?! What marketplace did you sign up for that made you check “white”? This is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Please post the full URL so we can verify.
donna
I THINK U R RITE THE ELITE ON BOTH SIDES GO VOTE THEM OUT
Frances Sanzo
It is very frustrating. I struggle to make ends meet every week. I am 60 years old and I live alone, I have only my income.. I work 2 jobs and a 3rd that is only one night a week. I’m not a lazy person. I don’t qualify for medicade because I make $2500 a month. Unfortunely out of that comes taxes that is not taken into consideration and my rent which is $1028 a month that is not taken into consideration either. That doesn’t include gas and electric, car insurance, food or gas which I need to run back and forth to all my jobs because there isn’t enough time inbetween to take public transportation. then I’m told I will be charged at the end of the year $625 for not having something I cant afford. Tell me how this makes any sense. This is why the people on welfare don’t go back to work, they know how to work the system and get everything for free. I know because I know many people that do this. this is not what I want. but tell me what is the benefit to being an honest person???? I qualify for nothing. So what does someone like myself do?
ObamaCareFacts.com
This is the sort of situation that honestly just breaks my heart. It is somewhat common, a person’s income on paper makes it look like they are living in the middle class, but after debts and expenses they aren’t. This is a problem when we tax income and give credits based on income, but don’t give deductions based on debt and expenses, but yet we get inflation in prices, but yet we don’t get a raise in income, we see exponentially troublesome problems for the middle class.
I am a big fan of healthcare reform and working toward 100% coverage, but that doesn’t excuse the plight of people in your situation. No great answers, but those are my thoughts.
Bobb
How can any objective person in their right mind call a $550/month premium, with a $5,000 deductible, that only a handful of doctors will accept “AFFORDABLE”, or more importantly “healthy”? IF I’m able to find a doctor that takes Obamacare in my narrow network, I still can’t afford to use it.
Lets force the people that passed this junk legislation on Obamacare, like they did with the American people and see how they respond. Guessing It would be repealed in a matter of days.
ObamaCareFacts.com
Well, we would have had single payer if it wasn’t for all the opposition. Even Trump wants to expand Medicaid.
I say we all demand a better deal, and no, just repealing ObamaCare isn’t enough.
Bobb
Most Americans are leery of single payer because everything the government touches becomes corrupt, expensive and embedded with politics. Obama basically proved that with his forced passage of the Unaffordable ACA. Too much money, politics and power at stake to hope for a legitimate solution anytime soon, even if Trump is elected.
MG
In rxactly the same boat as you. I will vote out every Democrat and tepub thst passed this crappy insurancr, that I can not afford.
justanothetaxpayer
I think it’s funny to read how angry people get at Obama. He did this. He sucks. I won’t vote for him or any other Democrat again……
Newsflash – Obama simply had the idea – it was already being done in one state and working (Republicans were responsible for that) and he wanted the same for all Americans. I do agree with that – we should ALL be able to access appropriate Healthcare as needed. It should have cut out some of the BS insurance companies were doing….
Another Newsflash – a select group of Representatives (Democrats and Republicans) are the ones responsible for throwing it together. They were aware there were errors and also knew whose head would hang on this – and after the groveling and political bs they threw something together and put it out there for everyone despite problems (they will fix them later). Clearly there are some major flaws as while some the crap with Insurance companies was cut out – it opened the door for other crap like Major rate increases and dedictibles. It didn’t make Healthcare accessible to everyone – it just shifted the segment of the population who can now access it. I am highly disappointed in the representatives, whom make very nice salaries and are not subjected to the same plans the average American is, and their blatant (to me) finger in the air to their constituents over politics. Learn from it – if they don’t serve the people in the manner they are supposed to quit voting them back in! They can shut down the government because they can’t get along and agree on something (wait what?? shut down the government!!) and yet we the people do nothing. It’s time we did speak up we did stand up and we make our voices heard. They know most are either not gonna vote because “it doesn’t make a difference anyways” or will vote simply because of a specific party verses whom is actually the better candidate. With that in mind – it’s job security for them. You know who they listen to and why – well in this case insurance companies are one….but then again insurance companies know if they sit back quietly like “we the people” it could be detrimental to their overall business. Want to do something – then do it. Start voting. Let your representatives at all levels understand – if you do not act for the people in the position you are in you WILL NOT be voted back in regardless of which party you are for.
Are there some obvious flaws in Healthcare Reform – YES. I liked the concept but the way it was done I’m very unhappy about. It needs to be addressed soon and they need to quit the BS about OBAMA did this or Democrats this Republicans that. I honestly don’t give two crops about who at this point – I do give a crap about it being fixed and quickly. It’s here, it’s not going away anytime soon so fix the flaws now and battle out the politics later.
Chris
I am 55 years old, single, and my gross income is around 34000.00 a year. I live on NET income not gross income. I pay for a bronze plan with a 6800.00 dollar deductible. After all my living exspenses are paid including obamacare….I Have a whopping 156.00 dollars for food! What makes this so disgusting is that come tax time again….I will be paying for someone elses healthcare too. How is this right? I can’t afford to use this crappy insurance nor can I afford to drop it. I suppose I could walk to work…not pay for heating fuel….not pay for electric….hey….I could not buy groceries! That’ll save some money to pay for a worse obamacare policy.
Pamela McCarthy
I don’t think anyone should be FORCED to have healthcare! It certainly should not be based on income nor tied to taxes. I have always carried Health Insurance and worked hard to be healthy. What I earn or not has nothing to do with my health unless of course I can’t afford to pay for my preventative maintenance, because of what I give to insurance cos.None of the money I spend for Health Insurance goes towards helping my Health! My premium only stresses me out and makes my health worse not better. We are rewarding the Insurance companies by this Forced Coverage. They don’t deserve to be rewarded for being a go between to my doctor or obstructing access to my care. How is it okay to force me to be a part of a system I do not condone? Why can’t I choose how to care for myself without being punished by people that don’t themselves participate in the system? I would love to know how you can be exempt from Insurance when you work hard to be healthy with no help from the company’s taking your money?How can I be exempt and just spend my money on my health with no penalties from the Gov’t or Insurance company?
Mike
Yo!u keep talking about the tax benefits of HSA’s, but you never mention that you cannot pay your premiums with them and that your premiums are not tax deductible. For me that’s over 15k I cannot deduct. I bet if the politicians had to pay for their own health Obamacare would not exist
ObamaCareFacts.com
We discuss that on our HSA page, sorry if that isn’t clear here. 100% can’t pay premiums out of that, so it only affects out-of-pocket spending, dental, vision, etc.
The high deductibles are criminal for sure, lots of reform is still needed, and the politicians should all be on Medicaid / Medicare. I would be very happy to pass a rule like that, in a way it protects the public from damages as it ensures we don’t lose a politician to the for-profit health insurance industry.
Hmmm, well maybe that is pushing it.
Nate mullikin
To make it worse, the doctors in our city have stopped taking anything below gold, which makes sense as a shadow credit check and my body as a profit center.
We cannot do anything else till open enrollment. There is no way out for us but to pay the premiums which are 40% of our income.
Does anyone care about this.
ObamaCareFacts.com
That is the one thing about “the tiers” it opens the door for discrimination. I would be a big fan of “one plan to fit them all”, then people can buy in to cost sharing amounts.
Peter
My wife and I work 2 jobs a piece. We stay healthy through diet and an active lifestyle. The “Affordable” Healthcare Act is a perfect example why many voters are willing to vote for a fool like Trump. I am so sick of career politicians and their corporate cronies making back room deals without our consent. Its outrageous Chief Justice Edwards declared this swindle Constitutional. He should be imprisoned for lying under oath and abusing his “authority.”
Human beings have been getting sick and dying for tens of thousands of years and they didn’t need Obamacare to do so. When I discovered they wanted 380.00 out of pocket each month with a 5000 dollar premium, I immediately realized I was lied to by our President. Instead of having everyone in this country pay 20.00 a month out of wages each paycheck, he handed healthcare over to his blood sucking Corporate cronies. I for one lied this tax year. I just marked the box that said i have health care and was done with it. They’ll get NOTHING out of wallet.
Two Arms people. The FEDS are coming and I”ll be the first to tell them to Go Fu^& themselves!
ObamaCareFacts.com
The only way, really really, to see a change is to be active in politics. I’d strongly suggest Bernie as a Democrat, as that means single payer on the table, but everyone gets their own choice. I don’t think, even with Donald, the GOP will let him actually pass legislation that favors the people. But certainly, if we just all go home and put on TV, we should expect nothing less than Crony capitalism to some extent. Let me tell you, they show up at the table. They make every dinner, if we want change we have to work for it, complaining is OK, but it takes hard work.
K
Seriously??? You guys on here blame the Republicans? It is the Democrats that keep asking for more and more and screwing things up! Guess what? Has anyone thought of blaming the people that work in the medical industry. It is our money they take to fund research and then they turn around and charge us huge prices for prescriptions and medical service. We paid them to begin with. It is time for the doctors to stop demanding we show up every three months to get a prescription renewal They are just finding another excuse to rake more money offthe backs of the working class. Go Trump! Time to clean house at the legislative level!
ObamaCareFacts.com
Yeah 100% thought of blaming the underlying root of costs (like as you say those who use public studies to profit)…. sort of the theme of the whole site along with helping people. On politics specifically, we blame Republicans for not playing ball and deal making with the Democrats. That is where the blame is. They really, really, really do deserve this. But it’s more of a Ted Cruz thing. Who knows what Trump will do, maybe he’ll actually get something done and really will help the middle class… or maybe not.
Either way, we can’t let the sick and poor fall through the cracks. Sort of got to address all the correct things.
So don’t get the wrong idea, we aren’t suggesting Democrats are amazing and Republicans are to blame for ObamaCare, they are only to blame for the ways that they should have been sticking up for the middle class and took backroom deals and the grandstanded instead.
Jeff
I am in the same boat. I am disabled and my wife has been sick for five years. Mystery disease it neither Lyme and systemic spider bite. We give to our children what we can. My wife needs out if pocket functional Dr. Living off one paycheck, I can receive disability. But my wife can’t. We have tried so many times. She is allergic to everything and don’t eat, much, parasitic disease. Doctors don’t believe her but I have actually see it move. Bit on back of neck, and has mthfr. Affecting her organs and have chemical and environmental illness along with viruses. Drs don’t help found one that was trying, 350.00 an hour 150.00 per infusion. Past medical bills. Live in apartment upstairs hard for me to walk. I hate to see us this way. We try to have hope and believe in Jesus and God. He has been helping so far. I can eat anything but my wife needs guidance. Been going to church trying and believing we will be healed, do we can help others. Like we have in past. And still try to.we are flat broke. I am on Medicaid and my deductible is 350.00 and my medicine is over 200.00 dollars. We both are suffering asking for a miracle. Jeff and Becki
Edward Schultheis
I applied to the Market place in December and qualified for a subsidy……..my wife began working and making more money so I readjusted the change in income and was over the subsidy limit. Because of this I terminated the insurance as I cannot afford the premium which turned out to be 24% of our combined income….. I know I will not be penalized for not having insurance because I exceed the 8.05% of income rule……my question is will I have to pay the full monthly premium amounts for the first 4 months when we had qualified and did not have the income increase until 4 months later?
Kathy
Obamacare is nothing but a giveaway to the health insurance industry. The way I see it, the health insurance companies were angry at not being able to simply drop people due to expensive illnesses or not being able to turn away people with pre-existing conditions, so instead, they jacked up the deductibles to astronomical levels as a way of getting back. So we are being forced to basically subsidize the very companies who are ripping us off! That SHOULD be illegal! It’s certainly not democratic! All this stinking rotten government has to do is offer Medicare for all. Or give us the subsidized “evil Socialism” free health care our worthless politicians get! I’m sick of this crap! You pay high monthly premiums for health care but the deductibles have to be met BEFORE the insurance company covers ANYTHING! So you still can’t afford to go to the damn doctor! And you’re basically having to pay for something you can’t use. We can’t afford it, plain and simple. Either give us Medicare for all, or the politcians’ health care or institute a good single-payer health care plan. But of course, that won’t reward the insurance companies for giving big campaign donations to the politicians. That’s what’s really at the root of this mess: favors given for favors received. Talk about corruption!
truth be with you
SO what do you do when you are told you must pay in advance, or even if you are given the option of paying now, or be billed a certain amount at a later date that you know you do not or will not have the means to pay.??? Due to these corrupt deductibles that know one can afford after paying some ridiculous monthly premium for coverage that is not activated until you have met your very un affordable deductible.
These corrupt greedy corporate thieves knew exactly what they were doing when they came up with this illegal unconstitutional BS SCAM. POPULATION CONTROL.
You are scraping pennies to come up with there ridiculous monthly premium, then when you go to use your coverage you are told you must reach your deductible of 6000.00 plus before they will pay anything. This is going to force people into crime, not willingly but because they need there medication that the doctor won’t prescribe because they can’t afford to pay for there blood work or other testing because they are spending all the extra income on there premiums. Within a year you will see law abiding (mostly senior citizens robbing CVS AND WALL GREENS to get meds for there loved ones because they just don’t have the funds.
Basically we as law abiding AMERICAN citizens are being told that we can’t have a home, car, savings account, vacations, new clothes, food, or younger couples can’t afford children………………………
POPULATION CONTROL. This is no more than corporate greed that is destroying what was once a great nation.
ObamaCareFacts.com
Put 320 million people in a room and you’ll get a range of ideas and intentions. It isn’t fair to broadly call the ACA “population control” and ignore the ideas coming from the other side of the isle (which all involve less people covered and more rationing of care).
The goal is, I think we agree, to provide universal healthcare in an American way that doesn’t hurt the middle class or jeopardize business so much we all start losing our 401k’s and pensions, right? So we are looking for that pro-people sweet spot that allows us to be moral and prosper economically. Not saying we hit the nail on the head yet, but let us avoid belittling Obama’s healthcare efforts. Historically speaking it’s surprising he got anything passed, the goal was i’m sure to have us come along and fight for a better version of it.
Texas
Your kidding right?
They shoved the law down our throats. He had the house and the senate. He had no problem getting it passed. It’s unconstitutional and its socialistic. It’s destroying the middle class and small business. Single payer system is what they want. This ACA is the stepping stone. Single payer run by our government? Yes that’s all we need. Just like the big apparatus call the social security system, education and the now goverment run banking industry and let’s not forget the 401K they will take over next. Most of the older hard working people made it when the goverment keeps their nose out of our business. Now this country is full of dumb sheeple that will gripe if they lose their iPhone while their freedom is sucked away. All you have to do is look at any democratic. Liberal, socialistic city in this United States and you will see what future lies ahead. Whimps. We have all turned to whimps. Democracy only last so long until people start voting in people to give them stuff then it collapses. We are about there.
Single payer system. Those words urk me.
ObamaCareFacts.com
If you want Government to do a good job, then government has to work. The Republicans just go far-right anti-everything Liberal. That is so divisive it is nuts. I would happily take a Republican healthcare plan that covered the sick and poor, but they refuse to draft anything that isn’t tax breaks for businesses and no guaranteed coverage for the sick. So us who pick people over profits support Democrats, then we suffer through the half-baked plans we get.
Trust me, the only thing that can help is for the far-right to move toward the center and start working for the people.
Also, Single payer doesn’t work like that. See the page on single payer… it’s a public fund, not public healthcare delivery. Or at least, it can be if Republicans can show up at the table instead of yelling and grandstanding.
https://obamacarefacts.com/single-payer/
Karen Herrera
I pay over 1,600 a month for health insurance in NJ for a family of 6 (Horizon BCBS Omnia Silver plan) To date our insurance has not paid a dime toward any of our medical claims due to the high deductible (and this is a silver plan!!!). We have paid out over 10,000 between premiums and medical expenses. Our income situation has changed for the worse but based on 2015 taxes we are not eligible for any breaks. We have 2 kids in college out of state, so the insurance that we pay for wont even cover them because there are no in network providers at their schools. I am so tempted to cancel everything and pay the penalty ( if I had never enrolled I would be way ahead of the game at this point) but I am a responsible parent and don’t want to have my family be uninsured. Obamacare HAS to be reformed, I pay over 150% more for our individual health insurance that before Obamacare. That’s not what was promised, “your premiums wont go up” “your coverage wont change” “you can still have your own doctor” None of that has been true, it is SO disheartening!
