<p>“That is complete and utter crap and you know it, GP.”</p>
<p>You sound like my wife. :)</p>
<p>I had Blue Shield and the local Rite Aid took my card. Of course. I had to pay the negotiated rate which was no great shakes, but contrary to your observations the post-2013 ACA plans are decidedly worse with respect to prescription drug coverage. My pre-2014 Blue Shield HSA covered non-formulary drugs; the new plans don’t. Since the insurance companies, including Blue Shield, are narrowing the formularies, I would not be so sanguine about this important distinction in the coverage for prescription drugs. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t minimize the cost of prescription drugs, either. If you have a chronic condition or need a specific drug, the cost, even for generics, can be considerable.</p>
<p>“You sound like my wife”</p>
<p>And he probably said it nicer than she does.</p>
<p>LOL.
The prescription-as-part-of-deductible is the main negative differential between my current grandfathered BCBS employer plan and the individual exchange plans. It’s partly why we chose the HSA plan – to offset any rx need in a tax-preferred way. It is also why I’ve warned the employee who after next month will be on the exchange to save the “double raise” we’re giving him in Jan to offset his deductible on the rx front.</p>
<p>It was sneaky to package the plans this way, but likely made average costs more manageable, and with the tendency of the American marketplace to be susceptible to brand name pharma marketing, in some ways this brings a consumer consciousness to the phenom that should help control heathcare costs. </p>
<p>Hailing from Canada as I do, it’s not a big adjustment for me insofar as the “free” healthcare in Canada never included rx drugs, for which one purchased separate plans. Of course, every other element of healthcare insurance HAS been an adjustment that is pretty mind-blowing by comparison :)</p>
<p>[LA</a> Times](<a href=“http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-78661502/]LA”>http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-78661502/)</p>
<p>“December 23, 2013, 1:36 p.m.
California’s health insurance exchange said more than 400,000 people have signed up for health plans ahead of Monday’s enrollment deadline as part of the Affordable Care Act.”</p>
<p>[Covered</a> California Offers ?Grace Period? For Consumers Who Tried To Meet Deadline-Day « CBS Los Angeles](<a href=“http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/12/23/covered-california-offers-grace-period-for-consumers-who-tried-to-meet-deadline-day/]Covered”>Covered California Offers 'Grace Period' For Consumers Who Tried To Meet Deadline-Day - CBS Los Angeles)</p>
<p>"Gene Nelson, an adjunct professor in the biomedical engineering department at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, had been frustrated in his attempts to apply through the website and through Covered California’s call centers.</p>
<p>He faced a variety of challenges on the website, including stalls, time-outs and messages warning of invalid user names and passwords that left him unable to even create an account."</p>
<p>Why do people wait until the last minute?</p>
<p>People wait until the last minute because they are human and that’s what humans do.</p>
<p>Does it go month to month or every 15 days for kicking in when they miss today?</p>
<p>“People wait until the last minute because they are human and that’s what humans do.”</p>
<p>:) and then the same people complain when the system is overloaded.</p>
<p>Texaspg, the way it is supposed to work is if you sign up on the 15th of a month or earlier that month, you receive coverage the next month. </p>
<p>If you sign up after the 15th, you do not get insurance the next month. </p>
<p>The rules change though. :)</p>
<p>[Five</a> things to know about today’s Obamacare enrollment deadline - latimes.com](<a href=“White House extends healthcare signup deadline by one day”>White House extends healthcare signup deadline by one day)</p>
<p>So 15th was their official deadline to get coverage on January 1st before all the extensions to today. </p>
<p>I don’t know if covered CA extended it like the big one but then the site had no big fix requirements either. So at least in CA, it is their own darn fault if they did not apply in time.</p>
<p>Except to my knowledge there is no Spanish (or any other language) on Covered California. Should people speak English if they are legal residents or citizens? Absolutely. But they may be more comfortable in reading difficult insurance language in their native tongue. And a large percentage of California residents speak Spanish and the many Asian languages more fluently than English. </p>
<p>And, in the end, it’s not who signs up but who pays the premiiums.</p>
<p>I worry more about low information English speakers than the Asians and Hispanics. They have a lot better information base and have better organized self-help groups than the others.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Covered California Espanol is right here, and has been around for a while:
<a href=“Covered California™ | El sitio oficial del mercado de seguros médicos de California”>Covered California™ | El sitio oficial del mercado de seguros médicos de California;
<p>And they’ve been advertising. I’ve seen Covered California banner ads, in Spanish, right on this CC thread.</p>
<p>The Five Things to Know article from the LA Times is balanced and accurate. Well worth reading. Here it is again:
[Five</a> things to know about today’s Obamacare enrollment deadline - latimes.com](<a href=“White House extends healthcare signup deadline by one day”>White House extends healthcare signup deadline by one day)</p>
<p>Texaspg, the Covered California site was running reasonably well yesterday but it was slow to respond at times and people were getting stuck or having the system hang before they could do a final submit. The deadline for Jan. 1st coverage was not extended beyond yesterday, but if people started their apps by yesterday or before, but were unable to complete due to technical issues, they will be able to get the coverage they want. I do know a procrastinator desperate for health care coverage who waited until about 2pm yesterday to start the app. His first reaction was positive – he was able to easily complete the basic apps and said he was in tears (of joy) when he saw what his premium would be. (He is older, with significant health problems, so qualifies for a Silver, cost-sharing-reduction plan – at my suggestion, he stopped his app midway through to call up the health care provider he needs to see to verify network coverage – they confirmed that they accepted both Anthem & Blue Shield). But then after selecting a plan, with the last step of e-signing the docs, (final submit), the system kept hanging - that was the status as of about 8pm yesterday evening, with a midnight deadline. I think my friend gave up and went to bed, probably completed it today. </p>
<p>I think its important to keep in mind that for the previously uninsured who procrastinate, the worst case scenario is that they won’t get coverage until Feb. 1st, which in the greater scheme of things is probably not a big deal, giving that they have already been without insurance for months or years. It’s unfair if they have already been dealing with a buggy site since October and are still facing barriers, but I’m not shedding too many tears for the ones who waited until yesterday to even try to sign on.</p>
<p>I dont know how much the bugginess of covered ca will effect the numbers. Wont matter in the near future because like calmom says, people can still sign up. </p>
<p>And the covered ca website was buggy because of too much demand. 
We should see 440,000 to 470,000 sign ups before Christmas in Cal.</p>
<p>Across the country 2 million people tried to access the federal exchange.
I think there is demand for insurance. :)</p>
<p>[Obamacare</a> Sign-Up Extended as Almost 2 Million Use Site - Bloomberg](<a href=“http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-23/obamacare-deadline-extended-one-day-on-busy-website.html]Obamacare”>http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-23/obamacare-deadline-extended-one-day-on-busy-website.html)</p>
<p>To clarify what dstark said, two million people tried to use healthcare.gov yesterday. That’s the count for one day.</p>
<p>remember that Monday and then Tuesday deadline></p>
<p>As the now-departed Emily Litella would’ve remarked: never mind!</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.healthcare.gov/blog/couldnt-enroll-by-december-23-we-can-still-help-you-get-covered/[/url]”>https://www.healthcare.gov/blog/couldnt-enroll-by-december-23-we-can-still-help-you-get-covered/</a></p>
<p>Looks like the federal site will help out people who tried to enroll earlier in the week and were stymied by the heavy usage. Seems reasonable enough.</p>
<p>That is a helpful link, bluebayou.</p>
<p>“That’s the count for one day.” :)</p>
<p>Missed this story…</p>
<p><a href=“http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-78587123/?related=true[/url]”>http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-78587123/?related=true</a></p>
<p>Missed this story too…</p>
<p><a href=“http://articles.latimes.com/2013/aug/28/business/la-fi-hospital-proton-beam-20130829[/url]”>http://articles.latimes.com/2013/aug/28/business/la-fi-hospital-proton-beam-20130829</a></p>
<p>Happy holidays everybody.</p>