I do Medical Billing for a living. My husband owns the Trucking Company. I have been involved with healthcare claims since 1990. In my experience, people that need to pay their own premiums seldom do. If it comes out of a paycheck it’s taken care of you never see the money, you don’t miss the money.

So here is the scenario:

You are seldom sick.
Seldom need the doctor.
Not on any maintenance medication.
-0- Monthly Cost for Healthcare.

Now we have the Affordable Care Act aka as OBAMACARE

Now you are forced the pay an Insurance Premium.
The only Premium you can afford is $300 a month for you.
OH, you have a wife & kids…..tack on hundreds more.
Your a truck driver with your own Authority making the big bucks, so you will not be eligible for the OBAMACARE Discounts.
All you really can afford is that $7,500 deductible plan.

You pick up a bug at the greasy spoon on your route.
Food Poisoning you say.
Now is that a trip to a Minor Emergency Center?
Probably not less than $250 because in addition to seeing you, they want to pull some blood for the lab.

Or your Hospital ER? Probably not less than $1,000. Have to pay for the ER Room, The doctor that see’s you will bill their services, the lab, oh, they need to CYA might include an X-Ray & the Radiologist that reads the X-ray. So get my drift. Everybody that touches you, bills you.

Remember you have that high insurance premium, that has a $7,500 deductible in addition to all the charges you just incurred. You’ve always put a little money back for sickness.

Most Doctors and Hospitals give a generous discount for Self Pay Individuals anyway. You have insurance now. Probably will not get that discount.

So what good is being forced to pay the insurance? Unless you have a Life Altering Event. Insurance is not worth the paper you file in your cabinet and the card in your wallet.

Ever wonder when this bill was passed, who’s hand was out?

The Government now tells us that we have to buy insurance or be fined by the IRS.

Next the doctor will be told that they cannot “treat” someone that does not have insurance. That they will be fined for doing so. The Hippocratic Oath just went out the window.

Makes me want to run to the dictionary and look up the exact meaning of what’s happening here.

It’s a sad situation the way our country is going.

If we could just go back to 2008………….

Your scenario makes perfect sense unless, as you mentioned, you have a life altering event(ie something that costs tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills). But that’s one of the reasons to have insurance in the first place, so you’re not ruined financially if something major were to happen. Do I want to pay double what I was paying for insurance last year? Of course not. However, if this program actually helps those who previously couldn’t afford insurance(either because of income level or pre-existing conditions) than I’m okay with spending the extra money. I also take comfort in the fact that under the new program the out-of-pocket max is $6,350.

What I find truly interesting is that nobody complains about having to pay for car insurance(which has been mandatory for as long as I can remember), at least to the extent they’re complaining about “Obamacare”. I can certainly make the same kind of argument that you’re basically throwing money away on car insurance, since 99% of the time you won’t need it. When you do need it, however, you’re most definitely glad you were forced to get it.

I agree the current health care program is less than ideal, but I also believe it’s a step in the right direction. There is absolutely no reason universal healthcare should not exist in this great country of ours.

The UnAffordable Healthcare Act is still among the worst legislation passed by Congress, EVER! It did nothing to address the reasons for high costs, and tramples the beliefs of many. There were also too many non-healthcare related issues tucked in out of view and passed without the knowledge of the people.

$6350??? That is not the out of pocket max for a family. For a family, the out of pocket max is $12,700. Under Obummercare, my relatively young, relatively healthy family of four would have to pay out over $6,000 in premiums and then the first $12,700(that is damn close to 20K) before the insurance does anything.
Thankfully I am still on an old plan, for this year anyway. Same premiums, better coverage, and lower deductibles/less risk.
Obummercare is not about making health insurance better, it is about redistributing money.

4yrs ago insurance co dropped my wife because of bipolar meds and that are working great .a year later I went on low dose blood pressure meds and cholesterol pills then they dropped me.I am independent in florida.we were paying doc. visits out of pocket and praying nothing big would happen medically speaking that fear is the worst.new health care law put laws that put plans in effect that we can now buy insurance right from them they figure your wages and apply government portion of assistance for us its been great and don’t ever want to go back to what was their before the new law.Who does not want healthcare? you got to be nuts.go out and do some shopping.

Yes, shop as much as you want with other people’s money. See how long that lasts.

$2000 more a year on our employer provided insurance… But at least this grandpa and grandma have all sorts of maternity care and other nonsense we do not need, nor want.