JoEllen DeVine
Don’t you see what the “elite” are doing to the middle class? They are desroying us ever so slowly until we are are on full blown dependant upon the government, can you say moo??
ObamaCareFacts.com
Totally true, 100% agree. Now the day when we realize that the elite are people too, that they live on both the left and the right, and that the answer is somewhere in the middle, on that day we shut off the talk radio and start talking to each other, well…. I mean you can see why some wouldn’t want that. Of course, the government’s role is to protect the people, and that means addressing the social safety net. Since today only one party fights for those who depend on that net, the split remains clear and divisive. This is unfortunate for sure.
earl
everybody even private sector should have same health insurance retirement same sick leave early retirement as goverment employees police, firemen, military get the picture,you can;t live off social securty you work your a&#s off to pay for all the goverment kings.
Richard Daugherty
OBAMA CARE = OBAMA taking care of hospitals and insurance companies. I will not tell you what needs to happen to this disingenuous fellow!!
Al
After I lost my job I was on unemployment benefit for few months and then decided to apply for obamacare plan. I could not believe that I had to pay only $6.50 for a plan with zero deductible for myself and my spouse. But my cheer was premature. Once I got a new job with very average income, my premium for the family had to go up to $1050/ month to keep the same plan. It is clear that Obamacare targets the low income or subsidized families and does not provide equal opportunities for the middle class. It is another way to mask direct funding of low income families by Medicaid by bringing insurance companies as middlemen. The result: more taxpayer dollar spent for fund families who are hereditary welfare and Medicaid “abusers”.
Bill Sayee
My wife and I are small business owners. We make just enough to pay our mortgage and bills. Our take home salary is about $56000 (hardly a great salary for a family of three…now four with our new addition last week). We took the maximum tax credit when applying for our healthcare coverage for 2015. When we met with our accountant to complete our 2015 tax forms we were told that we made too much that year and that we would need to pay back the tax credit. This really hurt us financially. On top of the ludicrous amount of tax our small business pays we don’t even get a break on our health coverage. On top of our monthly premium we ended up having to pay back almost $3000 for the health insurance tax credit. Why is the system designed so poorly for the middle class? This wouldn’t be a burden at if I were a millionaire. Honestly, if I were a millionaire I would gladly pay double for healthcare, put myself in a higher tax bracket and not worry about it. The shortsightedness of our government doesn’t allow small businesses to thrive, which in effect would actually benefit the economy in a major way. I really don’t get it. It’s so easy in my mind.
We aren’t being helped at all. The healthcare marketplace is still expensive. I believe the heart behind the affordable healthcare act was in the right place, but it didn’t take in to account that these insurance companies are still for profit and plans are still priced way to high? The cut-offs for receiving the tax credits are way too low. I’m trying to grow my company but these problems keep us from getting to a place where we no longer have to struggle just to gas up our cars. Healthcare is the one thing that shouldn’t be for profit. We all deserve proper medical treatment and preventative care without breaking our backs and going bankrupt from paying ridiculous premiums.
James Bong
OBAMACARE (and other obama acts ) FACTS:
We will get revenge for you. We’ll take away from those who work, regardless of how much it will hurt their families, and give to you if you meet any of the following:
– you stay at home doing nothing and are not a productive member or society. (we believe that you should still afford new shiny wheels, a big screen TV, nice furniture, big couch (very important) the latest iPhone and an overall easy life. You deserve it. THEM (those we simply hate) have lived well long enough. It’s it time to take away from THEM and give to you, the incompetent, the lazy, the resentful , the stupid, the gender-confused and mentally disturbed. You too have rights, and now it’s YOUR time.
There was a song in the Producers called “Springtime for Hitler and Germany”. Well It’s Springtime for Obama and his cohorts of degenerates and no-goods now.
Hey you already have a Cult-of-personality logo with your beloved leader’s face and the blue-red rainbow. You know what you’ve forgot? A hand signal. Hitler had one as well as other guerilla-revengefull-figters that you would have associated with had you not been elected president. You must get one and salute each-other on the corridors of the White house and anywhere you meet your fanatical or leguminous-brained supporters whatever the case. A “heil Obama” type of gesture. Think about it. It will give you a stronger sense of unity and power within your diabolical, ruinous cause. Maybe a finger to the rest of us?
ObamaCareFacts.com
People, mentioning Hitler loosely like this is in poor taste. There are lots of ways to express frustration without referring to one of the most evil men of the 20th century. Plus, it doesn’t even really make sense as a comparison due to the political climate of Germany between WWI and WWII, if anything you should be comparing the left to the parties that lost to the NAZI party. The NAZI’s were obviously right-leaning as their opponents were the lefties. This is fact and history, and considering the tens of millions who died in the name of hateful rhetoric, highly important to grasp. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_federal_election,_March_1933
Gabe Stroeburn
The motto answer to the question- “I wonder if we can we screw decent people and lay the basis for the creation of a communist state in the USA where incompetence and weakness are rewarded rather than effort and honesty? Can we full enough people into thinking we’re some sort of liberators while we do our scam tactics?”
They answered: “YES WE CAN!” Remember?
We’ll here’s my story. For the last 10 years I have been working my a$$ off to keep a small business alive that barely pays the bills. It is the only source of income I can get adn I’ve been working 10 to 12 hours a day. This affected my health and my relationships. My life is $h!t. But I don’t ask anyone to give me anything. What I want is to be left alone by these govenmental robbers. I can not afford to pay $500 a month for my family for healthinsurance. But the government says otherwise. they’ve set the poverty level so low that someone in my position has to payback almost the entire amount of the Obamacare subsidy. After I paid back the subsidy I lost %10 of my income and on top of that I had to pay about $4800 in copays. that’s a total of 20% of my gross income. The costs of maintaining this small business are high and the profit is very small. It is ridiculous how obamacare consides I make 350% of poverty level and asks me to payback almost the entire subsidy ($500 a month), when after business maintenance costs bills I am having a loss and can barely afford to pay for a very strict lifestyle for my family. I shouldn’t be forced to get your stupid healthcare because I really can not afford it. You are stealing from me. And the prick is publicizing now how much he’s paid in taxes this year, – like $80,000. Yeah, can you believe it? Oh wow, we are so sorry for you… You are such a fair fair man. This is typical communist propaganda. Mao is taking a picture with the people where he too puts a hand on the shovel and drops a dime in the communal box of goods…. This is America now, like Russia. There is no decency anymore, no sense of right or wrong. The government takes whatever it pleases from people who are bending under the yoke without any concern for what that does to their lives. Obama and his cohorts of thieving communists should be sporting the unshakable stain of shame for what they did to this country and the world with their BS politics of “liberation”. Yeah, liberation of evil.
ObamaCareFacts.com
This is like a really sad story mixed in with really angry rhetoric. I’m not sure these are the words that will bring together the majority needed to make the next change in favor of the middle class, but the cool thing about freedom of speech is that they don’t have to be.
Charlene Lange
I don’t understand how your premiums cost 40% of your income. I thought that no one has to pay more than 9.5%.
I am very disappointed in the Affordable Care Act because I believe we should have single payer, non profit health care for all. America is the only country in the world that has even basic health care that is for profit.
When I think of all the women and mothers dying in Republican controlled states, like Charlene Dill, I hate the Republican party more and more. You see, I am both anti abortion and pro life, unlike conservatives, who are only pro life just for nine months and only in the womb, then pro death for all human life thereafter.
It is high time that Americans stand up and demand what every single civilized nation in the world has, universal and affordable non profit health care for all as a right of citizenship.
Josiah Redwolf
You kno w your answer to this guy is nothing more than Orwellian New Speak and outright BS. And as he said you will censure anyone that does not “drink the kool-aid” or is not a brainless, mindless prole, sheeple, cow-ple. Creatures like all of you that buy into this crap are like those that served the Nazi regime. You follow your masters edicts no matter how insane they are in relation to fact, logic and un-common sense. He or she writing in the above comment on the nazi Obammunist care crap does not have to spend untold hours and days fighting with the pod-people like yourself trying to find some thing workable to follow the Roman regimes illegal edicts. You bastards have stomped on the constitution for so long and have contempt for what is right and push what is wrong that you cannot see fact or logic if it came up and bit you in the ass. Who put this shite-site up any way? Five will get you ten that it is put up with out tax dollars taken at gun point from the corrupt regime. Oh yeah, you will say no and hide it under layers of sludge but is overwhelmingly the most logical answer. Your here to do what the rest of the corporate controlled Pravda, dis-information ministry of the corrupt regime in the District of Criminals. I will not pay extortion money to a corrupt and yes, illegal regime. That is just what this sham is. Take the money away from the billion dollar corporations in the MEDICAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX & the MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX and we could fund universal tax paid health care for everyone. But this is a PLUTOCRACY, a authoritarian, autocratic corrupt regime since they got off the boat. They have managed to fleece the peasants here since they got off the boat here on this land. The reason they can, because they know that the masses are made up in the 80-90% of compliant, servile brainless masses like yourselve and those that push this unconstitutional shite. Hitler and Stalin and all other despots in this land and the world over know this too. That is why those things that despots bring suceed because they know how worthless the majority of the useless breeder & feeders are so easily manipulated. They know they are stupid, apathetic and ignorant. So lets see if you have the stones to let this piece of reality go up on your page. I challenge you.
ObamaCareFacts.com
You are all free to say whatever you want. The idea is to have a dialogue.
deborah ferguson
I also am included in this OBAMA/CLINTON “village has to raise a country of indigent peoples who don’t want to work, live a high risk lifestyle, and expect the lower middle class and upper lower class to pay for it. I spend most of my time in anxiety…I think this will cause me such mental health issues that at least by next year I will be one of the ones the country has to take care of…I am 60 and have had my budge planned out for a while on how to spend my retirement money. it did not include high cost health insurance in the way OBAMA care is making me pay it. I suffered trying to stay at t high stress job as long as I could to pay my bills and provide for my family. I have been divorced for a long time and barely getting by but have managed to keep my finances in the fair to good zone. I quit my job this year due to I just could not manage to work in my current high stress employment any longer. I quit just short of my age 62 eligibility for social security…I exhausted my savings to keep my mortgage and other expenses up to now. I plan to find a job in the second half of the year, but right now I cannot work, I need the rest. I do not have enough income to afford the health insurance coverage needed and because like it is said here…I work….I don’t qualify for cheap enough plan to afford it. this OBAMA care BS inflicts on the lower middle class and upper lower class peoples and will ultimately destroy a lot of us financially. For some of us the cost of the penalty alone takes away basic finances we need to just survive. it makes me so angry. I do not think the plan as they have outlined it is a good way for America at all. like you say, the politicians who are inflicting this on us have plenty of financial freedom and do not suffer this at all, I dare say any of them or at least the majority of them have never had to scrap for anything. the brackets for taxes and the brackets for this health plan are not realistic. oh—well—yes I can make it where I can pay for the coverage…but it takes away one of my rights as an American Citizen, the right to pursue happiness…I will not have enough money to live my budget. I pay $900 per month mortgage, $106 car insurance, $250 utilities, try to stay under $250 for food, try to stay under $100 for essentials, $150 gas and car expense…that is $1712.00 just for basic living and I cant live any cheaper unless now I don’t eat right…which will make me sick and then unhealthy, stay couped up at home, and don’t do any shopping…I already buy things at thrift stores…and btw—how am I going to help boost an already slow economy if I don’t have any money to spend? A $12 per hour job wont even pay these expenses I have, how can I afford health care??? Are those government officials that stupid and out of touch! this is killing me, it is literally making me sick….and I have not been sick, nor do I have to use health insurance on any accountable basis. I take good care of myself, and only go to the doctor for wellness checkups when needed. now I have to pay into a system that is causing me financial distress so all those gunshot, out of wedlock pregnancies, drug abuse and all that other statefunded crap can stop draining private and state health institutions. I HATE IT! This is nothing but the government sacrificing some for what they want to accomplish for others in our society…and I am one of the walking wounded! I feel sorry for a lot of others I know who are even worse off than I am…some small business owners who are already suffering and this will actually kill their hopes, dreams, and future…
Justin Moore
it’s the sad state of america these days. companies are trying to pay less and less, while costs grow more and more. Insurance, Taxes, Car Payments, Credit Card Payments. It all ads up and with the stagnant wages in america it is only going to get worse. Housing prices are expected to increase another 40% by year 2020. While the us debt gets larger and larger. Besides that, in regards to your post, you could not carry insurance and just pay the $695 fee for not having coverage.
cotton
the obama care penalty is 698 dollars this year
Chris
it’s not Obama’s fault that anyone goes from full time to part time. I bet you Obama Care is more affordable that the other pocket snatchers. And who said you had to get Obama Care? You can get with anyone that you can afford. I am tired of people pinning this whole thing on Obama. Get over it and switch your insurance already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
truth be with you
Chris I do not mean for this to sound disrespectful, BUT have you read all of the prior statements. This is not about going from full time to part time or shopping for less expensive coverage. And although Obama agreed to put his name on this bullshit scam corruptive law, NO he is not solely responsible, this is something that has been in the works for more than 50 yrs and longer. It is that it took this long for corporate greed to figure out the best and fastest way to take out the middle class. You probably believe AIDS came from monkeys too. Forcing the American people into worthless part time jobs was a very well thought out plan. It has taken many years to send all of our industrial jobs over seas, leaving only worthless part time jobs for honest hard working Americans, and most of the worthless part time jobs are being given to non tax paying free benefit drawing non Americans. The lucky honest American that gets 1 of these minimum non livable wage jobs has to work 2-4 of them just to put food on there table. By companies going part time they do not have to offer this worthless coverage because the employees are working less than 32 hrs. a week. Big money needed a scape goat and what better way than to make the first black president be known as the worst president in American history. AND BELIEVE ME HE IS BEING PAID VERY WELL FOR IT. If you knew anything you would know that all presidents are just puppets led by a class much lager than an American president.
If you would research yourself you will find that there are only 2 companies to choose from all of witch may have several little mom and pop stores selling there virus. THERE ARE NO CHOICES ALL OF YOUR OPTIONS GO THROUGH UNITED HEALTH CARE.
deborah ferguson
Well said. Conspiracy theorists aside, this is very true on point. if we will just sit long enough and look at what is going on, there is an agenda to split wide the upper class and then only –lower class. and lower class is in a higher bracket than ever imagined. $45k and below. the corporations going to third party labor, no benefits, no security, is a very high threat. Not only to those who are employed by it, but the services and goods coming out of it. America is being slowly eroded from the inside…and just look at all the newer laws being introduced and forced upon American Citizens. And, there was a time when diversity was the thing that made us great, now it is what is killing use, it is not diversity, but infiltration…solid mass infiltration of underlying destruction. I don’t know how to say what I want to say so it is meaningful, or clear, but I am so alarmed by what I see coming. I worked in the government system in 2 areas that already gave me this vision over 20 years ago, so I fear the next 20. But–we are still a democracy, we still have a voice, if one person can make a difference, then if we can rally, we can hold off what is coming for our next generation, and hope they can build off that. df
Jimmy Duval
Lenin, Mao Tzedun, and Barack Husein Obama all have had a twisted sense that they needed to do something for the people by taking away options, by forcing things down people’s throats. It always starts very small and grows to where the whole system implodes. I don’t use your healthcare system, I am not asking anything from you. Why should you make me pay $1400 penalty a year (and it’s growing every year) for not buying your BS healthcare product. Is that freedom? Stealing from the struggling to give to those who don’t struggle?
