Obama care enrollment: first hand stories

[Mama Mia]

We have never been to the ER. We have a local GP Who has seen my husband and my oldest daughter once. He told us to give her Tylenol (no joke, but he is a great doc who we would see again). We've always paid cash. My youngest went to the chripractor twice but usually we just try to eat fresh homemade meals, don't drink soda and try to stay active. We want to be lawful so Medicaid looks like our only option, I just do not know much about it- if it can be used for emergencies only and that sort of thing. We're not ones who would ever go to the hospital for every little thing, so I do not think we would tax the system.

I tried the website but my application crashed and I gave up for right then. Then I thought about our state plan which is emergency care for a low cost so we may be able to budget that in.

This is the first time I have been on this thread in a few days so thanks for not cooking me in the frying pan over our healthcare choices.

If you are on Medicaid there is no reason you would have to use it for anything but emergencies. You could have it and then continue to privately pay for chiropractic etc. if you want.

[Arete]

We have never been to the ER. We have a local GP Who has seen my husband and my oldest daughter once. He told us to give her Tylenol (no joke, but he is a great doc who we would see again). We've always paid cash. My youngest went to the chripractor twice but usually we just try to eat fresh homemade meals, don't drink soda and try to stay active. We want to be lawful so Medicaid looks like our only option, I just do not know much about it- if it can be used for emergencies only and that sort of thing. We're not ones who would ever go to the hospital for every little thing, so I do not think we would tax the system.

I tried the website but my application crashed and I gave up for right then. Then I thought about our state plan which is emergency care for a low cost so we may be able to budget that in.

This is the first time I have been on this thread in a few days so thanks for not cooking me in the frying pan over our healthcare choices.

You can eat all the fresh produce and forbid soda like it is the mark of the beast, and someone in your family could still get cancer. You or your husband could be in a car accident and need long term rehab. One of you could have an as yet undiagnosed heart defect and not know until you had the heart attack and needed open heart surgery. Tell me how you would pay for any of those scenarios with cash and without insurance. Then you would DEFINITELY be taxing the system.

Can I ask you something in all curiosity and seriousness? How can you be willing to Russian Roulette with your family's health for an ideological position? From what I am understanding, you think by eating healthy, not allowing soda, exercising, and probably praying that you will never get sick or need medical services you couldn't pay cash up front for. You may have been lucky until now, and a good diet and exercise do contribute to good health, but they aren't going to save the life of your child if they burst an appendix, or develop Type I diabetes (autoimmune, not lifestyle) or help you walk again if you break your leg.

You can be as homeopathic, chiropractic, and natural eating as you want and still carry insurance. One thing is for sure, don't assume your righteous living is going to keep you from needing significant health services for yourself or your family. It doesn't. You may be resentful right now of having to join an insurance plan, but you won't be when it pays for the 6,000 dollar, or 1,000 dollar emergency room bill to set a broken bone.

[Curious]

We have never been to the ER. We have a local GP Who has seen my husband and my oldest daughter once. He told us to give her Tylenol (no joke, but he is a great doc who we would see again). We've always paid cash. My youngest went to the chripractor twice but usually we just try to eat fresh homemade meals, don't drink soda and try to stay active. We want to be lawful so Medicaid looks like our only option, I just do not know much about it- if it can be used for emergencies only and that sort of thing. We're not ones who would ever go to the hospital for every little thing, so I do not think we would tax the system.

I tried the website but my application crashed and I gave up for right then. Then I thought about our state plan which is emergency care for a low cost so we may be able to budget that in.

This is the first time I have been on this thread in a few days so thanks for not cooking me in the frying pan over our healthcare choices.

Not having insurance is great, until you have an unexpected catastrophic event. I had recently lost my insurance, which I had never had to use, due to a forced job change. I wasn't overly worried about it because, as I said, I'd never had to use it.

Then I ruptured a disk in my back. I went for 2 weeks with the ruptured disk before I couldn't stand the pain anymore (plus I was losing feeling in one leg) and I gave in and went to the ER. That's pretty unheard of, from what I've been told. Most people can't go a few hours, let alone weeks in that kind of pain.

They preformed emergency surgery, but because I had no insurance, I got the minimal care possible. I got virtually no aftercare and the last time I walked unaided was when I walked into the ER. I've been disabled since that day.

