<p>“Just asked my son for the details (home for the holidays, yay!) and he says they’re already back up to $700 or so. Nothing keeps them down for long, apparently.”</p>
<p>Had the same convo with my son last night - when I commented on it’s fall. He said I didn’t know what I was talking about. 
</p>
<p>Apparently, he follows currencies. I learn something new every day. ;)</p>
<p>^^My kid follows it so closely, I wonder if he owns some… though he claims differently. Why he follows that and not the stock market, I don’t understand. Must be a young adult thing.</p>
<p>dstark, signups do not equal paid subscribers.</p>
<p>No one, no one, that jumps through the hoops needed to sign up for health insurance on that exchange is going to not pay their premium. ;)</p>
<p>Northwestern Law prof not a fan of the Nov fix:</p>
<p>[The</a> Obamacare ?Fix? Is Illegal - Eugene Kontorovich - POLITICO Magazine](<a href=“http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2013/11/the-obamacare-fix-is-illegal-100254.html]The”>http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2013/11/the-obamacare-fix-is-illegal-100254.html)</p>
<p>GP… I know.</p>
<p>I want to make another bet.</p>
<p>Sax, unless a navigator or one of the thousands of people and organizations that have been recruited to sign up anyone who has a pulse, jumped through the hoops on behalf of the applicant. In Ca., these paid solicitors are roaming the streets looking for anyone to sign up.</p>
<p>“My kid follows it so closely, I wonder if he owns some… though he claims differently. Why he follows that and not the stock market, I don’t understand. Must be a young adult thing.”</p>
<p>Must be. </p>
<p>My S must follow it equally as closely as he quoted the same $700 last night. I confess I know nothing about bitcoin except that the Winklevoss twins are somehow involved.</p>
<p>I wanted to read the story in the Orange County Register, but it’s behind a paywall.</p>
<p>When I hear “app” I think of a computer app. While there may be no paper application in Spanish, Covered California online has been available in Spanish for a while now. Not only that, they’re advertising. I’ve seen ads in Spanish for Covered California on this very CC thread. Also, there are online chat help in Spanish, Spanish-speaking navigators, and outreach to the Spanish-speaking community.</p>
<p>GP, </p>
<p>Where do you get your info? Fox News? These are serious questions.</p>
<p>I am sorry for venting on this thread, but somehow I find this thread to be appropriate. With all the griping about health insurance, I think we should happy that we get one that covers drugs (even if you have to go through exception process). Wait until you start purchasing medicare part D.</p>
<p>My FIL was recently diagnosed with bladder cancer and chronic leukemia. While he was in the hospital the doctor was telling us, that we should not be worried about chronic leukemia. The treatment is as simple as taking one pill every day. What he did not tell us that the drug costs $7000 per month.</p>
<p>I finally figured out how medicare part-d works and I am terrified. Once my FIL spends $4750, which will only take him 2 months (google medicare part d donut hole), he will “only” be paying $350 per month (5%) for his medication. This does not include the cost of part b and part d coverage or cost of other medications and doctors co-pays he has to take. </p>
<p>His SS is around $1000 per month. They applied for extra help, but were denied because they own rental properties. These rental properties are underwater. They do provide a small cash flow, but it is very small. The only reason these properties cash flow is because my FIL is managing them. I don’t know how he will be able continue doing this with his health issues.</p>
<p>I simply don’t understand how other retired people deal with such situations. Nor do I understand how they dealt with this before part D became a law.</p>
<p>I know many on this board do not want Medicaid, but I know that my in-laws would have been better off on Medicaid than on Medicare.</p>
<p>Anyway, sorry for venting and possibly OT.</p>
<p>Lerkin…I am glad you posted.</p>
<p>Can people buy supplemental medicare coverage to cover drug costs like you are describing?</p>
<p>Dstark,</p>
<p>Do you mean in addition to buying medicare part d coverage? </p>
<p>I don’t think so. In the past, before medicare part D, you could buy medigap coverage and it could, but not necessarily did, include drugs. But now you need to buy part D in order to cover drugs.</p>
<p>I looked at their policy. It is good, their co-insurance is only 20%. The policy is not the problem. The donut hole problem is universal to all Medicare Part D recipients.</p>
<p>Ok Lerkin. Thanks. I havent looked into medicare yet. I am still young. :)</p>
<p>I thought the donut hole was going to be closed.</p>
<p>I wish your fil the best. Sounds very tough.</p>
<p>Nice to see that the anti cancer pill exists.</p>
<p>I thought Obamacare plugged the donut hole?</p>
<p>Edit: Cross-posted with dstark</p>
<p>Info about the doughnut hole:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.medicarerights.org/pdf/Closing-the-Doughnut-Hole-Chart.pdf[/url]”>http://www.medicarerights.org/pdf/Closing-the-Doughnut-Hole-Chart.pdf</a></p>
<p>dstark, I get all my news from College Confidential these days. :)</p>
<p>Ok… I found this…</p>
<p>[Medicare</a> drug costs to fall in 2014, but donut hole widens](<a href=“Medicare drug costs to fall in 2014, but donut hole widens | Reuters”>Medicare drug costs to fall in 2014, but donut hole widens | Reuters)</p>
<p>GP, where did you get all this talk about people not paying after they sign up for insurance?
Megyn Kelly?</p>
<p>No not Megyn Kelly, but you got to admit she is easy to look at.</p>
<p>The ACA made the donut hole less bad, by having seniors who are in it pay 50% of costs instead of 100% of costs.</p>
<p>Next year, the donut hole will be a little bit wider, though seniors in the donut hole will still only pay 50% of costs.</p>
<p>So seniors are still way better off than they were before the ACA, when they had to pay 100% of the drug costs in the donut hole.</p>