I’d do anything I can to avoid throwing $1400 at tax time in your direction, money you have no right to take away from me. So I get your stupid obamacare plan. And what happens? I end up paying for most of the subsidy and I am poorer than I was when I was left alone without health insurance I don’t need. I struggle harder than before. Do you think this is just unfounded ranting? These are the fact of my life and millions of others like me. The problem with obama supporters is that they are really dumb and live in a fantasy world totally broken from reality, where they think they do good things but in fact have no idea how to do good and end up hurting people a lot more than helping them. But they still want the label that they did good. In a state of thieves, there is no understanding for right or wrong anymore. So they do wrong things and call them good. Like Lenin, Stalin and co. welcome to the club Obama-ites. I know you’re too dense to make any sense of what I am saying but this is not for you, it is for the sleepy heads who still have a chance to wake up to what they’ve done when they decided to buy your BS 8yrs and 4 yrs ago respectively.
ObamaCareFacts.com
I personally don’t think it is unfounded ranting, and as you note, good intentions can have paradoxical effects.
However, I do think you are dismissing the natural purpose of the left and right by focusing your blame on the left. The purpose of the left and right is to balance and temper each other, and strike deals in the center that favor everyone. Also, I think the statement dismisses the good intentions and good that has been done by assuming naivety and malice. Extreme right or extreme left aren’t things that the average American wants, and using language that insinuates this can be divisive (last thing we need is to be divided).
I think all us in the rational middle here want to live in a country where we care for the sick and the poor without compromising individual liberty. This concept can be expressed as: Humans have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and the role of the government is to offer protections that ensure this. This is a complex task, and even more-so in a democracy with our current political environment, and even more-so considering America’s as a role model for developing countries.
Is ObamaCare perfect or without fault, no. Is paying $1,400 at tax time going to make anyone feel good, NO WAY! But, is doing nothing good enough, I don’t think so. I argue that the GOP does America a disservice by refusing to temper the left in favor of the people.
But historically there have always been problems, when we stand up together for the right things, then we make solutions possible.
glorida delanp
My husband and I took our retirement we had and payed our home off and help a child who have cancer. Husband also retired to take care of me i am sick can’t pay for my medinc but medicare want pay for any of my medincan and I get disability .my card is no good for medinc we live off the one thousands and 200 a month what to do and get medicin.
dfolo
My son is in agony with back pain but because of the deductible, I can’t afford physical therapy. My HR department said that the owners got the best deal they could under the ACA regulations. They do not want to leave their employees in this predicament but legally they can’t just randomly give money to a certain employee without giving to the rest.
dfulo
FYI. My employer is a family company that have always treated their employees well. This is why I believe that so many Americans feel like they are getting a beating!
Richard Daugherty
I’m in the same boat. I would say Obama ought to be hung by those BIG ears!! He is simply being controlled by the big money players. It has to stop.
Yehudit Ben Yishai
I understand your feelings all too well. I am recently divorced, and unemployed. Because I’m over 50, it has been difficult to find a job, not to mention the area I now live in has always had an issue with unemployment.
I have not been able to obtain employment, now all my savings has been depleted, I can’t get assistance from any government organization, and I can’t get health insurance because I don’t file taxes because I’m not employed. I am living in a house without power because I don’t have the money to pay my utilities. Obama care is only meant to derive more taxes from tax payers. It is insurance for everyone, if it was, I would be able to get it.
Susan Wright
I think you’re in the same boat alot of us are and I think it’s terrible. You would be better off paying the penalty and not having insurance, so what help has this done. You couldn’t afford health insurance technically as you don’t have enough left over to live on. So you were broke, but now penalized for it. This is absolutely horrible.
Moderator for the People
TWO WORDS = Cadillac Tax
I read the first couple hundred comments on here then had to skip down to the bottom to leave my own. I encourage all of you to look up Cadillac Tax and read about it until you understand it confidently. Now go to your friend, coworker, grocery store clerk, etc. and ask them if they’ve heard about it. Knowledge over oppression is the only way to force change! (Have to give a shoutout for the irony of that last word and how South Park nailed Obama’s campaign nearly 8 years ago.)
Your deductibles and premiums are going up each year because soon your company will be taxed 40% per person on the total $ amount of coverage they provide per person ($10,200) and per family ($27,500).
Put yourself in a CEO’s shoes for a company that offers amazing health coverage. This tax was to take place in 2018. “Well I certainly can’t pay a couple million in taxes in 2018, that’ll destroy the company. I also can’t raise everyone’s premiums and deductibles exorbantly at the end of 2017 because the sticker shock will destroy my employees. I’ll have to raise the premiums and deductibles every year a little more so that by 2018 we are under the Cadillac Tax mandates.”
Now imagine you are in an Obamacare supporters shoes. “Healthcare for the lower class, great! How the heck are we going to pay for it though?!? We can just get the companies to pay for it. A and if they won’t pay outright, we will get them to force their employees to pay for it. Awesome idea! But how do we do it?!? We coulllllld just impose a theoretical and ridiculously high tax on companies that pay more per person or per family than a randomly selected yet obviously really low value we set for coverage for them. Love it! And no company will pay such a crazy new tax so they will be forced to shift the $ responsibility to their employees! Genius! We get our money to fund health coverage for the lower class either way! Oh by the way, we will just keep pushing back the enforcement date of the high tax on businesses so they never actually have to pay it. I mean, we do own stock in most of these companies. ;)”
Yes, you read correctly. The Cadillac Tax was pushed back from 2018 to 2020. When did this hushly happen you ask? December of 2015.
Step 1. Do your own research
Step 2. Ask someone else enough questions to convince them to do their own research
Step 3. Make a difference together
deborah ferguson
this point is also what many of us will chose, it will just be an extra tax burden. that is what I am counting it as. I am calculating some random income budgets to see where all this is leading us…but for so many that I can vision, this is not a step forward, not now. We are trying to come out of a housing crisis and this is the worst possible time to be inflicting this cost on the American Upper Lower and Middle Class. Stupid Government is what we get when the majority sticks it head in the sand, and expects Big Government to take care of everything while we put our face in a cell phone..df
truth be with YOU
More cost increase, higher penalties for 2016 for this coverage that has clearly been given a cover up name of Obamacare. This is no more than corporate greed. The proper name for this program is POPULATION CONTROL.As they are now rapidly killing off the average American. After our government floods our nation with Heroin this un- justifiable, UNCONSTITUTIONAL law goes into affect.
Approximately 12 years ago our government started pushing anti smoking laws while at the same time allowing the tobacco industry to add more addictive chemicals to the tobacco. This is a multi billion dollar income for our government, do you really think they want you to quit smoking????????????
At the same time our government has to control population. Therefore they will keep pouring the Heroin onto our streets, allowing tobacco companies to add even more deadly chemicals to there products, and make these un constitutional healthcare laws so out of reach for most average working Americans that people will continue to die off at an alarming rate.
More so than population control, it is well known as corporate greed , it is all about the money. Our government or anyone else could care less about your health.
When you sign up for 1 of there worthless programs, you come to find out that you not only can’t afford the monthly premiums, you also can’t afford to use the coverage because of the additional, co pays and the enormous deductible that must be met. This program no matter how you look at is killing people on a daily basis, literally taking food off of the table.
This has nothing to do with the health of the American people, the only people that this program is helping are the one’s that masterminded it, the healthcare industries and the one’s that illegally passed this bill.
Prior to this illegal program
I am a self employed finish carpenter. Prior to this program I was paying under 200.00 a month with a very small co pay and 2500.00 deductible for myself and my son. Now I qualify for a monthly premium of approximately 700.00 a month, 30.00 co pay and 6000.00 deductible. How does this help me????????????????
I like all others lost the coverage that I could afford and was happy with. SO I SAID F–K IT. I’M not paying and was fine til 2015 my accountant explained the penalties to me and I decided to start looking for coverage that I knew I would not be able to afford just for myself because my son has joined the Marines.
Injured on the job September 2014, rotatorcuff surgery in November 2014. March 2015 after telling the doctor something was wrong, I was told it was all in my head and I could return to normal duty at work. This was a workers comp injury. I tried returning to work but could not use my arm. I was then told I had to use the same doctor to repair what I will call his mistakes. I had to close the workers comp case to use another doctor. This little story is leading to something bigger.
YES I took there settlement and was advised to try another more reputable surgeon in my area and use the settlement to pay for it. No one wants to touch me.
April 2015
I contact Florida blue to obtain coverage that I can’t afford.
Total monthly premium will be just under 600.00 a month with a minimum 6000.00 deductible and the coverage will suck and basically not cover much of anything with very few doctors in this program. I then explain that I am not working and have -0- income. Now this wonderful sales rep has a different plan for my situation.
My premium will only be 114.32 a month, the coverage is awesome most doctors are in my network, deductible is bare minimum and this policy I can afford. This is great and I am happy.
2015 tax time Feb.2016 I am notified by my accountant that I have to pay a penalty for the first 3 months of 2015 for not having coverage, and my ex wife would not receive a refund of approximately 2500.00 because we live together and filed jointly , and I received a discounted rate due to having -0- income. I was un aware that the discounted rate would be charged at all and worst of all taken from my ex wife’s return.
Enough about my little problem I read the horror stories everyday and there is no way in hell you FACT will ever convince myself and the millions of others being screwed by corporate geed and our own government that this program is for us or ever going to help us.
This is un -justifiable , un constitutional and an illegal act being committed.
Most Americans have and know the proper solution, cut the congress pay, charge the congress for coverage. THERE PROBLEM SOLVED AND EVERYONE HAS COVERAGE.
STOP DEALING THE HEROIN YOU ARE DISHING OUT
JUSTMYOPINION
Cookie
I can’t afford it either! I worked for an Large Health Care provider, worker for 30 years and was laid off in 2012 because of Obamacare. I was only 59 years old. The company paid my healthcare for a year. I drew my unemployment and tried to get back in my old company but never found work so I retired. I had health plan under my husband, but now he is retired and could not get health coverage for me. I am now 63 years old in need of health care and cannot afford to buy the $549.00 premium with a $6000.00 deduction before getting any treatment. Thanks Obamacare for the free ride for America and not helping the seniors. I live in California. In California they even use your zip code to determine the premium along with the household income. Get real Obamacare sucks! We need a roof over our heads and food.
Tarrah
I truly believed that obamacare was a great thing. Now for the second year in a row, my tax return is being extorted because my life changed and I didn’t tell the government.
How stupid is that? They have evidence of my change in income! They have it for everyone! Why charge me for tax credits I was awarded but never even had a chance to use! But you arrest people in the mob for pretty much doing the same thing. Monsters!
Sabrina
I agree with you Tarrah. The healthcare plan seemed aimed at helping people to afford monthly health insurance premiums. My husband and I had a particularly rough year last year. I am on disability from multiple chronic illnesses (several rare, all requiring specialists). My husband lost and gained employment a few times. In February of last year, we found ourselves in the situation that we needed health insurance, did not have access to work benefits, made just enough to no longer qualify for low income assistance programs, and not enough to pay for full monthly insurance premiums. We had no choice except to sign up for a silver plan with the monthly tax credit. My husband’s new job was constantly changing his hours (one week there would be overtime, while another week would be a 9-5), so estimating the year’s income was nearly impossible (which we told the marketplace reps at the time of signing up). We were told to just give our best estimate and update if anything changed. In August, when my husband qualified for benefits through work, we alerted the marketplace and took him off the plan. At that time, they removed the tax credit. All of last year felt like a health insurance nightmare going back and forth with the marketplace reps, the insurance reps, the medical clinics, etc. My husband lost his job in December due to budget cuts, and we found ourselves in the same situation at the beginning of this year as last year. I was so relieved when he qualified for benefits at his new job a couple months ago, but the health insurance has an insanely high deductible. We are now in the situation of making too much income on paper as a married couple, yet not making nearly enough to survive. We no longer qualify for food stamps, which had been crucial for maintaining a healthy diet, we have tons of out of pocket costs for medical bills, rent is increasing every few months, and since it is April, we had to pay a couple hundred dollars for someone to file our taxes just so they could blindside us with the info that the government says we underestimated our income last year, so we are required to pay back 8 months of the tax credit (that was supposed to help us) in addition to the income taxes owed!!! We continue to fall through the cracks and at every turn, we are told there is nothing that can be done to help us in our situation. We are in our 30’s and spending our lives sick, stressed out, worried about the future, unlikely to be able to ever own a house or have children.
Mark
The comments here are very sobering indeed.
I want to point out something that I haven’t seen mentioned – at least here in the CA bay area, NONE of the doctors in my area will take “Covered California” plans! I was recently forced into self employment, and while our “projected” household income is marginal for the area, it exceeds the maximum for subsidized plans under Obamacare. So we bought the cheapest family plan we could find – Blue Cross at $1,100 a month (family of 3) with a $10,000 deductible (meaning we would pay over $20,000 out of pocket before insurance paid a dime). A few months later when I tried to use the policy (at a doctor who takes Blue Cross), I was told my plan was part of “Covered California” and no doctors in the area would take it.
We wound up switching plans, but the new plan (Cygna) is over $1,200 a month and the deducible is even higher. The tax penalty for not having insurance would be much less – and given our current expenses exceed our gross income, I’m seriously wondering what the heck I’m doing. I have coverage I can’t afford, and if I do go to the doctor it costs even more.
It seems what we have here now is a system that works for the rich and the poorest of the poor. Everyone else is screwed.
My sympathies go out to the many others on this thread who sound like they are much worse off than me.
Bitterly Disappointed
Honestly – I look to retire this year and find the ACA premiums and out of pocket expenses are ludicrous. It’s fnot real health care–it’s faux health care –where you pay the insurance company large monthly premiums for coverage that you will never, ever access because of the sky-high deductibles.. What’s the point of free screening exams, when you can’t afford the treatment? I plan to get the cheapest catastophic coverage I can find and just not see any doctors at all until Medicare starts.
And that raises another point, my spouse’s Medicare is used to calculate household income and this reduces my subsidies and increases my cost sharing limits, but his medical expenses (premiums, copays and deductibles) aren’t taken into account at all when figuring the caps on my cost sharing.
No one was bigger fan of ACA than me-two years ago. But the fact that the administration won’t even admit there is a terrible problem with these ridiculous costs, especially when the “underemployed” are getting Cadillac-style coverage ABSOLUTELY FREE..
There will be some very surprised Dems when the November elections are said and done.
Logan Hollabaugh
Let me just say – I am an American citizen and I have busted my ass all of my adult life to ensure my family have everything they need and want. Now I am being told by some council who never broke a sweat in their lives I will be fined if I do not pay everyone else bullshit plans. I watch all the people I graduated with use drugs and push out mentally ill children DUE TO THE DRUGS they took while pregnant and they get medical care 100% free and food stamps and free housing and clothing allowances and MORE……I make a happy $40,000.00 a year and my wife makes $40,000.00 a year. Between us we bring home around $5,000.00 a month. You would think that 5000.00$ a month only raising ONE child would be plenty, cause we OWN our home and have VERY VERY few bills and OWN our cars. BUT – I assure you, unless you are making 250,000.00 yearly you cannot live free from SUFFERING. We have HUGE bills between TAXES and INSURANCES and all this other S>H>I>T
I am utterly disgusted4 in this country and its GREEDY useless fucks who run it – WE NEED NEW LEADERS AND A NEW CONSTITUTION – one without the current OLIGARCHY
You're best friend
Distasteful.mp3 Read by Morgan Freeman
angela
again, I have my second payment into ‘affordable ‘ health care for me, with a $6000 decductible and I think basically I don’t even get a doctor visit….$661.94 a month. this is the cheapest. for my ‘income’. Amerihealth. listening to Dennis AND Judy on NJ 101.5 this morning about this subject, people called in. the best one was a guy who didn;t have insurance and was in need. went into Urgent Care, paid $100 and got his nebulizer etc and on his way. IF he had insurance, he’d have paid the same. now me? I am never, ever sick. I’ve been to the Dr. once two years ago, for what I thought was bronchitis, ’cause I crawled out of bed after coughing for a week and he told me I had a sinus infection. ugh. before that??? strep throat in the early 90’s….and my broken ankle in 2000. so I am walking that fine line between being broke, or holding onto my good perspective on healthy living ,ok despite my wine, hey I’m Italian!!! and risking that freaking penalty to the IRS next year, will cost me one fourth of what I will pay for NOTHING!!! IF I get a sudden catASTROPHIC illness. I’ll probably live my life, and deal with that. God FORBID. but these are things that keep me awake at night among other things. I just want to be retired and working, and not have to think about being so in debt because of ‘health’ care. BUT let me preface, that once my other half turned 65 and went onto medicare, he dropped his insurance from his ‘job’ which left me under the bus. that’s what really stinks. any advice, lay it on me. I’m at a real crisis….and I only ONLY can hope and pray for the best if I do decide to drop this health care. ugh, ugh and totally depressed. could be worse!!! yes indeed!!!! …… I’m just so at the end of my grip on all of this. and by next new president, I’ll be on Medicare and that might be worse!!! I just don’t want to opt out and God Forbid, something happens to me in the next year, I don’t want to lose my house. a few facts: my husband and I live under the same roof, but we really should be living separately, but again…can’t afford it!! we make combined 70000, and that includes partial (early) SS benefits. this premium only covers me….its a bit extreme. plus for not including SS in our income, I have to pay back to the IRS for underreporting.