If I'd had insurance and proper medical care, there is no doubt that my outcome would have been different. Part of the reason I am disabled now is due to the nerve damage that was done by going 2 weeks with a ruptured disk. Part of it is from having non-existent follow up and no after care.

I had to have a second surgery about 9 years after the first, on a different section of my back. I had insurance for that one and the difference in treatment was like night and day.

I pay for not having insurance (and my stubbornness) every day of my life now. If you have the ability to have insurance, of any kind, especially with children involved, do not make my mistake. It's really not worth it. I wish I'd had the option.

[LittleMama]

You can eat all the fresh produce and forbid soda like it is the mark of the beast, and someone in your family could still get cancer. You or your husband could be in a car accident and need long term rehab. One of you could have an as yet undiagnosed heart defect and not know until you had the heart attack and needed open heart surgery. Tell me how you would pay for any of those scenarios with cash and without insurance. Then you would DEFINITELY be taxing the system.

Can I ask you something in all curiosity and seriousness? How can you be willing to Russian Roulette with your family's health for an ideological position? From what I am understanding, you think by eating healthy, not allowing soda, exercising, and probably praying that you will never get sick or need medical services you couldn't pay cash up front for. You may have been lucky until now, and a good diet and exercise do contribute to good health, but they aren't going to save the life of your child if they burst an appendix, or develop Type I diabetes (autoimmune, not lifestyle) or help you walk again if you break your leg.

You can be as homeopathic, chiropractic, and natural eating as you want and still carry insurance. One thing is for sure, don't assume your righteous living is going to keep you from needing significant health services for yourself or your family. It doesn't. You may be resentful right now of having to join an insurance plan, but you won't be when it pays for the 6,000 dollar, or 1,000 dollar emergency room bill to set a broken bone.

I'm not sure what box you are putting me in, I never said we had a righteous lifestyle, nor do I think of myself that way. I also never said I was resentful, either. It comes down to budget for us, we do our best with what we have.

[LittleMama]

Not having insurance is great, until you have an unexpected catastrophic event. I had recently lost my insurance, which I had never had to use, due to a forced job change. I wasn't overly worried about it because, as I said, I'd never had to use it.

Then I ruptured a disk in my back. I went for 2 weeks with the ruptured disk before I couldn't stand the pain anymore (plus I was losing feeling in one leg) and I gave in and went to the ER. That's pretty unheard of, from what I've been told. Most people can't go a few hours, let alone weeks in that kind of pain.

They preformed emergency surgery, but because I had no insurance, I got the minimal care possible. I got virtually no aftercare and the last time I walked unaided was when I walked into the ER. I've been disabled since that day.

If I'd had insurance and proper medical care, there is no doubt that my outcome would have been different. Part of the reason I am disabled now is due to the nerve damage that was done by going 2 weeks with a ruptured disk. Part of it is from having non-existent follow up and no after care.

I had to have a second surgery about 9 years after the first, on a different section of my back. I had insurance for that one and the difference in treatment was like night and day.

I pay for not having insurance (and my stubbornness) every day of my life now. If you have the ability to have insurance, of any kind, especially with children involved, do not make my mistake. It's really not worth it. I wish I'd had the option.

Your story shares wisdom. I am sorry you were treated poorly when the hospital found out you had no insurance.

[formergothardite]

What is your plan for medical emergencies if you have no insurance, LittleMama? Car accidents? Broken bones? Cancer? Any of the eleventy billion bad things that can happen to you no matter how healthy you are?

[Arete]

I'm not sure what box you are putting me in, I never said we had a righteous lifestyle, nor do I think of myself that way. I also never said I was resentful, either. It comes down to budget for us, we do our best with what we have.

If it is just about budget why are you so concerned that Medicaid would somehow force you into using services you did not want? Even if you don't recognize it on a conscious level, you have already decided that your family would never be in a position to tax the system because you could control things like not going to the doctor "for every little thing" and diet. Look, statistics don't lie. For one of the richest countries in the world, that spends the MOST on healthcare by a huge margin, we have some of the worst healthcare outcomes in the developed world. That is a function of the current system where people like your family will take their chances and not get preventive care due to cost. That is outrageous. Tell me how it is better to go without a mammogram because you can't pay for one out of pocket than to catch cancer early and live to see your children or grandchildren grow?

