<p>Dietz, do you have an HSA plan? If you typically don’t meet a $2500 deductible, then you are not likely to lose money by going to a $5000 deductible. That is, let’s say that on average you pay out $1500 per year in medical expense – you would pay out that same $1500 whether your deductible was $2000, $3500, or $5000 – but of course the higher deductible is tied to lower premiums.</p>
<p>With an HSA, every dollar you put into the HSA account is a tax write off, on top of the deduction you get for self-employed health insurance – AND you can use those HSA dollars to pay for many of the alternative health care expenses.</p>
<p>You DO get government subsidies for your health care costs, in the form of these tax deductions, whether or not you qualify for a premium tax credit.</p>
<p>“For those who do have that taste, the coverage is available, at extra cost.”</p>
<p>LasMa, after all these months of posting and reading this thread, it is amazing that you would post the above. What is even more amazing is that you live in Ca. and you are still saying stuff like this. </p>
<p>CF, please explain to LasMa why this statement is wrong; I am tired of repeating myself. </p>
<p>They are also looking at Maryland & Mass. Despite the implication of the headline, this is the process of negotiation between the states & federal government, not a one-sided “take over”. But now that the kinks have been ironed out of Healthcare.gov, it’s a logical step for the states that have not been able to get their own exchanges up and running…</p>
<p>It’s kind of ironic that Ma., the state which already had universal insurance, some of the best universities in the country, including MIT and the Route 128 high tech corridor, cannot build this website. It just shows you the extent to which govt can screw things up even when given unlimited resources and money.</p>
<p>Of course not. What I’m trying to understand is what you’re so upset about. You have the network you want. You’re paying more, but you believe you’re getting superior care. What’s the problem? </p>
<p>LasMa, GP couldn’t get his Picasso hospital on the individual exchange this year; no plans included it. He managed somehow to buy a group policy. He blames the ACA for the products that private profit-making businesses chose to offer this year on the individual market. Me, I think that if there is a market for a high-end insurance policy someone will offer it next year, but who knows?</p>
<p>There probably would be a small market for high-end plans, and more power to them. But I still don’t get why the incessant whining. Why does it matter if he got his Picasso-hospital coverage on the individual market or through a group plan? I assume their magical healing powers are the same no matter where he got his insurance. </p>
<p>CF, thanks for the explanation but by suggesting there is only one “Picasso” (high-end research, cutting-edge facility) hospital not in the Obamacare network, you have flunked the test.</p>
<p>Is the question why I am griping? Because there were too many people in the individual market who lost their insurance and were forced to purchase policies with narrow networks for much more money than they were paying before. I was fortunate to escape the individual market but most were unable to do so and were left with no real options. That p*sses me off.</p>
<p>Regarding the number of people who “lost” their individual coverage, there’s a brand-new study which demonstrates that this was nothing out of the ordinary. The rate of churn in the individual market was extremely high before ACA ever took effect.</p>
<p>The study failed to discern the most important point regarding the cancelled policies. If I chose to voluntarily change coverage prior to 2014 or even changed coverage because of a premium increase, I had plenty of options to obtain coverage with the same network of providers I had heretofore the change. Now, when my policy was involuntary cancelled, there were NO POLICIES WITH THE SAME NETWORK OF PROVIDERS in the individual market. You can spin this anyway you want but there is no denying this basic point.</p>
<p>Furthermore, If I changed coverage in the past I generally was able to find a policy with a reasonable premium by either finding a policy with a higher deductible or changing insurance companies. This time there were no, I repeat, no policies that had a premium less than 60% more than I was currently paying. To add insult to injury, all these policies had a network somewhere on the order of 1/3 as large as the one I previously enjoyed. </p>