CMC
I have been paying for those who can’t afford it or refuse to work for years. I agree with everything you wrote. To help pay for Obamacare, my SS was decreased by $177 annually because my deductible insurance increased.
Paul Matula
I am soo disappointed with America. We always talk but we never walk what we talk. All our friends are covered by healthcare which is about 6-8 time cheaper than ours. Plus there middle classes are still growing ours is dropping.
I just can not afford healthcare even with the Affordable healthcare Act.
(nothing against Obama, just the American system of capitalism) I think many other countries have shown us how to do it better
Give me Bernie Sanders
Regards
Paul Matula
Stu-Texas
Bernie Sanders !!!! Man your misinformed. Capitalism built this country. The AcA is the second form of socialism after social security. Bernie Sanders!!! Next with him or Hillary they will control your 401K. That’s what socialism does. It collapses the middle class where poor and rich are the only ones left. By the way, the middle class becomes the poor. I want the freakin government out of my business. More insurance companies competing for our business brings insurance down. Same with hospitals. That’s!! Capislism. And before you say capitalistic societies don’t care for the poor, your wrong. We used to have a Christian faith that did just fine.
ObamaCareFacts.com
Essentially you have some fair points, but you are pretty off-base. The ACA is uber-capitalism, but a Crony sort that works with corporations instead of the Libertarian sort that says “anything goes”. Neither is an ideal solution, and America has freedom of religion in her constitution… but about 70% choose a Christian based faith.
It’s funny, because I agree with your overarching points “too much government is bad news”, “we need to protect small business and the middle class”, “we need to care for the sick and the poor”… yet the rhetoric you weave in-between the points we agree on has me finding your overarching message unpleasant and wrong. Social Security and healthcare are good concepts at their core, why do you all want to smash them instead of making them work? Life is complex, we need critical thinking not just criticism.
Whats the point in working?
low-income people didn’t make out here either. we’re now forced to pay for something that provides nothing since sick care isn’t included a regular primary care visit would cost someone $300 minimum and that doesn’t include any tests. So if you are sick, you may need to pay over $600 for one doctors visit. At least If I didn’t have insurance I would save my $44 a month and go to the doctor once a year.
Now I’m just paying some rich insurance company owner’s salary & getting nothing.
ObamaCareFacts.com
That is pretty cheap insurance, before the ACA it wasn’t even that cheap. So before the ACA it was just “cross your fingers and hope you don’t get sick”. I’m not saying this is perfect, and you have fair points, but it at least points to a larger overarching problem.
Jason
That is a full load of BS. Now, after the ACA is when you pray not to get sick.
The absolute cheapest plan offered to my family is $500 a month with a $13,900 deductible. That means I’d have to spend over $1,000 a month to meet my deductible before the plan pays for anything. Then the year is over and it resets the deductible. So what do I do? Pay $3,000 a month so some time mid year I’ll meet the deductible? I don’t even make that much a month after tax.
And what is this load of BS using your before tax income amount? I never see that amount in my paycheck. It’s not realistic to say that’s what someone has to live on.
ObamaCareFacts.com
It doesn’t use the before tax amount, it uses MAGI which is tax adjusted for deductions and such. It would be good if it factored in expenses like loans and childcare, but then that would essentially be single payer.
Alan
5 yrs my emplouer paid my insuance..now with obama care they take $850 a month out of my salary and this leaves me with very little to pay the rest of my bills. This week my wife needed to go see the doctor the co-pay is so high we didn’t even have enough money to pay the co-pay when my insurance was free through my employer the co-pays were much lower.I’m sure there’s a lot of people in my same situationand I really don’t know what would you do about it that much
Brian
I’m on a fixed income. A pension and ssdi. I make to much money to qualify for that idiots plan. While on the idiots plan , my first year, my payments were $173 a month. My second year $434 a month. This year if I needed it $534 a month. My deductibles double every year. $12000. Thanks for Medicare!!!! I can only hope a real president will repeal this awful health insurance plan and end the lies told to the American people!
Phil
Either way you look at this , it’s a disaster ! It’s pure socialism ! Designed to steal money and property . It’s legalized extortion on a grand scale by the government ! No on should be forced to buy something they can not afford ! Shopping around for the best deal is and has been the way . Living within your means . Obamacare is part of the plan .
ObamaCareFacts.com
It takes a lot of jumps in logic to believe everything you just wrote. In the fairest voice I can speak, you seem to only have half the story. Do you by chance only watch one news source? Reality is more nuanced than this.
Dr.G
It can not be denied. Every comment on your Web site is negative. If only the person’s that pay nothing participate would ACA fail??. It looks like participants who have paid out more than they can afford will be forced to bail out. Looks like many will lose coverage .in fact with the high costs out of pocket you could argue that although more persons may have a policy on paper, they effectivly have less heath care coverage as a net effect of ACA. Do you consider it a success??
ObamaCareFacts.com
Success isn’t in the right word. Parts of the law are successful, some are falling short, mostly it is just the same problem manifesting in different places. I don’t think we solved the healthcare crisis, but we made a dent in parts.
On the negative comments, it is part that people who are frustrated are commenting and people getting coverage for $20 a month and having life saving surgery aren’t. Both people are out there, and I sympathize with both types.
My personal experince with family and friends has been mostly good, but not all. I am more a humanist and a reformist than a lock-in-step liberal, so I think people would be surprised by the nuanced way in which I see healthcare and other government policies (now that i’ve been writing about this for years).
I could go on, I do all over the site, feel free to read more and ask questions.
JW
You are exactly right! Let’s vote the dems out of office. This was supposed to be Obama’s signature legislation??? Obamacare uses your last 12 months income to determine subsidies … so … if you’ve worked in the past 12 months, you have absolutely no help and receive UNAFFORDABLE health care. If you don’t work … well, that’s the only way to get affordable healthcare. Obama is a joke … but we have no one to blame but ourselves. This guy was the most liberal and the most junior senator in the House, yet … his BS we bought.
ObamaCareFacts.com
Well Romney was a pretty boring personality, I don’t think he helped the party. If you gave Romney a Trump personality I think we would have had a similar result as Obama. It would have been less social reform and a few less costs for the 1%, but given the history of Romney care… My money says we would have got a similar plan (the ACA was the only real plan on the table, so any President would have been working from the same foundation). It is reasons like this that I feel we shouldn’t bicker and should rather take a closer look together as a country. Too bad Kasich isn’t winning the GOP primary. I think he is a good chioce for healing the rift, not by top pick obviously, but at least he isn’t super polarizing.
Tim D.
I think that I hear the excuse that I had to choose between finances and my family so I chose my family. That is a blanket statement so that if anyone tries to argue their point you can immediately justify yours by saying that family comes first. First off, you cant count the deductible as part of the overall 9.6% against your overall income. The average person does not need $5000 of healthcare per year. I dont know about some of the crazy states, but in Michigan on the HealthCare marketplace, I was able to get a 94% plan through Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan in the Silver Category for $200 per month. Then, with the $139 per month tax break I get because I filled out all the paperwork and jumped through all the hoops (not that there are very many) which drops my out of pocket monthly cost to about 60 bucks. Now sure, if I have to go to the doctor and get medication or go to the hospital and have surgery then I am sure there will be some extra cost. I hear people complaining that they cant take care of their families, and while I am sure some of these cases are unfortunately true, I feel like most people just want it taken care of for them or they will just kick and flail and whine about how they didn’t want the ACA and how they didn’t vote for Obama(specifically you Steve, because we live in a democracy and its not about who YOU voted for). Insurance sucks, but if you are willing to buckle down and do the leg work, you can get taken care of. The first tool you need though, is to properly educate yourselves. Dont be swayed because you heard some story about some single individual that got screwed. There are always a few mistakes, and they need to be addressed in their own right, but a few mistakes doesnt at all mean that everyone will have problems. I am guessing most people using the HealthCare marketplace are probably not running into many problems. At least I personally cant say anyone that I know is.
Angela Castro
You are a 100% right, they are penalizing me for not having insurance for 3 months, I had shoulder surgery and was in disability for 6 months and took an additional 3 months to make sure my shoulder was healed properly, I work with heavy things. Also I was out of the country for 4 months, because I do not have anyone here to help me, cook, clean, do Laundry…Only the poor suffers. Why penalize me!!! Health care should be for free a 100%. The USA spent 13 billion on a aircraft carrier. The US placed an order for 3 more aircraft carriers , 3 more aircraft carriers will cost another 43 billions. The Armed forces spending budget is 606 billion, I believe they are over the trillion dollars.
Sam Sneed
We should all quit our jobs and go on SSI disability and bankrupt this hell hole of a country. Get food assistance, Medicaid,disability,a free phone,and utility bill assistance. If you makes less than 50k a year it’s pretty much better to just stay home at this point. Someone is getting rich off of it all.
TA
I’m 57 and disabled on SS and my wife is 52 and works a $9 hr job. The Obama care deductible is $13,160.00 per year for us. There are several of our meds that it won’t cover? Affordable healthcare? Really! There hasn’t been a president that’s done this much damage to our country since Thomas Jefferson.
ObamaCareFacts.com
First time i’ve heard that one. Are you referring to the Louisiana purchase, I’m not Bobby Jindal fan, but I do rather like Montana. Maybe his stance of Native Americans, probably could have used more of that. But no, you probably talking about how he didn’t want a central bank… wait not likely that. What are you referring to? I am honestly curious.
candus pollard
I read some of the answers below about the cost of the insurance and how to get it affordable, What nobody addresses is God forbid if you have to use the insurance, that you can’t afford. The insurance companies are pushing every service under your deductible and it has to be in network. All anestciast (sorry for the spelling) are not in any network, so surgery, unless you can do with out, ha ha, will be un-affordable and you can plan on losing your house. Also, they have moved seeing a specialist (and what Dr is not) to being covered after your deductible, plus 50$ co pay plus 20%, But no one cares because they all have government jobs with great insurance. (my taxes at work)
Laura L Cofer
I just started working at Walmart, we enrolled in Molina in Jan with tax credit our premium was $70/month. Now making $900/month for Walmart I reported this change in healthcare.gov and our premium goes up 3x to $220/month. Ouch! I might as well not work. Also our plan is bronze with high deductible, etc. My complaint is being required to have health insurance when we NEVER go to the doctor and NEVER take meds, we are in good health in our mid 50s. Is there anything we can do to lower our monthly premiums. I could not report my income, but that will come back on us in the future. We live in Texas.
ObamaCareFacts.com
The best way to lower premiums is to max out an HSA and then re-report your income to the marketplace with that in mind. It can lower premiums and cost sharing by the amount you fund the HSA. https://obamacarefacts.com/health-insurance/health-savings-account-hsa/
FED-UP
did you not see what they said?? they make $900/month working for walmart and you are suggesting maxing out an HSA… with what money could they possibly use to pay into an HSA making $900/ month AND their premium is $220 per month?? Thats 25% and we dont even know what their deductible is and given that they are alive, they have other needs as well. like the need to eat, keep a roof over their head, clothes on their backs and transport to and from work so the government can keep their sticky fingers in their wallets. your advice is terrible as you are basically defending this crap all the while real hard working americans who WANT to pay their own way are not being allowed to afford to!!!!
FED UP
did you not see what they said?? they make $900/month working for walmart and you are suggesting maxing out an HSA… with what money could they possibly use to pay into an HSA making $900/ month AND their premium is $220 per month?? Thats 25% and we dont even know what their deductible is and given that they are alive, they have other needs as well. like the need to eat, keep a roof over their head, clothes on their backs and transport to and from work so the government can keep their sticky fingers in their wallets. your advice is terrible as you are basically defending this crap all the while real hard working americans who WANT to pay their own way are not being allowed to afford to!!!!
Kate Spurlock
I am a 61 year old woman living on a fixed income. I am supporting 2 of us on 1495.00 a month. 1117.00 of that goes for my mortgage. I can’t get an apartment because I don’t make enough and people don’t want to rent to us. The rest goes to utilities. And some months they don’t get paid. My medication cost 200.00 a month. Human Services said I make too much to be getting Medicad. I broke my ankle in November. A couple of weeks ago my husband took my cast off with a circular saw because I couldn’t pay to have the doctor take it off. Social security paid 250.00 of a 2000.00 dollar bill. My husband qualifys for medicaid but I don’t. I am feeding my family on 8.00 a day for the link help for food. Then I am threatened that if I don’t have health care I could be homeless.The government will take my home or I can go to jail for not being covered. I can’t afford the 104.00 a month for medicare. Like most low income people I can’t afford high premiums and high deductables. I am also disabled. Obama should try and live like we do on 1495.00 a month. Last month I had only enough money for 5 days of my medication. I haven’t been able to get help with that either. Not everyone takes the Obama care so my husband can’t use insurance he has to pay for. But my income is all we have. So I am paying for his insurance and he can’t use it. And to fine the people who can’t afford insurance is insane. I am paying for the insurance for schools, and all of the other things like city workers and can’t pay for mine. All in property tax. I am even paying for their retirement and I have nothing for mine. Get the man out of office or shoot him I don’t care. While he’s flying around to other countries my family is sick and hungry. My husband and I share 1 piece of chicken when we can afford a piece of meat. While Obama is giving my money to other countries, the money I worked 14 hour days to support my family. I have paid my taxes every year since I was 19 years old and this is the pay back. When do I get the help? What he’s done to the American people is a crime and he should be held accountable and jailed for what he’s done. Shame on him. I say shoot the SOB. Help the people that he’s been living off of. Most of the people who didn’t have health care is because they can’t afford it are now being threatened with fines because they are poor. I don’t know the law but being poor is not a crime. Trump said it best get rid of the illeagles, so the americans have a chance to survive. I see people paying for food with food stamps while wearing 200.00 shoes. How is this rights. And most of them are black people. Maybe if I were black I would have a better life. What he’s doing is a crime. Shame on you Obama. Pay for your own health ins. and retirement instead of the poor people doing it for you. He’s not a leader for a better America but he is the leader leading us into to hunger and homelessness
PAULA JACOBSON
I AM A SINGLE MOM WHO HAS ONE CHILD. OUR HEALTH INSURANCE RATES AT MY BUSINESS WENT UP DRASTICALLY FROM OBAMA CARE. IT WAS $387 / MONTH AND WILL BE GOING UP TO $911.99 / MONTH FOR JUST ME AND MY DAUGHTER. AS A SINGLE MOM I CANNOT AFFORD THIS. WHAT OTHER OPTION DO I HAVE TO COVER MY DAUGHTER??
ObamaCareFacts.com
Look into affordability exemptions. The one for employers is too complex to just explain here: https://obamacarefacts.com/affordable-employer-sponsored-coverage/
kim
My husband alone is 348.00 per month Are they nuts I can not afford that
kim
Now all my employees in my department can only work 29.5 hours because if they work more the company has to offer to pay for 2/3rds of there insurance. So I wonder how many people this has effected!!!??? My husbands insurance will be 348.00 per month. I can not afford that
Justin Forman
I am being forced to get insurance that I can never use. Since Obamacare I am having to pay a lot of money out of my check each week for a “service” that I never use. The deductibles are so high that they pay nothing even if I needed to get medical service, which I don’t.
Why should I be penalized for not wanting health insurance, that I can’t/don’t use.
It feels like the Mafia. Where we are paying “protection” money for no real protection.
Get rid of the fees, and let me make my own decisions!
ObamaCareFacts.com
That is well put. Healthcare, education, food distribution, and a few other basics are actually things we DO need to address as a society (that doesn’t mean state control, but it does mean state input). That is how societies work. Still, America also highly values choice and individual liberty, so I think we have to keep working toward a system that addresses all of this. Example: automatic catastrophic coverage with deductible insurance rather than premium insurance. Ideas like that.
Crit
America values choice? Seems like we are forced to do a lot of s&$t we don’t want to, with a choice of extreme debt, or doing as we are told. Nice choices.
Kyle
While you’re a broken record and a loudspeaker fanboying for a failed piece of legislation, just know that you appear to anyone who wasn’t born yesterday, totally inadequate of having formed a logical opinion.
How you could fail to see that this legislation was written entirely to maximize insurance company profits, and for that reason and that reason only, is beyond me.
Insurance companies:
Oh look, here’s a segment of the population thats uninsured. Look at all that money we’re missing out on. First, we’ll force everyone to buy it. If they can’t, that’s ok; We’ll just use their tax dollars for it and further bankrupt the country and raise their tax burdens to make them even more poor. And now that the government is giving us free money, we can raise premiums on everything, and costs, since we effectively have a total monopoly on the entire healthcare industry!
Government:
Ok, sounds good!
Well, continue blasting your loudspeaker, and fanboying every day Mr. Obamacarefacts.
You’re not convincing me, or anyone else who isn’t as blind as a bat.
Insurance company CEOs making record profits: $90,000 per day.
Google it moron.
Then quit your job being paid to fanboy for obamacare, if you have any self dignity.
ObamaCareFacts.com
Easy there fella. I am well aware of the X trillion dollar industry that makes up a large portion of America’s workforce, profits, and markets. What do you suggest? Do you want to kill it? Good luck, not going to happen under Trump, Obama, or anyone.
I am simply presenting facts and helping America to stay covered and transition toward the next step in healthcare. If one takes a look at the reality of America and combs through each provision of the ACA they will see that it does a lot to help and the parts people don’t like are mostly necessary evils. There was nothing better on the table. What is it that you wanted to happen? My ears are open to facts and ideas, but your populist rhetoric isn’t helping.
carol Crosby
Is it possible to sue the government for increasing premiums on private insurance carriers to help fund obamacare and all their loses with the exchanges?
carol
Jennifer B
I understand your comment, I obviously did a search as I am about to be in the same boat as your are, however let me just correct you , you cannot use a false s/s number to apply for anything, when you apply they plug the s/s number into the system and believe me, they know if it is fake or not.
Good luck to you, I have 3 more years to get medicare .
Tom Carnley
I agree with you 100%. Plus everytime you call the so called obama care salespeople, you get a different person, with a different quote. It is rediculous.
Brandon
The biggest problem is not being able to turn to someone for help. Help in finding a solution to ones current insurance needs, help in determining house hold income, help in finding eligibility for exemptions. Help in getting the right answers.
My situation…
How is house hold income figured out for example, the “living wage” of a house hold? It can’t just be what you make. There is a percent taken from your paycheck that you have no control over; federal Income tax, State income tax, social security, and medicare are the big four (unless you are lucky enough to live in a state that doesn’t have state income tax).
I live in Washington and work in Oregon. The taxes taken out of my paycheck, taxes I have no control over, comes to ~26% of my paycheck (Medicare 1.5%, Federal 9.36%, Oregon State Income 7.8%, Social Security 6.6%). Then you have standards of living taxes: Home ($1250 a month.. RENT), power ($100 a month), water ($35 a month), garbage ($45 a month). Then there is food. My wife, two kids, and myself live off $75 a week ($300 a month). This is all home cooking, no dining out of any kind (nope, not even pizza).
To cover Standards of living I need to make $1750. Thats 1750 AFTER taxes. But then there’s also all the pretax stuff that a full time employee has to pay for and an optional one. Medical for myself is $80 a month, and Dental for myself and my family is another $113 ($193 a month pretax). Transportation cost needs to be included as well. Very few walk to work. So that leaves either a car or public transportation. And I can tell you public transportation has gotten rather expensive here. Specially for those living in Washington and working in Portland. So much so that having a gas friendly vehicle, with insurance, is cheaper (Gas + Insurance $150 a month). I also put in towards a 401k with company matching up to 6% (though Fidelity hasn’t shown positive growth in 2 years, but I still believe putting money into a 401k should.. is.. smart). This is pretax.
So livable income is now up to 2093, include taxes paid and 401k, my NEEDED gross income is about $3000. At 40 hours a week that’s $18.50 an hour. This is just needed to live. This doesn’t include medical bills (two births are not cheap).communications, debt/car payment, and student loans. For my family thats roughly $1000 and that brings our house hold income needs to be $4200.
I make $18, a decent wage in today’s world. But I still don’t make enough. As of July 2015 my wife went unemployed due to my job relocation so I could make a little more, but Oregon takes whatever bonus’s I get away due to State income tax. We can’t afford to put our kids in day care, or hire a nanny so my wife can have better options for employment. Non of our expenses are in any way luxurious and non of this includes the private insurance my wife had. For me to even meet the needs of my family I had to start pulling extra shifts, working 55 – 60 hour work week. I started doing this July 2015.
Back in August, with the birth of my second son, we were forced to drop our insurance because the cost was to high ($585 to cover my wife, a toddler, and a newborn). We didn’t have the option to add my family to my work insurance as the cost would have been astronomically expensive. So we finally broke down and signed up for Affordable Health care. We made some basic phone calls to the Health care lines and asked the questions we thought were the right questions. We eventually got our application filled out, submitted. and my wife and kids qualified for medicaid. Things were looking good until January rolled around. We were notified that my wife was being dropped from medicaid because our household income was to high. I was told by representatives through the health plan finder prior to submitting our application that overtime was not considered when determining eligibility for medical due to non guaranteed income. After submitting pay stubs for income verification, we were denied medical due to a high household income. Now we are being forced to look into health plans for my wife, with the lowest cost plan starting at $250. To add my two kids would bring the price to $400+ (I JUST got off the phone with a wahealthplanfinder.org representative). I have no idea how to pay for this. I am already working beyond the normal means to cover our current expenses.
We only see two options… forgo insurance and wait for my wife to find a job that pays insurance, or I go back to 40 hours a week which brings our household income low enough for her and the klds to be on medicaid. But going this route will eventually lead to the lose of our house, our food budget will drop below $50 a week, and we will be taken to collections which will lead to bankruptcy.
We don’t know what to do and it feels like we are doing everything we can to keep our heads above water. The worst part is we have no idea where to turn for help or answers to questions. The answers we received prior to all this were obviously wrong and mislead us to believe we were in a safer place than we are now. Financial burden is something almost every family faces these days. The Affordable Health Care act was supposed to help unburden individuals and families to allow them to focus financially in other directions.
I thought I supported the Affordable Health Care act, but its more expensive than the private insurance we had previously. What are we to do?
Kay
I agree with you. Obama Care is a sham. The insurance companies are making a fortune. The house and Senate should be forced to use Obamacare and I bet it would get changed fast.
mick
seems so many are happy with that obamacare not me I either take on another full time job to pay the difference than get taxed higher and pay more premiums, if not get fined can’t afford the fine think i could use that for some healthcare this plan is more than half my mortgage, I don’t want to give up my property its all i have but i think that is what is expected of me
Marcy Walters
I just found your post and you are talking our language. I am a full time student and my husband works full time. Every 2 weeks, the government takes over $300.00 from his checks. That money goes to the state and federal government. We did have 4 children in the home, but now we have 3, yet we still are struggling to survive. Though I was in the hospital most of December with blood clots, and my husbands take home pay a check is about 1300, I was just booted off medicaid, thus I could die because we cannot afford the medicine. We live in PA where taxes are high. We have car insurance, electric costs, heating costs (OIL), the cost of food, internet (needed for college), and home phone (needed for internet), college loans, and just enough to pay for fuel and milk, butter, and vegetables which we have to get weekly since they go bad. At this point, we are having to make a decision – Do we get health insurance or heating oil? The children in our home are 23 months old, 3 months old, and 11 years old. I am terribly saddened and feel as though perhaps people may have in the great depression. This is crazy! While we are all suffering, those with GOLD membership are living off us. I would really like to know where the penalty monies are going when peoples taxes are taken? I am deeply saddened and scared. We are hard working people. I am an A student. WE live in a country now where it’s not the land of the free. I am just so sad. I wish I could smile more and be the mother my children deserve, the mother who doesn’t worry about heat costs being covered or not. Lord help us. Please, lord help us.
amanda b
You have read my mind!! There is nothing “Affordable” about this for the working class. In my opinion it works well for the impoverish, immigrants (sorry) or hopefully those who are rightfully disabled. But I can tell you as an RN myself I can not maintain these outrageous plans. It is unconstitutional to use a person’s earned income against them to calculate an insurance premium. I really think the working class carries a big enough weight. I feel like I am being penalized for educating myself. We should be focusing on welfare reform and decreasing the population that does not carry their weight. Those programs were not meant to be careers.
Claimon
I was told by my employer that I needed to drop Obama Care due to them offering coverage now. I make 31,000 a year and my wife doesn’t work. The individual plan is $55 a week and the family plan is $210 a week. They asked me to take the individual and let my wife find a plan in the market. Either way, My wife doesn’t work and stays at home with my one year old and hasn’t any income. What are my options?
Mike
Anytime the goverment gets involved your going to get screwed.I was put out on disability from the railroad with no insurance and not old enough to draw medicare and when you are on a fixed income and have other bills to pay and then have something forced on you that you can’t afford.when you take a plan within you budget and it doesn’t even pay for prescriptions and the deductible is so high you never meet it and the goverment try’s to make you think they are paying x amount, come on the goverment has never give American people nothing.the insurance company are the only ones making anything off of this deal.and when u ou can’t afford it you are fined and the money is used to supply free insurance for the illegals that have come into this country and they are the only ones getting anything free from corrupt govrfment.
Danny Doright
To all on this thread or blog or whatever
Vote for Trump.. he will instantly repeal Obamacare. That is enough for me to get his vote. This is the only way this will go away.
Yvette Huizar
I cannot afford to pay insurance premiums for employee + children through my health insurance offered at work. One of my sons was diagnosed with carcinoid cancer in summer of 2014 at which time I had a 5000.00 deductible. He had multiple xrays, scans, MRI’s, medical procedures and 2 major surgeries that summer. He now has to be followed up with oncology visits, scans, xrays, mri’s, labs, etc every 6 months. After meeting the 5000.00 deductible, only 70% was covered until meeting another deductible and then only paid 80% until finally meeting 10,000. So, when it came time to renew insurance again, I realized that I could not afford to get a 5000.00 deductible since just the octreoscan ordered every 6 months is almost 5000.00. I would be paying about 1200.00/month to get a 500 dollar deductible through my job insurance for emp + children. By the way, I am a single mother working on a teacher salary and their father is deceased. So, my only option was to get my son insurance through his university plan for 2400.00 for 2015-16 school year at a 500.00 deductible and I had to get insurance through my work plan since it is cheapest for employee only. However, my youngest son who is well, had to do without insurance because I just could not afford it. Mind you…Not only am I paying for health insurance, I am still paying past and future medical bills, copays, deductibles, etc. On top of that….Obama wants to fine me for my youngest not being insured??? How is this fair and helping the very lowest of the middle class? PLEASE HELP!!!
ObamaCareFacts.com
That is an awful situation to be in. No specific great solutions, but the general advice is that if you can foresee big medial bills you’ll generally want to find a way to get the higher premium lower cost sharing plan. Also, anyone over 18 can file their own taxes and claim themselves (potentially opening up Medicaid and cost sharing options).
Zack Lloyd
This is all just a smoke screen so Obama, a terrible excuse for a president, can play KING of America….
He doesn’t want to be the leader of a democracy, he wants to be a monarch. He has even hinted at trying to bring back debtor’s prison.
MUST BE NICE to have that kind of money. As for Obamacare, I cannot believe they had the nerve to include the word “care” in there at all, as it seems to be nothing but punishment for being poor.
Before the inevitable response telling me to check out options chimes in, I HAVE been to the site, and like three quarters of Americans, I do not qualify for anything because I am not over 50, in the military, nor a fat-cat politician, living off hard working people’s tax dollars.
If ever there was a president that NEEDED to be assassinated, Obama is it, PLEASE get rid of that Socialist, and get us a real president!!
Janey
Obama care hurt so many families. . I’m totally with you.. if there was a way to get rid of it I’d join. Unfortunately we don’t live in a free country
david
I completely agree! Why are you going to charge people who can’t afford it? Isn’t that the very same people you made the healthcare for? Because it is unconstitutional in every aspect. Govt. Owes the people including myself some serious money. Funk you Obama.
Kim
My family signed up for Obama Care in 2014. Best thing we ever did! Or so we thought. My husband is self employed so we really try to project what his income will be but signing up for 2016 was a nightmare. I felt as if I was talking to teenagers on the phone the whole time and they had my identity mixed up with someone who was incarcerated so I had to send them 60 days of pay stubs to prove otherwise. Our premiums have doubled since we initially signed up and now we are going to be paying close to $5000 for the year but here is the kicker. All of my office visits labs and my maintenance meds I take every month are Completely out of pocket. We do not qualify for cost share services so basically I am paying for insurance that is useless. Our deductibles are $3000 each. Since we have signed up my husbands business has slowed dramatically so it is getting to the point of Rent or Insurance? I think the initial idea was a great one but I feel the insurance companies are doing the same when it was mandatory for people to have car insurance. Over the last 3 years we have had Obama Care our premiums have doubled every year and medical services that were covered are no longer. Why should I pay for a product that is useless?
ron
its all bullshit,i signed up i have no job,cant get assistance,the plans they offer me are like 200 plus a month.they took 695 from my federal leaving me 150.00 dollars,are the money we give away ,we should all have free health care,no fees no deductable,instead we give billions a way to countrys that kill our people,starving,homeless people in our own country,f%%k obama care,they tax us to death,take 35 percent of your pay and give it way,bad subject we are in a no win situation when it comes to goverment,you buy a house, car , pay taxes when you buy it,then you pay taxes on it every year,no wonder things are screwed up,get rid of all the rich politicians,and put a working man in there for president,he killed the coal industry,all kinds of jobs lost ,and he wants 695 dollars of my money because i cant afford health care lol
Ann
I also make too much for Medicaid, too little for Obamacare “Market” plans, and due to “Health Care Reform” my monthly deductible for the plan I’ve had for years doubled for 2016. So… thanks to Obamacare I now am uninsured. Let me repeat… I am poor… and uninsured now thanks to Obamacare. Not only that… but now I am going to be fined for it? And if something catastrophic happens to me over the next year… I will be SOL? If anyone has any proactive solutions that can be offered in plain English… I welcome them.
Anna
My family and I too are suffering from the so-called “affordable” health care plans offered in the State of Vermont. My husband is a farmer, I work 3 jobs and we are trying to put our youngest through college. Neither my husband or I went, but we have managed to send all of our children through (or are trying to at any rate). We made too much money last year so we have to pay back the $7,700 we received in premium aid, plus now I have a bill for 2 months coverage equalling $2,450 due in a couple of weeks. Plus I have over $9,000 in debt I am trying to pay off to our dentist and the local hospital. Add a mortgage, equity line, wonderful credit cards, car payments, college….we cannot afford it. In order to pay off the $7,700 from 2015 I will have to put it on a credit card. I have absolutely no idea where I will get the money to pay for our health insurance. I think my husband and I will have to drop coverage – we’ll keep it on our 20 year old son as he is required to have it in college. Next year, we’ll take the college’s health coverage for him I guess. I don’t know what to do. Literally – think about it when I go to sleep, wake up thinking about it.
