My friend Anna, an occasional contributor in my blog, posted a comment about Obamacare in Facebook and one of her friends and her father answered with some excellent comments. She gave me permission to post the conversation in my blog.
While the friend had great points, I especially enjoyed reading the father-daughter interaction because it showed a beautiful connection between the two of them and very good analysis of the options and benefits of the law but also of the weaknesses and the politics behind Obamacare.
Daughter: Health insurance for $600-$700 a month for a family 5 sound good? How about $12,000 deductible? (No benefit is paid out until after deductible is met.)
March 22 at 10:15am ·
Friend: Is this a rhetorical question? For a family of 5. It sounds good to me.
March 22 at 10:18am
Friend: Well….. it does and it doesn't. Considering how fast medical bills rack up i'd rather pay 12,000 off over time than lets say 50,000 + or the risk of having property seized. What about regular doctors visits? Certainly an imperfect system. I was paying $300 a month years ago before I canceled my insurance. Hope it all works out Im sure I'll be posting something similar before the end of the month when I cave to the deadline
March 22 at 10:29am ·
Daughter: In most years, I will not spend more than $12 thousand on care, so we will be paying $600 a month and still have to pay as we go. We will see the benefit only in a catastrophic year. I don't know. I was shocked by the $12 thousand deductible.
March 22 at 10:28am ·
Father: P. pays $314/month for one person (me) for health insurance through Barry (hers is paid by Barry). It does not include dental and carries a $4000 deductible for the two of us per year. This option — offered by Barry — makes me ineligible for Obamacare, which would be much cheaper, of course.
March 22 at 10:33am ·
Friend: The deductibles are very high for the plans i'm offered as well, which is why i've been dragging my feet. The reforms to help people once denied coverage are great but its a bit of a shock for the rest of us. Sadly proposals made for a universal single-payer healthcare system in the United States have never had more than 20% congressional co-sponsorship.
March 22 at 10:36am ·
Father: As we all know, healthcare is BIG business and Obamacare cannot change that. When it comes to healthcare, we (the US), pay TWICE as much for healthcare as the next highest paying country, and according to various evaluations we (the USA) are ranked the 37th of the quality of care we receive. Facts. Those darn facts.
March 22 at 10:40am ·
Daughter: Dad, why do you say it makes you ineligible and why are you sure it would be cheaper? I just registered at the healthcare.gov website, was asked whether we are covered, asked our household income, told that I would get no help paying for coverage and then shown options for coverage that are comparable in value to what we have. Comparable premiums come with comparable deductibles (comparable to the plan we have.) The cheaper premium options carry much higher deductibles. Don't take my word for it. Check it out. Registration took 1 minute
March 22 at 10:40am ·
Daughter: All true. But "affordable care" is a misnomer, no?
March 22 at 10:42am ·
Father: Only those are eligible for Obamacare who do not qualify for anything else. That's why! It is illegal to cancel your existing plan in order to receive Obamacare — that is established to provide for those who are ineligible for anything else.
March 22 at 10:42am ·
Daughter: The website did not tell me that.
March 22 at 10:42am ·
Father: Everything is relative. COMPARED to other options it is MORE affordable..
March 22 at 10:43am ·
Daughter: But it is not. At least not for us,
March 22 at 10:45am ·
Daughter: and I doubt we are alone.
March 22 at 10:45am ·
Father: Search longer and you will find the answers you need. NOBODY said that it is a good option OR a good law. It is the BEST Obama's sworn enemies allowed to happen and even then they had to be dragged along screaming and kicking. AND voted about 800 times to kill it.
March 22 at 10:45am ·
Daughter: Here is a from the obamacare website:
March 22 at 10:45am ·
Daughter: "The Marketplace is a new way to find quality health coverage. It can help if you don’t have coverage now or if you have it but want to look at other options."
March 22 at 10:45am ·
Daughter: IT is not illegal to get coverage through obamacare even if you are covered.
March 22 at 10:47am · Edited ·
Daughter: check it out dad
March 22 at 10:45am ·
Daughter: you may find something cheaper!
March 22 at 10:45am ·
Daughter: the fact that the intention is good and that his enemies tried to kill it mean we are not allowed to complain about it or debate it?
March 22 at 10:47am ·
Father: 'If you have coverage from a job (or a family member’s job), you're considered covered and won’t have to pay the fee that uninsured people must pay.
You may be able to change to Marketplace coverage, but you might not qualify for lower costs on your premiums based on your income. This will depend on the type and cost of insurance the employer provides.'
March 22 at 10:47am ·
Daughter: yes. sounds to me like you should check it out. it is not illegal to switch plans.
March 22 at 10:49am ·
Father: It would be if I wanted to get it cheaper than what I have.
March 22 at 10:51am ·
Father: We can complain, of course, if it makes us feel better. And we can blame whomever we want for this horrible law — which is still better than no coverage at all for those who have none and cannot buy any…
March 22 at 10:54am ·
Daughter: I didn't call it a horrible law and don't think it is a horrible law. And I agree with the rest of what you said.
March 22 at 10:55am ·
Daughter: I still don't see what is "illegal" in trying to switch for whatever purpose: " you might not qualify for lower costs on your premiums based on your income. This will depend on the type and cost of insurance the employer provides." What is meant by " the type and cost of insurance the employer provides" is not very clear, but I read this to mean that you will get no subsidies if you have access to coverage elsewhere; therefore, your coverage through the Marketplace will probably not be cheaper
March 22 at 11:03am ·
Daughter: I agree Friend: that there is a benefit in having the security that if something goes really wrong, you will not become bankrupt or worse die from lack of access to care.
March 22 at 11:05am · Like ·
Daughter: I was just hoping for a second that there might be something cheaper for us through the Marketplace, and I am disappointed that there is not.
March 22 at 11:06am ·
Friend: As was I.
March 22 at 11:10am ·
Anna E. Vamos
March 22 at 11:11am ·
Father: I called it a horrible law… And it is a horrible law (and managed poorly, on the top of all that shit). And still, it is the best there can be under the circumstances. My hope is (and Obama's enemies' worst fear) that it is just the beginning for something better to come.
When social security was introduced, the same forces were fighting tooth and nail against it and so it was introduced in a way that those who needed it the most were EXCLUDED from it (home help and field workers). Why? Because republican leaders said that they 'did not want those niggers sitting on their porch enjoying retirement instead of picking cotton.' Hate is difficult to deal with… To me, at least, it IS difficult…
March 22 at 11:20am ·
Daughter: I understand dad, and I do find hate scary. Hate is in many conversations about this healthcare law, but it was not here. And you made me feel a bit as if me bringing up the cost of coverage through the Marketplace was an act of hate. I don't think it is.
March 22 at 11:28am ·
Father: No, I did mean to imply no such thing. It is just worry, I know…
March 22 at 11:31am ·
Anna E. Vamos
March 22 at 11:35am ·
Daughter: xoxo
March 22 at 11:35am ·
Father: Me 2… and 3…
Daughter: For the record, all plans offer free preventive care.