[formergothardite]

It isn't just LittleMama, so many people just think "It won't happen to me" so they think that they don't need insurance or preventive care. It can happen to you and pretending that healthy eating and not going to the doctor will protect you is just living in denial. If you don't want insurance then you need to think about how you will handle massive medical costs.

[Mama Mia]

FYI, it might be irrelevant now that insurance is mandatory, but typically if you have a medical emergency and are Medicaid eligible, Medicaid can be received 3 months retroactive to application.

I think one problem if you aren't Medicaid eligible, aren't covered by an employer and are eligible for a small or no subsidy, is that the available plans that you are able to afford aren't going to do you any good with the $1,000 emergency. You won't have made the deductible Or the out of pocket maximum. So you'll be trying to pay both your insurance premium and the doctor bill.

Why they didn't go with single payer universal care is beyond me. John Stuart interviewed the director of Health and Human services a few days ago, he did a great job trying to get her to answer that question. And he really hammered her about why large employers got a one year deferral but individuals didn't.

Eta: I tried t bring up the unfairness of giving employers and not individuals a deferral to my dad, you would think I had just told him I supported Glenn Beck for President with the way he reacted!

[GolightlyGrrl]

I'm reading and hearing the good, bad and the ugly about enrolling into Obamacare. I must admit I'm worried on how I will qualify and how much it will cost me. I lost a job early this year and I've been taking on any type of temp job, freelance project I can. I apply for jobs all the time and have the scars to prove it. Money is really tight. And to add insult to injury, I was trying to update my resume on my state's job website and the site is acting way funky. Ugh!

Anyway, a co-worker of mine told me she was going to trying enrolling on-line this week-end and then give me the scoop. And I hope to go to a local clinic where trained navigators can "hold your hand" while you enroll.

I just wish we had universal healthcare in this damn country.

[Arete]

I think single payer will be the ultimate goal, but I don't think that Obama had the political capital to make that happen right now. Look at the level of crazy this patch compromise has brought out. People will be resentful right now, but the more people you get on insurance roles that had not previously been insured, the more people will come to look at it as a necessity as opposed to an "optional", and consensus will be built going forward toward single payer.

Just my opinion but hell, since even the Armageddon Is Upon Us[tm][/tm] types are putting their two cents in, I'll put mine.

[formergothardite]

People freak out at any sort of change. Once it becomes the norm for everyone to be insured this won't seem so scary and better laws about it will happen. At least that is what I hope.

[Mama Mia]

People freak out at any sort of change. Once it becomes the norm for everyone to be insured this won't seem so scary and better laws about it will happen. At least that is what I hope.

I'm more cynical. I think it was a huge cave-in to the insurance companies. I think right after he was elected in 2009 would have been perfect to push through single payer. It was during the depression that most social service and safety net programs were implemented, and I think he could have done the same with health care during the economic crises.

The right would still be bitching and moaning and freaking out with scary paranoid thoughts, so it should have at least been actual socialized medicine.

[stacyf]

I am in a different position than most of you and it is a weird place to be. My husband and I live a cash based life, we own our house and have no debt. We make about 50,000 a year between the two of us. We have money in the bank, that we have worked hard to save for a happy retirement (20 years off). We can pay for almost any medical emergency but the big one, the half a million dollar one. It scares us to death because we have both worked very hard to get where we are. I now have a cooking job at a restaurant that does not offer health after 6 months looking, he works at a grocery that keeps him at 38 hours a week and offers only $25,000 of maximum health benefits (we could cover that if we needed to). For the last 4 years we have been paying $1400/month for state sponsored health insurance, basically pay for medicaid. We do not have children and do not qualify for medicaid nor do we want to, we just want to get some catastrophic health coverage. The reason we can't get private insurance is because he is a cancer survivor and I am a Type 1 diabetic. The state insurance has limited providers and I cannot use coupons for medication because I am on state sponsored insurance. The pre-existing condition insurance that was offered required us to be without insurance for 6 months, that would be like playing Russian Roulette with our nest egg. So basically we break even every month paying for health insurance and have been unable to save for some time now. Looks like we will drop a few hundred under the new plan and that is good for us. I just really don't know what the answer is and I feel lucky to be where we are but we worked hard for it and due to no fault of our own we are paying an incredible price for insurance we barely us. He went for checkup once this year and I went for my quarterly check-ups and a mammogram so they make money off us.