ObamaCareFacts.com
So this thread has been up for a while now. I get heat for sticking up for the ACA, and I still do stick up for the ACA in many respects (we are talking about a 1,000 pages of reforms with a long history that can’t be discussed in a single comment).
That said, it is loud and clear that people are struggling. That fact doesn’t need a comeback or an explainer. I actually just feel awful for people hurting. The best advice is to take a deep breath and really look at the tax advice and coverage advice we present on the site. In most cases when I talk one-on-one with someone I can help them save money. So don’t let frustration get in the way off solutions.
All you have to do with your son is not file for him and then (assuming Medicaid was expanded where he is going to college) he can get free coverage. That messes with your tax rate, but it could be helpful.
As for debt we have to look at healthcare and beyond to address the sticking points we have in America as individuals and as a country.
Cuong quang
Why can’t we do like other nation who government provide the health coverage? Why do i have to pay for other health insurance? Like for the lower income, the old and for myself. That’s paying for 3 health coverage. Why can’t the working class get free health insurance for themselves and their family? Why can’t the government just take out another 5 dollor out of my paycheck to pay for my health coverage? Most people don’t go to the doctor but maybe once or twice a year. The government is slowly taking our freedom of us. Where is my freedom to choose what to do? They are forcing me to get something i don’t want. Yes i can choose not to get it but then i get fine. Huh how ironic. The way i see it is that if you work and you pay your taxes then health insurance should be free for you and your family. It seem like our government is not looking for out for the best interest of it people. The government is trying to take out the middle class. It seem like working at Mcdonald for minimum wage sound good. I can get free health insurance for me and my kids and free housing and food. I’m a middle class and at the end of the month i can’t afford anything. I eat bologna and noodles to survive. I am also a single father of two kids so how am i supposed to take care of them if all my money is going to everyone else health insurance. What about mine and my kids health? Like Hitler said ” if you slowly take away one freedom a generation, then they won’t even know it at all”.
Glenn Beaver
I think Obama should be flogged in public and anyone else that believes in this force of government on the public. Me and my spouse are insured generously by my employer. I have step kids and their dad is court ordered to provide insurance. He refuses so we paid for insurance for the two kids last year. This year, the rates tripled so we can’t afford to pay for it anymore. It is too expensive to take their lowlife dad to court and it is too expensive to buy insurance for them. Now Obama penalizes me on my taxes for not insuring the kids. Lose lose situation. I despise Obama for this crap and I despise the American sheep that voted for him. Why couldn’t he have left things alone?!
Cynthia Fortuny
My family’s marketplace premium was based on income from last year. My husband was unemployed the last quarter of 2015 and partially employed so far this year. We are living on savings. What do we do if we cannot afford the $860 monthly premium. We both need prescriptions and my son has asthma but we need a roof over our head too. Please advise, I don’t know what to do and I find the people on the other end of the marketplace phone are not very helpful nor polite.
ObamaCareFacts.com
Sorry to hear that. So make sure you are estimating income based on projected household income. We can’t determine REAL income before it happens (as we don’t have a time machine) so all you can do is base income on the facts. The quick and dirty bureaucratic way of determining income is to have “assister X” (for instance the marketplace worker or a case worker) crunch the numbers on last years tax returns and estimate assistance and elgialbity.
That said, you are the last line of defense. If you know your family will be out of work then you’ll likely want to project a low income to qualify for more upfront tax credits and out-of-pocket assistance. These advanced tax credits and assistance amounts can help you to afford coverage until the income picks back up. If you see that your income will be higher for the year, then at that point adjust your tax credits.
Even if you have to pay back the loan (AKA advanced tax credits), it’s better than not being able to afford coverage. One of the reasons tax credits are so flexible is that the legislation foresaw people being in and out of work. Thus tax credits are based on this years projected income, real income for last year is just a marker to guesstimate what this year will be like.
In short, be your own judge of income and don’t let an assister decide that you’ll get your child support payments, or you’ll be working during the weeks you plan on taking off, etc.
Cynthia fortuny
So, do I have any options other than dropping the insurance? My husband said the penalty is better than almost $1000.00/month. We could rely on Walgreens or urgent care centers if we needed. I plan on checking what our prescriptions will run with self pay. I know my son’s pediatrician offers a self pay discount.
Brian and Sheila Van Houten
We heartily agree with you. This “health-care coverage” is a big penalty to the middle class, and the high deductible makes it utterly useless to us. We, too, will be carefully voting for anyone who is listening and has plans to dismantle this abusive plan.
T
Obamacare is not only illegal, it’s absurd. For those of us working full time that can not afford our own insurance, forced to pay a fine to allow high government employees and non working people insurance on us. How can anyone that actually works a job support this? Obamacare not only needs to be repealed, Obama needs to be sued for every penny he and his supporters have stolen from hard working Americans!
Danny Doright
We got hit with $6000.00 bill to repay an ACA “tax credit”. My wife took a job half way through the year. She worked very hard. The extra income ended up costing us dearly. This is the first time we did not get a tax refund. The IRS has flexed its strong arm to collect. In addition we are now paying interest and penalties.Hooray for the US government.
We are in our early 60s. We have been forced to use our savings to subsidize this nonsense. We are not eligable for any Tax Credit unless we my wife quits her job and I work less. She took the job in the first place to subsidize our retirement.This was to not be dependant on our government later on. We have skimped and saved for 30 years. This made us the evil rich? What a backfire!! This year a silver plan for us is close to $1200.00 per month! Who ever heard of such nonsense. In addition the deductibles are outragious . Hooray for the insurance companies!
ACA is out of whack with reality. The powers that be are in LALA land and so are the candy coated responses on this blog. ACA is simply unfair. It is causing hard ship. ACA is shoved down our throats. It is not as great as you spin doctors preach.
Should health insurance premiums be more than your mortgage, car payment, taxes, food and living expenses, ect, We will not be hoodwinked again. The remedy… My wife quit her job, I work very little this year.We will pay little or no income tax. Wewill get ACA credit next time. We take our social security at age 62. What an adjustment. Seems counter intuitive?
GINETTE
DONT QUALIFY FOR OBAMA CARE , DON’T QUALIFY FOR MEDICAID NOTHING FREE LIVE IN CALIFORNIA AND THEY TELL ME I CAN AFFORD 1200.00 A MONTH WITH AN INCOME OF 4000 A MONTH ..THE COST OF LIVING IS NOT CONSIDERED MY RENT IS 2600 A MONTH NOT COUNTING UTILITIES OR FOOD YEAH RIGHT DOES IT REALLY LOOK LIKE I CAN AFFORD 1200.00 A MONTH ON A HEALTH CARE PLAN????
Francisco
The idea was to do like any other developed country: single payer and cut the middle man. We already have a single payer plan: medicare. But, the insurance lobby threatened to do as when Hillary Clinton was working on it, which costed the House to the Democrats as the industry created a very negative campaign. The insurance industry helped to write the law to protect themselves from extinction. Another thing is the cost of drugs, we basically subsidize research, and the government cannot currently negotiate prices, so we end paying what other countries, who can negotiate with big pharma, does not. Then you have to see the demographics and the actuarial environment in the USA. We are the world’s third largest country in terms of population and have an aging population, the risk is lowered because of births and immigration.
Josh
I am facing the same problem. I am 29 years old and a recovering addict (5 years sober). I am in the process still of trying to put my life back together. I work at a pizza joint delivering pizzas, and go to scool fI’ll time. I am single with no kids. I can’t afford health insurance and the goverment is taking 500 dollars from my tax return for penalties for not having Obama care. Either way I’m screwed. The funny thing is I deliver to the projects in Newport ky sometimes and noticed most people that live their live off of welfare (I know because we always get tons of orders there near the first of every month) They 99.9% of the time do not tip. Not only am I paying 500 dollars but I’m paying 500 dollars so the people who refuse to work can get their government paycheck every month. I make 5.75 an hour (plus tips that I always reported, but won’t anymore.
Catherine E Coleman
Went to get my taxes done and I made slightly higher income. I qualify to go to the free clinic because I can’t afford insurance. My refund was going to be $280.00 something dollars, but after penalties I’m suppose to pay $41.00’s. I quality because I can’t afford insurance something’s wrong with this act.I needed my tax refund so every years I’m going to get penalized for not being able to afford insurance.
I need help
ObamaCareFacts.com
If your income is below the tax filing threshold double check your math, you aren’t supposed to be paying the fee for not having coverage at low incomes.
Chelsea Pitts
Me and my husband can’t afford obama care either. We sign up for it paid 161.39 to get it started , recieve another bill for February to pay it for March , my husband is unemployed and am paying all the bills , this have really stress me out. I don’t know what to do???
ObamaCareFacts.com
If you drop down enough in income you can qualify for Medicaid in states that expanded, you can also adjust your cost assistance for your current income by contacting the marketplace with changes.
Jake
I can’t pay for this I was struggling already before this crap I’ve Hurd of the end of the world …this is the beginning.
Jim Clanton
I got a quote from Obama’s website. $800 per month for basically non insurance. $7500 deductible then insurance only pays 50% of my healthcare expense. It’s a big farce. If Congress, Senate, the Judicial, and Prsisential branches of government were required to purchase this same insurance there would be weeping in the halls of government.
Gin
I hear ya my husband and I don’t qualify for any help they think we can afford twelve hundred a month for health care with an income of 4000 a month rent 2600 a month the working class get no help not poor enough not rich enough going without ….
Roll
If ACA wants to regulate healthcare then why not regulate the insurance companies that are making billions ripping off the middle class people with high deductibles who are working and trying to do the right thing
Chad Baker
I agree with you completely and I’m NOT even a republican. I’m even ashamed to say I was conned into voting for our president, who has done nothing but make life significantly harder on my family. I was all about paying an extra $100/mo to help those in need, but my premiums are now significantly more than my mortgage and they cover NOTHING.
I’m so ashamed of what this country has become. “Greatest nation on Earth”? Please, my eyes are now open. We’re living the last days of Rome here.
Holly
My company offers insurence but the premiums and deductibles are more than I can afford on my minimum wage.
I was receiving health care through our county hospital system at an affordable rate for my below poverty level income until Obama Care required coverage…
I signed up through the health care marketplace and qualified for subsidies, but when I filed taxes, instead of the $470.00 I was approved for on my return I’m having to pay a penalty anyway of $210.00 because IRS said I recieved too much help on my premiums!
I went through the marketplace again for the coming year and the new policy requires preauthorization for essential meds I require for my blood pressure…have been without them for two weeks now.
My companies reps tell me I could even be required to pay back ALL the assistance I’ve recieved if the government finds out that I declined their policy offer as their calculations show it’s within the required range for my income even though it doesn’t meet my needs medically or financially.
Perhaps I will just let them come after me for whatever rules or guidelines I’ve misinterpreted or broken somehow and I’ll get my benefits from a jail cell lol!
( Not having the meds or care I need should make that unnecessary as I’ll probably have a stroke or heart failure first.) 🙁
Diane Cooper
My friend has no income….no job….and is disabled. He cannot afford affordacare…..and can’t prove disability for Medicaid, without health insurance. Interesting delema.
I know what you are thinking, Medicaid will send you to a doctor ( their doctor) and you will be evaluated. Not !
I have heard people say that you have to be dying to qualify for disability. This is close to true for some.
I say, no ,this doesn’t have to be true, you just need an objective opinion, from a Specialist, a random specialist, who has nothing but his or her own reputation at stake.
I am not advocating fraud…….but by preventing a few….we are denying
many who are in desperate need. The affordable healthcare act doesn’t work if you live in a state that will do anything/ everything to make affordable healthcare not affordable to the poor.
Everyone should be able to get healthcare in this country, including a specialist…..
My idea is that every doctor must donate a percentage Of his/ her time to the poor.
It is clear that while Obamacare had the poor at heart……healthcare can still be unattainable.
The Congress should have to pay for their healthcare the same as a poor person does…….every last cent.
Medicaid? Options? No way….. Not in Florida!!!
Gregory Gladney
I truly understand your dilemma my wife and I are 55 plus we lost our business due to the recession we are currently starting over we have the bills that we had the only had our business but now it’s frustrating to keep current on our bills and we educate ourselves to seek employment in a new field. What are people to do who were successful taking care of their families now 2/2 to start all over again in this be hit with the mandate
Mike
This should have never been forced on the American people.most people would have insurance if they could afford it but to be fined and that money to pay for someone else insurance is stupid,how dose that help you.the kicker is Obama didn’t consider what we were paying out for other bills.this is the payback for paying taxes so all the illegals and minorities could have goverment funding for everything.
ObamaCareFacts.com
All that aside, let us not lose sight of those who didn’t have access to health insurance before the law. Also, focusing anger on the poor seems misguided. With these things in mind, what should be done to reform the system for those struggling?
Cher
Ever since Obama care rolled out I now pay $359 each month..went up $75 from last year. My deductible is so high…I now owe IRS $2 k due to not knowing I had to file jointly and now I am penalized for making more income..went to the hospital ..bug in my ear..got that flushed out in 10 minutes have a $3k hospital bill Kaiser Permanent paid almost half I am in collections for $1700. $400 to the incompetent doc who poked my eardrum…since Obama care..I now am in debt to the tune of $4000…great Obama I make $13.50 an hour…..looks like it’s collections for me..oh but at least the rich are ok..I can sleep well tonight! In the mean time I am loosing my job because I can’t get to work because I can’t afford a car payment because I am giving all to my insurance premium each month….oh and does anyone care..nope..!
I am trying to pay down the 400 Doctor bill that went to collections 25 a month and they haven’t cashed one of my checks..money isn’t good enough for them…I don’t know what hell is going on…might as well jump off the cliff! And the thing is I love Obama voted for him trusted the guy to do us right…it didn’t work!
Dana caton
I think this is the most terrible plan I’ve ever had to deal with. I don’t vote because A) the popular vote doesn’t count and B)my life has never been affected by government happenings….until now! I hate the president and this stupid “affordable” health care act.
I was laid off from my job two years ago and haven’t been able to find work that offers healthcare since (mostly I do odd construction jobs) and the work is inconsistent, even with a college degree. This year I got married and my total household income went up to $33,000/ yr (between the two of us)! We are $2,000 over the poverty line so I got my Medicaid cut! I no longer qualify for ANY deductions or benefits. I am only eligible for FULL PRICE care options, which the cheapest for me is $300/month. (By the way, my husband is a veteran and goes to the VA for his health insurance which I can not and to get me insurance through his company would be $800/month). So, at $300/month for “Obamacare” would be $3,600/year (not to mention deductibles etc) minus our gross annual joint income of $33,000 which leave us with $29,400/yr before taxes for two people to live on. But wait….isn’t that below your poverty line??? So I guess this system does not work.
ObamaCareFacts.com
You should be getting assistance at that income. Something is not adding up. you did use healthcare.gov right? The poverty level is actually much higher. Check it out: https://obamacarefacts.com/federal-poverty-level/
Tony
Forced to pay 300.00 a month for just my wife then she gets her card and we have to pay full price for all doctor visits till the 6800 deductible is met! My wife is 23 she would never spend 500.00 a year to go to the doctor this is in fair to us I will vote for anyone who repeals Obama Care I cant afford to support all of the welfare losers in America who sit on there asses and get free Obama Care ant the cost of my hard work!!!!!!!
2sday
I agree with this. What has become of us that we are forced to pay for something we can not afford. They can come up with all kinds of fancy things to say but what it really comes down to is we work for our money and we pay cash for our med needs and it is sad to think we no longer have the right in our free country to say no thank you to very high $ insurance and then to have to pay a fine, and what in return do we get for this fine!!!!
Mohammed
we need free health care and not Obama care, I am paying the same amount when I work My butt.
This is useless.
Mohammed
The rate increase every year. what is the point of Obama care.
Paulette Dominguez
HOW CAN YOU PENALIZE ME FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO AFFORD WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE WHEN IT’S CLEARLY NOT!! I DON’T QUALIFY FOR MEDICAID, APPARENTLY I MAKE TOO MUCH, WHICH I DO NOT, AND THE DEDUCTIBLES ARE RIDICULOUS, I WORK HARD AND DEPEND ON MY TAXES SINCE I DON’T MAKE MUCH AND YOU WANNA TAKE IT FROM ME BECAUSE I CANNOT AFFORD YOUR HEALTH COVERAGE! THIS IS BULL SH*T!
ObamaCareFacts.com
Make sure to check exemptions. If you don’t make enough for Medicaid and you were rejected Medicaid (then your state rejected Medicaid expansion). This means you qualify for an exemption: https://obamacarefacts.com/form-8965-health-coverage-exemptions/
Sherri Hepler
I HATE it. I do not see doctors. I was on the phone for almost an hour today to get my name spelled correctly with covered ca, who will then notify my heath care provider, who bills me, but will not correct the spelling of my name. Hate to think of the difficulties if I did want to see an actual doctor. This is just another tax.
Kim
I agree 100 percent . If I can’t afford the insurance hoe can I afford a penalty. I think Obama care sucks do they think we all would love to have peace of mind and have insurance but how can I when I’m paying for all the people that don’t work and get it for free. I too will not be voting for anyone that wants to keep Obama care in. The government should be ashamed of themselves taking taking from hard WORKING people
Kung FU
I make $100 too much! Now forced to use crappy insurance from work for my son and I. I’m a single mom with a disabled mother living with me and my son. Apparently I make $100 too much for the year! WTF! Now I have to have $300 extra each month taken for coverage for my son. For coverage! Not considering deductable and co pays. OKAY!? Why does the WORKING MIDDLE CLASS always get hit the hardest? The poor and the rich have it easy! Screw you OBAMA!
Lesli
My employer does not provide Medical insurance. My premium went up almost $100 a month. My prescriptions went from $5 to 26.00 and my deductible is $6000. I do not qualify for assistance as I am told I make too much money. I can not afford this. Any suggestions??
Birgitta Blickman
All I read about is cost and penalties. I do not see anything enforcing insurance companies to improve their claim payout policies. We pay a fortune in premiums and have several medical bills in collection because the insurance company drags thier feet paying claims we paid to cover.
So I so not see the benefit for the people. I only see insurance companies getting richer by the day. I believed in President Obama but have been so discouraged and disappointed with his “agenda” policy. How can you Mr President do this to the people who struggle most. It is costly, stressful, and making a lot of people behind the curtain very rich. It has also caused you Mr President to lose the faith of a lot of people who once saw you as the answer to this governments extensive problems especially after the fiasco Bush administration..what a farce that was. Why not learn from his example? Why risk everything you once believed in? Please eliminate Obama care…it does not work for the people and as far as an agenda policy has not increased your popularity.
Outragedinwa
I am a broker and I am outraged by the highest cost of health plans Obamacare calls lower cost alternatives. A $25000 gross per year , one adult has to buy the lowest plan available with a premium of $250! per month with a deductible of over $5000 ? with the plan paying nothing until the deductible is reached.It this fair?. This is not freedom of choice , it is chipping away peoples quality of life. Where is the incentive to work harder? People are obligated to pay to health Insurance companies for plans they can not use!
Clinton Kwaak
I Have The Same Problem I Only Eat One Meal A Day My Rent Comes First And My Light Bill
Susan
Can’t afford to pay an extra 55 dollars for part B. I would rather pay for my prescriptions. They are not as much as. Part B. Its pay this and go hungry.
Jeremy
I have noticed that the Capitalism issue has yet to have been mentioned for the underlying source of this problem. What I mean is a free market creates false demand, which can be called consumerism, and without consumerism Capitalism would fall flat on its proverbial face. So, the umbrella of insurance companies, BIG BUSINESS, that cover everything from auto to health capitalize on a free market which does not have a cap like the NFL. Profit mongering has become common place and is even more prevalent at the present time compared to 60 years ago. Insurance for health coverage today compared to 6 years ago was significantly less, why, because inflation was lower. Big business, the ones who have the most to gain, because, it is all about cutting cost and increasing their bottom line which results in the rich becoming increasingly more in control of plus 90 percent of the wealth and the poor becoming increasingly poorer along with the middle class being lumped in with that category as well, and provide the labor and consumption for 90 plus percent of the wealth which will result in a collapse of our present economic structure.
Missy
Divorced, alimony that is applied to mtg. payment, part time low-wage job. No way is there money to pay for an insurance plan that is virtually unaffordable to use, after paying for monthly utilities & food. This is wrong.
Christopher A Lane
I agree, this ACA is a farce. I make 30k a year for 54 hours a week work, on call 24-7 no days off, no vacation no benefits and I have to pay $200 a month with a $6000 deductible. I still have to pay every time I see a doctor, I have to pay more to see a specialist, and I dont even get discounts on Rx. This does not include vision or dental.
I was totally for the ACA when it was first passed, but now I understand this only benefits the insurance companies, who raise rates as often as the law allows.
The American people are NOT here to provide support for an industry that is not needed, i.e. the medical insurance industry.
We need single payer.
We need our government to assist in our lives being betterand instead the government is truly only looking out for big business via lobbying.
My government is not out to protect me, its out to rob me.
$2400 a year is alot of money to pay to get nothing in return. $6000 deductible?!!? Are they insane? God forbid I get sick.
As a single white male in good health, I feel this is a rip off.
Non smoker, non drinker, I dont have dangerous habits or hobbies, and Im getting bent over, and its the law that I get bent.
Gina Brown
Right now I am in the process of losing our physical therapy clinic because the Obamacare plans are literally paying 16-20 dollars for some P.T. visits. I pay one of my assistants 23./ an hour. I also have to have an assistant. We have worked so hard for years and shed many tears over this clinic.
debie hess
I was living on 12,500 a year and only had to pay 10.00 a month for insurance through the marketplace. I decided to get married to a retired man and he had a nice pension which put us in a higher income bracket. I had to pay back 2700.00 in subsidies because I got married in September. My insurance company also raised my monthly premium to 660.00 a month. all Obama care is a way to make the insurance companies very, very wealthy and destroy the middleclass. I bought a health insurance plan outside the marketplace and now I was told by a marketplace rep that I would still have to pay a fine even though I have good coverage with a 25.00 copay for dr visits. The people of this country need to have a class action law suit against this affordable care act.
Jessie
I am in same boat. I do live in NJ I now pay a premium for my 3 girls for nj family care. I am more than greatful to still qualify for then but I no longer do. I am in debt still paying off bills from when there dad lost his job and we were behind on mortgage. At work I can pay $12 a week for coverage with a $6000.00 deductible or pay little under $500 a month for just me with no deductible. I live paycheck to paycheck. We don’t go out to eat , no vacations, I sometimes don’t send my kids to birthday parties because I don’t have money for the gift. I’m upside down in my home so I can’t even leave. Now I am going to be penalized . I want to get another job but then what about my kids. I leave my house 8:30 every morning and get home most night 7:30 . It’s a Damn shame what’s going on . Yet if I were to stay HOME I would be given health care and then some. I’m being peniluzed for being a hard working citizen.
Ro
I have a question for you Obamacare? A 26 year old who is barley making ends meet, paying credit card debt, rent, car Insurance, food, college tuition and just daily living expenses. How is this person supposed to pay the cheapest $170 a month premium with a $6800 decidable? Stop paying on the credit cards, not go to college to further his education and live in poverty conditions to pay for health care? Do you want to ruin peoples lives? This will ruin his credit, he will never be able to buy a house, car, rent a decent place to live in, get a higher education or have any kind of decent life. Do not start talking about HSA’s and lower premium’s. It does not matter if its is a % of your income, not if you are maxed out to begin with. Yes, he put himself in that situation, but now he will never get out of it because you are forcing him to pay $170 a month he does not have. The lowest is $170. You people do not take into account the bills and commitments people already have. You have made it unaffordable and the premiums are so far out of reach it is just ridiculous.
ObamaCareFacts.com
I I understand this point of view and I think a lot of commenters do too. It’s not that $170 a month is unfair (it’s based on your income at Healthcare.Gov, so your income is decent by your story), it’s that with the cost of living people’s net income is getting down to the wire. Compare to many other countries and you’ll find the middle class in America live like royalty. But compare net income after mortgage, student debt, child care, credit card debt, etc and now we start seeing a “quality problem” (or maybe a “quality crisis”). A hard working American family deserves the means to take care of their loved ones and that means education, healthcare, housing, childcare (or that is the ideal at least)…. this is technically affordable with assistance, but after taxes and the cost of living the next savings in the bank isn’t looking as pretty. I don’t have any real solution aside from shopping around for coverage and tax tricks, but I can certainly spot a problem when I see one. I think when we spot the problem and agree on the problem we can start addressing the problem with solutions.
Ie. “quality problem” as in your quality of life is so good your problems are things like health insurance deductibles, and not whether or not you’ll eat tonight or be thrown in jail for your opinion.
Jennifer
I am posting this comment in hopes of getting advice, not to complain.We are a family of 4 my husbands income is our only income.We have a high deductable plan with an hsa account it is all we could afford.Even though our income qualifys us for a much more affordable plan at the health insurance exchange we cannot apply for it because my husbands plan meets minimum requirements and we are just over the income limits to apply for medicaid.We have run into problems with the hsa account because we can not afford to make a lump sum payment into it, we start the year off with 1500 dollars towards a 6000 dollar deductable but usually have to use it to pay off last years medical bills leaving us in a chronic hole making matters worse just because an expense qualifys for hsa payment does not mean it can all be applied to your deductable.One of my children may qualify for medicaid but it does not really matter because she does not take any medication and rarely gets sick and we still have to pay for a family plan.My son has a genaric prescription that costs over 200.00 a month but does not qualify for medaid because he is too old, but still in school and is our dependant.I have a chronic medical condition that I treat as little as possible because after paying 200.00 out of my husbands pay check every week for our insurance premium we dont have enough left over to afford paying out of pocket for health care until our deductable is met wich has led to increasing disability.Sadly the only positive in this is that I am getting closer to having enough documentation by hospitalization(they have to treat you even if you cannot pay the bill)to get ssdi wich would help alot but so would my good health and income.Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
d
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ObamaCareFacts.com
That is frustrating. Very valid concern.
So ideally, as you know, you would lump sum fund the HSA and get a higher premium plan (but this assumes some extra income to do it with). This would net you more savings over time, especially on a marketplace plan. But given that you have an employer plan, the tax credits aren’t an option, so the tactic is less attractive. For the employer plan there isn’t much you can do unless it “isn’t affordable” https://obamacarefacts.com/affordable-employer-sponsored-coverage/
Advice would probably be looking at other deductions (if you are close to Medicaid) as a family, namely writing off medical expenses over 10% of income. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sa.pdf
Other advice is that kind of crummy advice that no one wants to give anyone, which is find a job that doesn’t offer coverage so you can get marketplace assistance, or find a job that offers better coverage, or work less to get Medicaid or Marketplace coverage. I never want to give advice that is “change the way you work”, because it comes off so poorly on many levels. But when we understand our options we get to choose our own path. Personally of course, I always suggest the options that include working more.
The thing that stinks about assistance programs is that by basing them all on income it creates these situations where working can be disincentivized. Think it’s one of the biggest sticking points of assistance programs, and something that should be on the mind of every lawmaker. Same thing for progressive taxes, they run the risk of disincentivizeing work. If i’m going to hit the next tax bracket by $1,000 this year… why bother making $1,000? Especially when you lose assistance! Not hard science, just a generally thing i’ve notice affecting many families (not necessarily in relation to ObamaCare tax credits).
Wanda
I totally agree with you . We pay for everyone else medical . It really sucks when people work and the government takes our money that we have work for . We should just quit our jobs and let the government pay our bills.
Obama care is piss poor
Onama care is total bs!!! I’m searching couch cushings for change keeping my heat at 60 using a kerosene heater to supplement my heat and becoming very creative with ramen noodles I can not afford the the additional Obama care bill of $280.00 a month nor can I afford the tax penalty seeing how the small refund I may get is always used to catch up the past bills. End this shit and give us our freedom to make our own dam decisions
John McColey
I followed the rules. One month I had to take out a loan to pay the premiums. Now it’s time to do my taxes and because of this “AFFORDABLE” health care, I now owe the IRS an additional $1600. Thank You OBAMA!!!
Paulette
OBAMA CARE SUCKS!!! I cannot afford any of it, It’s not Affordable like it says, I cant get medicaid either because they say I make too much, which I DO NOT!! I cannot afford it at my job either and the deductibles are WAY too high that I looked int….so I’m getting penalized for not having something I cannot afford, HOW IS THAT FAIR!!!
I’m disgusted with this healthcare &%(#*!
Erin
I switched jobs from a job that paid for the employee’s health insurance in a field I didn’t have any room for advancement in do a job doing what I got a degree in making only $5,000/year more. However, this company doesn’t help pay for any amount of health insurance. My son was on state health care but now I make a little over the maximum and he will be denied. I have a mortgage, bills, student loans, and am a single parent. I can not afford 300 a month additional in health insurance, and it’s not good health insurance at that. What the heck am I supposed to do?
Surze
I cannot afford this obamacare, it is going out of my budget plan. I do make gross income around 65,000 a year. My wife is housewife and we are expecting a baby soon. I picked the Blue cross blue shield gold plan (323.00) for my wife and I picked the lowest Bronze plan minuteman ($181.00). Having a Bronze plan means I have to pay most of the medical expenses by myself because deductibles are so high and it is hard to find the hospital that accepts minuteman near by my town. I feel like I am wasting my money because I hardly go visit Dr. once in a year. I enrolled into plan because I was scared of being fined by government. House rent, car insurance, gas, food, medical insurance, income tax, everything cost me lot. After paying all the expenses it leaves me with $0.00 on hand. I don’t think I can ever able to afford a house in whole life. One of my friend suggested me to quit this job and obtain a less paying job. He said if we make less money we get more benefits from the government like medicare, food stamps etc. I am thinking of resigning from my current job and find job at burgerking or Mcdonad. Why should I work if I cannot save any money. 6000/year medical insurance is too high for me.
Kyria
“Affordable healthcare” doesn’t exist. I make $15.50/hour and yet I’m expected to drop an extra $200/month for health insurance that won’t even help me if I really needed to use it?! And if I don’t pay for it, I’m fined LIKE CRAZY on my tax return from the money I have paid in ALL YEAR as a hard working US citizen? Its a JOKE! I live paycheck-to paycheck, trying to pay my regular monthly bills and credit debt, have gas to go to and from work, clothes to wear, etc. And on top of that, there’s not much money left over for me to be able to enjoy myself with! I voted for Obama because I was made to believe that the changes he was going to make would ultimately help the American people. Well that was a freaking slap in the face! I’m actually having to consider getting a PART-TIME JOB to help me pay for this ridiculous insurance plan I’m being forced to buy. I’m probably going to have to give up my nights and weekends for the government to take more money from me. And what’s even more scary is the fact that our unemployment rate is still atrocious so the likelihood of me even finding a part-time job is bleak. Basically, I’m getting screwed and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. Moving to a foreign country is sounding pretty good right now!
