Obamacare (Starts Oct 1)
Guzzo
8,611 Posts
Im realizing I need to get hip to what exactly I'm going to have to do, now that its approaching I'm still in the dark. Anyone know what the rules are for people that freelance? the only viable info I've been able to find is with the Kaiser calculator.
http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/
Where can I get real info on what I/we need to do?
http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/
Where can I get real info on what I/we need to do?
Comments
Even the insurance companies are on a learning curve. It a big deal but its for a good goal of having everyone insured. Plenty of employers are already trying to get out of it by cutting hours etc. It's expensive now but they'll have to figure it out. The idea is that medical cost will go down eventually but with all the greed in that industry I wouldn't count on it any time soon.
Yeah I just did the math via a calculator and its basically like a 2nd car payment to keep me covered. I'm all for health coverage but I didn't realize the cost would be so high, I've only had to go to the doctor 3 times in the last 15 years and if I had to pay the current premium I'd have blown through over $25,000 for those three visits. I totally understand the scale slides with age and income but it's straight up scary to try to rearrange a budget in a high cost-of-living city in order to fit in to the plan.
If you're freelancing you might qualify for heavy subsidies for the premiums. Do you do your own taxes? If so, you might be missing numerous ways to reduce your taxable income.
It's going to be hard no doubt. I feel for you. I'm lucky and have a job that is (currently) going to keep covering everyone. It is true that part of the high costs now are because so many uninsured people get treatment and the insured essentially pay for it through high rates. But, I'm not sure if there is any way to force the medical industry to lower costs unless it's just an outrage thing. Have a higher profit margin hasn't exactly inspired and lot of companies to lower prices. Good luck and find that exchange.
https://www.healthcare.gov
as the catch-all for the most up to date information, and 1-800-318-2596 as a viable phone point of contact.
PM me if you have specific questions and I will try to point you in the proper direction. I can tell you that HHS is anticipating a significant call spike on Oct 1 when ACA open enrollment begins inline with open enrollment for Medicare.
And the cool thing about Obamacare is that we all get to do this, or else.
Hooray!
Thank you for posting this.
The biggest issue facing this rollout is not enough people know how to sign up.
Yep, or else pay a nominal penalty that is taken out of your tax refund. No heavy lifting required.
The past system, freeloading through free ER care (subsidized by those of us who have taken reponsibility to get insurance), was just so great, wasn't it?
Also, we don't ALL get to do this. Obamacare only applies to those who don't have insurance, including those who don't get it through their employer, which is about 15% of the population.
Oh, the humanity!
Thanks for posting this!
:bizzo:
No problem. There has been a lot of legwork performed by an array of federal contractors to ensure that adequate systems are in place to answer the questions that are expected to hit on Oct 1. The federally facilitated marketplace is a brave new world, and the folks on the fed side who are actually tasked with managing these programs are anxiously awaiting the start of next month.
I recommend asking your questions now.
go to the hospital once a week. take a $45 ambulance to ensure you see a doctor immediately.
While I agree with the overuse of pills it's a separate issue from everyone having health care. Part of having health care is getting preventative check ups and not making ER visits your "insurance". Pills is a cultural problem of people not wanting to eat healthy or exercise and then wanting their problems solved quickly with a pill. Societies to blame.
Doctors won't tell us something simple such as cancer can't live in an alkaline environment.
They'd rather make the big bucks prescribing chemotherapy and Freddie Krueger-like extractions.
Point being, nobody needs that kind of busted approach, let alone everybody.
No 80+ year old needs chemotherapy. Assholes.
They are also prescribing weed to people now and that's mostly at the demand of the public. I agree the status quo is pretty bad but the people have allowed themselves to be controlled. If we demanded better treatment and didn't line up at McDonald every day it would be a different world. If you act like a sheep you get sheered.
Plenty of people claim they have an all natural cure for cancer but it has yet to be seen. If it is possible it requires an extreme diet that most people don't want to undertake. Not to mention you usually need to start treatment immediately when diagnosed with cancer. not the time to hope a new diet will work. I have a pretty healthy diet and I rarely get sick but most people think I eat like a bird and aren't interested in even giving it a chance. That's not the doctors fault.
I can appreciate your response. I even agree for the most part.
I'm just saying I can't trust the same people who put flouride in the water and approve aspartame as food to come anywhere near my health care decisions.
And that's what this is as I understand it. It's more about the banks who run the insurance companies getting more involved in what treatments we are able to receive than it is about making sure a jobless person can get a broken arm set and put in a cast.
I don't know. I just think that beyond basic treatments, the whole industry along with the government attempting to prop it up are fraudulent.
R...I hope your grandmothers last days are as peaceful and painless as possible.
I lost my mother to cancer this March....she would have turned 80 last Thursday. In February she got the family together and announced that she had cancer. That she had if for the last 7 years and she wasn't going to a doctor regardless of what we said. We asked how she knew she had cancer if she hadn't gone to a doctor and she explained that 7 years earlier she noticed lumps in her breasts and that 2 1/2 years ago they had burst open. She medicated herself and went through unthinkable pain. She explained that during those seven years she had close to 20 friends who had been diagnosed with cancer, gotten treatment, drained the family bank accounts, had unbearable pain from the treatment and every last one of them were dead. She said she could not put us or herself through that.
She died 3 weeks later...... I tell people my mom beat cancer....she didn't get cured, she just refused to acknowledge it and told it FU. I admire the shit out of her....it would have been nice to have her around a little bit longer but she had a good life and went out on her terms RIP!
RIP to your mother, Rock.
She's 52 now and I'm sort of glad she's still around, and still drinking fluoridated water...
You have an alternative in mind, right? This isn't just anti-social muttering?
Hmm. I haven't been to a doctor in over 30 years. I guess that means I get to be Surgeon General.
Hey,
I don't think this is necessarily a good thing. My grandmother did this (except the latency was over 40 years) only to find out she had terminal pancreatic cancer (she subsequently died 4 years ago). This mindset killed a lot of my relatives from two generations ahead of me. Regular health screenings are a must (if one can afford them, anyway).
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak