<p>Dstark is not chronically ill, at least physically. :)</p>
<p>Emilybee, are you in NY?</p>
<p>I’m still waiting for MiamiDAP to explain her posts a couple of pages back. Agreed, they make no sense.</p>
<p>GP, yes, I am in NY. Why do you ask? </p>
<p>Is there an award for dumbest post of the day?</p>
<p>No, but there should be. Too bad the posts are NOT numbered…but I’m betting we ALL agree.</p>
<p>Awhile back, GP asked if I knew for sure that the Blue Shield exchange plans included my doctors. Actually, I do. We have a friend who bought on the exchange. At first he bought Anthem, but he was dismayed to discover that the doctors he uses (which are the same doctors my family has used for decades) were not included in his plan. So he switched to Blue Shield. Although he is an Obamacare supporter, he acknowledges that he is considerably worse off under the ACA. His premiums are a lot higher.</p>
<p>There seems to be unanimity about which poster wrote the absurd post of the day today. Which post seems a little more difficult to figure out.</p>
<p>Maybe the award should attach to the player instead of the play. </p>
<p>I am preparing a loan repayment presentation for my students, and I am including some budget examples. I went onto the exchange website to find out how much it would cost a single person earning $25,000/year to purchase insurance. The least expensive plan was $98/month after the tax credits. It had a $6300 deductible. Ouch!!</p>
<p>Ah, but we’ve also discussed that some of the lowest price plans might only be best for someone anticipating very low med costs out of pocket. Calculated analysis. The rock bottom plans I could have chosen also had poor percentages covered after ded was met. If all you need is an extra sick visit or two, maybe addl lab work, a gyno visit, perhaps Bronze fits. Personally, I couldn’t trust any of the those for our needs. I priced them out for my girls, as an exercise. But started with a Silver plan/cost when discussing this with them.</p>
<p>“There seems to be unanimity about which poster wrote the absurd post of the day today. Which post seems a little more difficult to figure out.” </p>
<p>Today has been a banner day on ACA thread! 
</p>
<p>For people of limited means, though, there isn’t much choice but to hedge their bets. To purchase a plan with a lower deductible, which is quite a bit more expensive, is a “for sure” monthly drain on very limited resources. I most certainly understand the trade-off, but it’s hard to explain that to someone who is currently in good health and is struggling to makes ends meet.</p>
<p>And that’s why I don’t like them- misleading. Those people have a safety net- the max out of pocket caps, but virtually no help on routine costs (and we discussed how preventative procedures can morph out of that category if something is found, depending on what and how the doc codes.)</p>
<p>I thought a couple of posters could be up for today’s award, btw. And what shall we call it? </p>
<p>Emilybee, I ask because you’re wrong about exchange plans having similar network coverage to group plans in NY. I have found numerous articles discussing the problems with the NY Exchange and its narrow networks. I have linked to this NY Times article describing the problem in some detail. If this isn’t sufficient for you I will link other articles. There may be a paywall, so you may have to google the article.</p>
<p>Emily, if your so confident you can find the same coverage on the exchange I would suggest cancelling your group coverage and see what happens. Yeah, there is a lot of inaccurate information finding its way on this thread, much of it coming from the diehard supporters who are going to stick to their story regardless of the facts.</p>
<p>“With Affordable Care Act, Canceled Policies for New York Professionals”</p>
<p><a href=“With Affordable Care Act, Canceled Policies for New York Professionals - The New York Times”>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/14/nyregion/with-affordable-care-act-canceled-policies-for-new-york-professionals.html</a></p>
<p>But, if they’re young and healthy they may not have any routine costs. There are 25 year olds who never go to the doctor. Believe it or not.</p>
<p>Edit to add - Isn’t nysmile in NY? He was on this thread complaining about narrow networks.</p>
<p>How easy to say diehard supporters when you just won’t let the negative certainty go. Sounds pretty diehard, to me. Ever see it that way?</p>
<p>lookingforward, as we have discussed here before, if kelsmom’s hypothetical person bought Silver instead of Bronze, they would have reduced copays, reduced co-insurance, reduced deductibles and a reduced max out of pocket. Rather than having “virtually no help on routine costs,” this person would have a lot of help on routine costs. This is why most people on the exchanges are going for Silver.</p>
<p>CF, we were referring to the lowest cost plans- Bronze. No? And kelsmom pointed out, the group she;s trying to advise may not be able to afford Silver. A Bronze with no support til the ded is met is oop for a sick visit. Correct me if I am wrong.</p>
<p>Don’t remember that post, dstark. What I do remember saying is that most of the enrollees in the exchanges were not previously uninsured, at least according to the evidence collected so far. Since 80 to 90% of them are subsidized, I find that pretty surprising, too. </p>