[Emkay]

I just really don't know what the answer is and I feel lucky to be where we are but we worked hard for it and due to no fault of our own we are paying an incredible price for insurance we barely us. He went for checkup once this year and I went for my quarterly check-ups and a mammogram so they make money off us.

It's actually people like you that the ACA was meant to help. Yes, you may pay a little higher premium because of pre-existing conditions (as will I), but you cannot be denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions now. Also, if your insurance company doesn't spend 80/85% of your premiums on your care, you will get a reimbursement for the difference. I've mentioned before that my grandparents, in their late 80s, have gotten checks from their insurance company reimbursing them the difference. In their case, it's been about $500 each- both this year and last.

I am also someone who has pre-existing conditions and have always HAD to have insurance (and I'll probably never get that reimbursement check). At one point, I was paying almost $400/month for insurance for myself, but I couldn't take the risk of having something catastrophic happen and ending up with a medical bill that would put me in debt for the rest of my life (on top of student loans!) or into bankruptcy. It amazed me just how many of my college friends didn't have insurance until they were able to find jobs that offered it- in one case, it was over 6 years! I am lucky that my employer offers health insurance, but as of the last figures I've seen, I would still be paying less in an exchange than I did when I had to be on an individual plan.

[theCR]

Here is my first hand bullshitery.

Warning if my potty mouth offends you stop reading now.

I'm currently very frustrated. I can't even get a damn quote. I have been fighting my way though error measages and dumb bitches telling me to just keep trying for over an hour now. I can't create an account then they can't verify my identity. My fiance has epilepsy and needs meds daily we can't afford them out of fucking pocket and he won't be on his dads insurance anymore because he finished college. All of this govenment shutdown is bullshit. Ive missed 2 weeks of work because of the shutdown we are already behind on bills. Fuckkkkkkk!

End rant. Thanks for listening to my bitching. :)

[FakePigtails]

Here is my first hand bullshitery.

Warning if my potty mouth offends you stop reading now.

I'm currently very frustrated. I can't even get a damn quote. I have been fighting my way though error measages and dumb bitches telling me to just keep trying for over an hour now. I can't create an account then they can't verify my identity. My fiance has epilepsy and needs meds daily we can't afford them out of fucking pocket and he won't be on his dads insurance anymore because he finished college. All of this govenment shutdown is bullshit. Ive missed 2 weeks of work because of the shutdown we are already behind on bills. Fuckkkkkkk!

End rant. Thanks for listening to my bitching. :)

Due to the ACA he should be allowed to stay on his parent's plans until age 26. Has he checked into that? I do hope that either way you can get through the system.

[theCR]

Due to the ACA he should be allowed to stay on his parent's plans until age 26. Has he checked into that? I do hope that either way you can get through the system.

We have taken advantage of that but he turns 26 in a week. So we got double fucked. I havnt had insurence in like 3 years but I dont have daily meds. If we dont get meds he can't work because of his seizures.

[dawbs]

We have taken advantage of that but he turns 26 in a week. So we got double fucked. I havnt had insurence in like 3 years but I dont have daily meds. If we dont get meds he can't work because of his seizures.

This may not be helpful--I am not an expert by any stretch, I haven't even stayed at a Holiday Inn Express...and I certainly have't tried any of this since the ACA went into place.

BUT, if I'm reading this right, he's currently on his dad's insurance, but is about to age out, right?

He may want to call the current insurance company and ask to be sent information about their 'group conversion' plans. (called such because your'e converting from 'group' insurance w/ an employer to individual insurance).

I swear companies deliberately hide the information on these--but the major companies (BCBS, for example) have them...but it takes talking to 5 reps before someone nods and knows WTF you mean.

There's no lapse in coverage; it's cheaper than COBRA...and it's sometimes sucky coverage.

But it's sometimes OK (it saved our bacon when I was unemployed when my husband discovered a life-threatening allergy)