ObamaCareFacts.com
At $15 an hour you would likely be on Medicaid. Have you applied for Medicaid? It could be your state rejected Medicaid. The advice is different if you are getting coverage through work or if you are looking at the marketplace. Keep this info in mind: https://obamacarefacts.com/federal-poverty-level/
Chris
It seams Obama care is set up to help low income people finally be able to afford insurance? My problem with that is the middle class are already paying higher taxes to pay for welfare, housing, cellphones, etc for low income people. Why is it that we have to be responsible for so many other people when we can barely afford to be responsible for are own family’s? There’s a lot of people in my area that take advantage of this system and are completely able bodied people who choose not to work and reap government assistance. Then do other things off the books usually illegal for tax free money. I understand as Americans we should all help each other but they need to do a lot more investigating on who actually is getting help. Just because on paper you look like you need finacial help doesn’t mean you do and just because on paper it looks like we can afford these low cost (pointless) plans doesn’t mean we can.
ObamaCareFacts.com
I think you have something. The honest folks are paying their taxes, taking care of their families, communities, and country, and trying to stay ahead. Meanwhile, the crooks rich or poor, find loopholes and make life harder for the honest ones. I don’t think this is a direct relation to the ACA as much as it is to the system as a whole. But progress is only made when we come together and demand progress. In this case, the poor are staying poor, and the middle class are getting poorer. I am no fan of doing nothing… of course, that is why my partner and I created this site.
jessy
I myself am 21 with no children and I work a 40 hour week every week and as much overtime as possible I break myself to bring in on average 320 a week I live on my own and pay for car insurance and rent plus my basic needs I can not afford health coverage at all but I also do not qualify for state help I think Obama care and the penalty is outrageous clearly we can’t afford it why is there no free plan for working class Americans as it is work is unreal hard for low pay the harder y work the less u make and with all my money towards caring for myself and my bills I have nothing left to treat myself or even save it’s unfair and makes u lose the will to get up and face this hell everyday I’m knock kneed and I am in incredible amounts of pain everyday of my useless life I have to remind myself that I have to make that pocket change to survive as I do not have parents who would help me if I did our government is retarded and they are raping us for their greed they want to take our guns because they fear well fight back but in all honesty &*(#^ Obama he is terrible and has only made life more difficult for ppl who work hard
Kevin
First I like to say I love that ObamaCareFacts does respond and tries to give the reason for high health insurance. I want to know how they plan on making it better and what’s in store for the future. Sorry but after trying to read all the comments I found I could be here for hours before finally reached the end so I have no idea if some of my inquiries were already answered. After reading some posts there were some moments I didn’t agree with from the responses of ObamaCareFacts. One had to the general cost of living and expected wages. ObamaCareFacts credited the cost of living each month for a single individual at 2250 a month or 27000 a year, basically: a 1000 for Rent, 1000 for bills and debt, and 250 for the deductible. With a 60,000 dollar a year job and after taxes that leaves an average of 20,000 a year in spending money after taxes and therefore the premium is affordable.
I would strongly disagree with this. Being a single male and coming out of 40,000 in debt to student loans I believe ObamaCare is forgetting some important factors in available money. The rent and debt and bills are close to the 2000 mark. But the factor missing is, shit happens in life and in general, aka, car breaks down, appliances break, weather causes damage, 7000 dollars disappears one month to replace a car (or you go that much more in debt), new tires are needed so there goes another 1000 dollars, a few months down the road another 3000 disappears due medical conditions like root canals, blood pressure, back pain, asthma or sleep apnea (none of it covered by a 250 a month plan), Gas alone can be another $150 to $200 a month or $2200 a year. Not to mention needed to spend about 500 to 1000 a year in clothing as it does wear out, tear or get destroyed in one way or another. I know 1000 a year in clothing seems a bit excessive but try being 6 foot 5 inches and paying less than 50 dollars for a decent shirt or pair of pants, typical average shirt goes for $50, pants go for $80 to $120 these days.
I know this sounds like a complaint but I did spent $14,000 last year just to be able to function normally, i.e. drive a vehicle, not be naked, and breath, sleep, and eat. Another $2200 on average in gas (85% used to get to and from work). None of which seem to be tax deductible. In the end I did have about $2000 in profit for the whole year. But that doesn’t help get me out of my 40,000 in student debt at all. Now if you talk to the poor they typically respond I wish “I had $2000 dollars”. Of which I respond “cool, tell you what, you can take my 40,000 debt and I will give you that 2000 dollars”. The only thing I own is my car, tv, ps4, bed, and clothing on my back, I sure don’t feel like Middle class, yet I make 60,000 a year. I am working in a market that doesn’t guarantee employment (even after having a Bachelors) so I don’t always make the full 60,000 in a year, (contractor life), wish I could work salary but can’t get hired despite trying. As it is I am still paying off medical bills, this year I had to have dental surgery again which cost $1400 (again not covered by the insurance I had).
If you want to appropriately calculate Middle America income, include a 20% reduction in the expected wages for a shit happens rule (which is what insurance was supposed to be for, but no longer does anything about). I have to get my Asthma medicine second hand as with insurance it still cost 300 a month. Only 50 a month if I get it from Canada, yet that is now illegal. Last year I was out of work for 5 months yet insurance based my premium off previous tax years. On unemployment it’s really expensive.
Now I am faced with a dilemma, I missed some sort of deadline I wasn’t aware by my contract company and apparently they didn’t renew my insurance. So I either have to pay 2500 a year in health insurance with a 6000 dollar deductible or just take the fine. All in all, it looks cheaper to take the fine. Even though I pay about 3000 a year in medical / dental bills, that still doesn’t meet the deductible.
I want to know why the fine, why fine someone for not having insurance. This feels like a horrible kick to the nards ObamaFacts. This defeats the whole point of a free market too. When you force people to have something that isn’t working or needed, it causes this huge negative reaction. I feel like the Enron scandal is happing all over again (where they would purposely shut off the power to raise prices). I know insurance is meant to also cover huge expenses, but from what I have seen and read, even insurance doesn’t cover all the really expansive stuff. If you get $100,000 in medical expenses (it’s almost 2000 dollars a night these days in ER’s), the most your insurance covers is $10,000. So with insurance you only win if you’re paying up the ass to begin with (this of course varies from plan to plan, but this seems to be the basic coverage). So no matter if you have insurance or not, a major long term operation that is expensive as hell will still not pay out. Even if your expenses are just $10,000 then your future doctor visits go up and the nightmare just gets worse with our without insurance (in massive debt 50,000 or 100,000 one way or the other feels the same, it’s just a never-ending cycle).
It really feels like your saying we can afford this insurance and should just take it lying down. This biggest problem is way too high of premiums with too much deductible, one or the other should drop or it just doesn’t seem worth it to get insurance. It would almost be fine if it wasn’t for the fine we get at the end of the year. This whole system is screaming scam, and unless it changes, gets torn down or fixed in the next few years, I am afraid rioting, panicking, and all sorts of shit is going to go down.
Basically one of the three should be dropped (the fine, the high deductible [no more than 50 a month], and the high premium (max deductible 500)) and things might start becoming less chaotic. I am afraid this year I will have to eat the fine. I looked for cheap insurances and the best I could find was 210 a month for a 5000 deductible (that’s not acceptable), I should have the right to say this private business model is not right for me, except now it’s a government regulation to have insurance. I will also have to avoid the doctors as much as possible and just treat myself (I know it’s not advisable, but with or without the insurance it’s too expensive). I know the argument of health above everything else and it should be your first concern and it has been, but the numbers aren’t adding up to me ObamaCareFact. Health Insurance is out of control.
So why should we accept this model ObamaFact, can we do anything about it, or should we just do nothing and expect to continue to be drained of any hope of decent life debt free? Who do we lobby, write to, or go for getting details on how this is supposed to get better instead of worse. And if it is going to get worse, prepare for the Apocalypse or fallout of America?
ObamaCareFacts.com
Wow ok, thanks. Big but fair “comment”, or perhaps “essay”.
So first, I don’t agree with everything i’ve ever said. I’m like anyone, I grow and learn and change my thinking when I find better data. I see the other end of this, which is millions getting affordable health insurance for the first time. Unfortunately for the discussion on this page, those millions are in an income bracket that many on this page wouldn’t consider “middle class”. Frankly, the sentiment is good for them, but WE are stills struggling and that is the focus. I get that. Makes sense.
On this page we have an income level where high deductible, high premium plans, with little-to-no cost assistance, or worse high employer premiums, is the norm. So once I realized that this was the audience of this page I backed off the “but don’t you know there are millions of sick and poor we are helping?” Essentially, people are angry, and it’s not a time to look to the moral standing of the law… It’s time to discuss tax tips, empathize with horror stories, and talk about what can be done in the future.
What we need to focus on is, like you elude to, the big sticking points: Deductibles, Premiums, Billing, Claims shenanigans, the rising cost of healthcare, and the growing debt.
Essentially we can regulate it, we can tax it, and we can subsidize it. I would strongly suggest that we need to regulate it more. I think, what we have is a healthcare spending problem. We have an expectation for the healthcare economy to grow every year, but the outpacing of inflation mixed with the essential nature of healthcare has really been backfiring.
That siad, regulation, taxes, and subsidies ALL seem to be backfiring. If everything is backfiring, what is the actual underlying problem? It may be a tricky problem, but it has to be there. Like a blackhole, we feel it’s gravity… even though we can’t see it. It must be SOMETHING! We have to figure out what that something is and act before we all get sucked into that black hole… That hole being interest on debt over the long term.
If so few are getting fair shakes, despite (what let me tell you is an honest effort from many), who is it that is stockpiling all the shaking? Where is the money that is turning into debt going? It doesn’t seem to be to the middle-class, it’s certainly not the poor (as they don’t have money by definition)… and then major insurers lose money. But it’s somewhere though, right?
Something like that. Thanks for the time and effort, and thought of the comment.
Buck Jackson
Nice made up story.
David A. Lopez
Buck Jackson you’re either working for the evil government or you’re a retarded moron with an IQ below 20. There are millions of Americans who are being legally ripped off by the government under the ACA law. No it is definitely not affordable to most. Yes the law allows people at near poverty level to be charged UNAFFORDABLE health insurance with much less coverage than they had before the rip off. Also the law allows fines, surcharges, taxes and penalties without warning. The simple reason is NOT to benefit America but rather to legally steal your money. If this goes unchallenged all of America will be destroyed piece by piece. The question is “What can Americans do to take back their country?”.
rodney
I totally agree. Me and my wife live in Texas we both work but still don’t make enough money to barely eat much less pay for the high cost of health insurance. It is close to 50% of my income. We both have to suffer colds, cuts , bones getting broke or whatever without Healthcare. I have high blood pressure and need medication but can’t afford it. Then to top it all off I get a huge fine and have to pay several hundred dollars of money that we don’t have to pay a penalty for no insurance. America. Hmm I get sick every time I hear the word Obama…..
Annoyed Suzy
Obamacare doesn’t take into account my family’s current debts and expenditures. I had these costs BEFORE Obamacare became law. Yes, my household income is $59000 a year for a family of 4, but I have so many bills that I pay. I shouldn’t have to sell the car I got years ago, just because we have a new law. I had to delete my mom from my income tax as my dependent because I couldn’t afford to pay $400+ month for her health insurance premium last year. So now in order for my family to keep as much of the income tax so I can use it for my house taxes, I can’t claim my mom due to the ridiculous $1000 penalty. Stupid texas didn’t expand Medicaid so we’re screwed. Obamacare is like childsupport….it doesn’t care WHERE your money goes or that you had debt before the law. My mom has never had health insurance and it’s even more difficult now. I’m even taking her to Mexico for her medical care.I’m losing the faith in our texas administration. If they really cared about the elderly caught in the gap, they would have accepted medicaid. It wasn’t taking money out of THEIR pockets and I’m sure THEY have amazing health insurance.
Gordon
My situation completely I also fall in the category that does not qualify for Medicaid and can’t afford Obamacare I’m looking at buying groceries or paying health insurance not very hard to make that decision even with the government subsidies I can not afford it so I get penalized and they take more money from me that would help me provide for my family I am completely frustrated with my government
Kim freeman
I am have been self employed painter and its hard to get by. I have a notice on my cell phone that I only have 9 days to sign up for Obama care. If I don’t what are they going to do to me? I can’t afford any more bills now, December to February are very slow business wise. There’s a problem when the government threatens me. I’ve never been on food stamps but I may have to find away to eat if I’m forced to have another big bill on me now. The government will probably tell me I can’t get help because I’m self-employed. A catch 22 situation.
ObamaCareFacts.com
Check the poverty level. You may have good cost assistance options or Medicaid. Both are based on income, specifically marketplace is based on annual projected MAGI and slow months can be factored into Medicaid who will look at smaller monthly chunks of the year.
https://obamacarefacts.com/federal-poverty-level/
Pamela Gustus
What deductible is there? Will Obamacare cover monthly lab work by my pain managing doctor. I was born with twisted scoliosis of the spine plus it’s degenerative, fibromyalalgia, artheritis, chronic migraines , osteorosis. Also a prolaps microvalve in my heart.
ObamaCareFacts.com
In general you need to check coverage on a plan-by-plan basis. You can see the list of essential health benefits and free preventive service, but it’s too simplified to just say check that. Check the benefits sheet of the plan you are enrolling in, check their drug coverage, check their networks, and check their cost sharing on covered services.https://obamacarefacts.com/essential-health-benefits/
Allen B.W.
There must be a way to fight this by banding together and protesting. Unfortunately these barbaric socialistic laws make it legal to steal money from seniors to help the corrupt government spend money in ridiculous ways. They are even getting away with random surcharges, fines and penalties without warning. If we let this go uncontested then we are all doomed to Hitler’s way and an unjust unfair socialstic society. Should seniors who have worked hard all their life and saved for over 40 years just give it away to the government for free? George Washington is trying to come back to life and rewrite the constitution over this travesty of injustice! God needs to step in and stop the breaking of society as we once knew it! Heaven needs to help us all.
Angelo G.
You pose an interesting question Allen B.W. Someone out there must have an answer. Any Al Sharpton’s or people advocates reading this? How long can they rape seniors of their hard earned money? Is this really America or is this Nazi Germany with Hitler in charge?
Sarah
Yes I feel you. Our insurance premiums have doubled and our copays have increased to the point that we cannot afford to even go to the doctor after paying for the health insurance. Prescription coverage copays increased as well, add to that I have unpaid medical bills from the past 3 years from back and gynecological surgeries. Now I am at a point where I am barely able to work from my chronic back pain and see no way in sight to have the 2nd recommended surgery I now need on my back. Retirement fund? That’s a joke. I feel blessed to make it to work and get my pay to keep food on the table and the water and electricity on!
Cripy
I am stuck in a total different scam. Since my wife was unemployed we had to pay an increased rate to add her to my policy. She recently started a new job and I went to remove her. Being she has had insurance for more than 31 days through her employer the will not remove her until the next open enrollment. That’s right,
we have to pay 11 more months of insurance payments for something we don’t want or need. The greedy people in this world just don’t care about people struggling to get by. It is pretty much theft and should be illegal. Unbelievable!
Adrienne
I am so sorry about your situation and I understand and commiserate 100%. Both my husband and myself lost our jobs and we have literally no income currently. In Alabama, Medicaid expansion was not approved so unfortunately, even though we don’t have even a penny of income, we also don’t qualify for Medicaid. This is a sad and frustrating situation and I only wish I could offer some sort of answer. However, I am in the same boat and there is no answer for this one. I guess there isn’t anything else I can write. I just wanted to let you know you aren’t alone and that my husband and I feel your sorrow and pain and frustration. God bless you and I pray things get better for you, for my household, and for America.
Greg Phipps
I was given the opportunity to get health insurance through my work this year in lieu of a raise. The insurance would have cost my employer $8,500 dollars. I chose to take the money instead because I saved to buy a house and new id need every cent I could get for a down payment. Throughout the course of the year I had a monthly prescription cost of $80 dollars and an ear infection that cost roughly $450 dollars. I payed $1,410 out of pocket. That’s over $7,000 dollars I would have lost, now I am supposed to pay a fine? I work 50 hours a week, today it was 20 degrees and snowing and I worked outside all day- where does this money for the fine go, to people who don’t work ? I’ll never get this system and can not wait till everything changes next year.
Am I living in the United States