<p>Southbel, insurance companies cant move that fast. :)</p>
<p>dstark - lol you would think I was anxious or something, right? :)</p>
<p>Lol…</p>
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<p>I think there are many problems with the current system of providing and paying for medical care in this country, but I do not see how the old system was “unfair.”</p>
<p>If someone is already sick, then they are not being insured against a risk of becoming sick.</p>
<p>Just like it is not “unfair” to charge higher car insurance rates to teenage boys.</p>
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<p>No, but it is unfair to kick that boy off insurance and refuse to pay for an accident when that was the whole point of insurance in the first place.</p>
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<p>Haven’t heard a peep yet. BCBS is the biggest insurance company in MI so I though I’d hear something by now but nope. It <em>is</em> the weekend though so… 
lol</p>
<p>ETA: Found this:</p>
<p>
<a href=“http://www.freep.com/article/20131114/NEWS07/311140091/[/url]”>http://www.freep.com/article/20131114/NEWS07/311140091/</a></p>
<p>Looks like I made the right decision not to call yet…</p>
<p>CF,</p>
<p>It is offensive to me that people who pay $1,000s in premiums for insurance they don’t use, pay all their medical bills, and pay more in taxes every year than most people earn, are being told they have not been paying their “fair share” when it comes to healthcare.</p>
<p>If you want to say the amounts being paid “still aren’t enough to pay for everyone,” that is fine with me, but to phrase it as not paying one’s “fair share” is inaccurate and offensive.</p>
<p>Bay, </p>
<p>"If you want to say the amounts being paid “still aren’t enough to pay for everyone,”</p>
<p>That has been my argument forever.</p>
<p>And the response is “I am paying my fair share”…</p>
<p>Why do you think I have been throwing out the numbers all these years? </p>
<p>To show where we are failing and what it takes to fix things…</p>
<p>This is broken…</p>
<p>This is from the Kaiser Foundation…</p>
<p>These are 2010-2011 numbers…</p>
<p>15 million people have individual health insurance…</p>
<p>This is a great link.</p>
<p><a href=“http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/total-population/[/url]”>http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/total-population/</a></p>
<p>47, 48 million people are uninsured…</p>
<p><a href=“http://kff.org/uninsured/report/the-uninsured-a-primer-key-facts-about-health-insurance-on-the-eve-of-coverage-expansions/[/url]”>http://kff.org/uninsured/report/the-uninsured-a-primer-key-facts-about-health-insurance-on-the-eve-of-coverage-expansions/</a></p>
<p>If my daughter’s tumor grows back… There is a good chance she is going to be uninsured.</p>
<p>With ACA… She wont be uninsured. That worry is gone. When somebody has a brain tumor, they have enough worries, without having to worry about insurance, dont you think?</p>
<p>I don’t know what you mean by “insurance you don’t use.” But if you think it’s a good thing to get more in claims payments than you pay in premiums, I’ll volunteer to set your house on fire.</p>
<p>The question of which risk group an insurance buyer is entitled to be in is a vexing one. Do you think your insurer should be able to do genetic tests on you, and raise your premium if you have alarming genetic markers? Should they be able to hire private investigators to, for example, find out whether you drive drunk, drink to excess, or engage in other dangerous habits? </p>
<p>Bay, Goldenpooch and MatildaMae are kvetching that they deserve to be in a risk group of healthy people. But, Goldenpooch, you’ve said on this site that you drink and drive (not to legal drunkenness, but to impairment that makes you a more dangerous driver). Shouldn’t you have to pay a higher premium because of that? There are a lot of different ways to put people in risk groups. Everyone doesn’t get to pick the risk group that gives them the cheapest premiums.</p>
<p>dstark,</p>
<p>People need medical care; they don’t <em>need</em> medical insurance. It is, and always has been, possible to treat people without relying on insurance to pay for it. This is not the place to “think outside the box” in that regard, but just because some people aren’t happy with the ACA does not mean they want people to die. It is offensive and unproductive to assume so.</p>
<p>CF,</p>
<p>Paying premiums for insurance you don’t use, means that you are paying for others’ insurance claims, not your own.</p>
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<p>I don’t think this is an accurate summary. I am not kvetching about anything, except the idea that it is unfair for people to pay insurance premiums based on an assessment of their risk of needing medical care. To me, that is just what insurance is. If you want a different system, fine–I would agree with you that the way we pay for medical care in this country could be improved. But what is wrong with the present system is not that it is “unfair.”</p>
<p>I’ll set your house on fire if you want, Bay.</p>
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Here’s my issue with your statement. You claim that it is possible to treat people without relying on insurance. This is true. However, each of my daughter’s surgeries cost ~$300K each. She’s had five. This is not including the tests, appointments, and hospitalizations. I am fairly well off but over a million on keeping her alive would not have been feasible without insurance. That said, I am willing to pay more for her insurance as I understand she is using more of it but to go without? That would mean her not getting treated and not living to go onto college, a career, having a family, etc. I hope you are not saying she shouldn’t be able to do that.</p>
<p>So then you support genetic testing and private detectives for setting health care premiums, MatildaMae? Either you think that anything knowable about you should be fair game in setting your premiums, or you don’t.</p>
<p>CF</p>
<p>Immature responses are not helpful. Accusing people who pay premiums but don’t file claims of “not paying their fair share” is nonsensical.</p>
<p>If I pay less than 1000 a year or Homeowners Insurance, but at year 20, file a claim, then I will have paid in all that I will pay for my similar health insurance ACA plan just for 2014. </p>
<p>I may never file a homeowners claim. Things might happen and maybe I could have filed a claim, but I opted to pay out of pocket. Still, that premium is a good deal, because my house would be expensive to repair. </p>
<p>My health insurance premiums at $19,000 per year for my family, times 20 years - before deductibles - is $380,000. </p>
<p>What was the average cost for a high end user of health care, and what was that number, again?</p>
<p>As Poetgirl has pointed out, it is obscene to say that our premiums are going to pay for the unwell when you look at CEO pay at these health insurance companies.</p>
<p>I guess the reality is that health insurance was never guaranteed for life. If you hit the unlucky numbers genetically or through accident or disease, you probably would not get to keep your plan. </p>
<p>I buy term life. It was cheap when I got it. Probably won’t renew when it comes up for renewal. I wouldn’t be able to afford replacement costs as I age. I did want security for kids when they were young.</p>
<p>CF, I said I might drive after having a beer with my dinner at a restaurant. I don’t think I am a danger to anyone. I wouldn’t drive if I thought I was impaired. Don’t misconstrue my words.</p>
<p>To reduce the complaints of people who are justifiably critical of ACA to kvetching is amusing but also inaccurate. I am going to do everything possible to resist the plan the state of California and the federal govt are trying to enroll me in against my will. The plan is garbage and will not cover me adequately if anyone in my family is stricken with a catastrophic disease or accident. </p>
<p>My first responsibility is to protect my family, then I can worry about all of society’s ills. There were other ways to provide insurance for all the people who wanted it without forcing millions of people to enroll in a plan they can’t afford or does not meet their needs.</p>