Backdoor to View Obamacare Prices

reply to post by jefwane


He is self employed so his income earnings are variable and can claim loses, no like others that are under salaries and more easily tracked, like my husband and me, we don't even qualify for subsidies.

reply to post by AlienScience


People who won't qualify for Medicaid will certainly get a subsidy.

But, I don't think there's any subsidies for the deductibles are there ?

These policies won't help the borderline poor and lower middle class families.

It could bankrupt them.

And policies will get canceled if they miss premium payments.

And if somebody owes money to a hospital or doctor, I bet they could be denied care ?

There are many problems yet to come.

The databases will have the financial info.

reply to post by jefwane


No, I don't qualify for subsidies, even with 4 kids...I'm far from qualifying for a subsidy. I don't need it, I don't want it...I'm just happy that I can get a better plan for less money.

Until our population can understand that the only logical choice is to move to a single payer system and paying slightly larger taxes...the lower middle class is always going to get screwed. The poor are fine on medicare...the rich are fine with the gold/platinum plans.

This is the painful process we have to go through in order to get our unintelligent society to see that a single payer system is the only system that will provide for everyone equally.

marg6043
reply to post by jefwane

 

He is self employed so his income earnings are variable and can claim loses, no like others that are under salaries and more easily tracked, like my husband and me, we don't even qualify for subsidies.

Sure, I could play some serious games with my income...but I'm actually honest. I pay my taxes and I am not going to game the system to get a subsidy that I don't need.

reply to post by AlienScience


That is commendable.

No too many honest people when it comes to government this days, but my husband is another of those, he still after been retire for over 10 years holds loyalty to the government.


But I don't, he,he.

marg6043
reply to post by AlienScience

 

That is commendable.

No too many honest people when it comes to government this days, but my husband is another of those, he still after been retire for over 10 years holds loyalty to the government.


But I don't, he,he.

It's not the government I hold loyalty to, it is the people who really need the subsidies.

I could possibly game the system and gain a subsidy...but that means in future years, they may have to raise the income level for who will get a subsidy because they will be paying more out than they thought (due to people gaming the system), and that may leave a family who really needs a subsidy out in the cold.

I know there are people out there that will definitely game the system and get a subsidy when they don't need one...I am not going to be one of those and I hope there are more people like me who will do the same.

What I would like more out of all of this is for more lower income people to get the coverage they need, even if I had to pay higher premiums. It turns out my premiums are going down (don't worry, they are still pretty high), I'll switch my plan to save money on premiums...but I will never game the system to try to take a subsidy from someone who may really need it.

It's not about me supporting Obama or having loyalty to the government...I truly want this to help out people on the lower income scale.

reply to post by AlienScience


Well, I'm right in that middle class that neither party cares about, and I feel that the ACA is directly responsible for the +50% increase in my contribution (not to mention the increase on my employers side that I haven't quantified yet) to have the same insurance next year as this year. It equates to around a $1500/year reduction in my disposable income which equals a $.69/hr DECREASE in pay. So if I don't get a $.70/hr raise next year I'm moving backwards in compensation.

For someone in my income bracket that $1500 is money that isn't purchasing the goods or services you provide, buying consumer goods, being saved or invested in the markets, it is going directly to insurance companies.

I'm not necessarily for a single payer system, though I believe it would be more Constitutional than the ACA (Despite the SCOTUS ruling). I think there are some structural reforms that virtually no one is talking about that could conceivably collapse the cost of healthcare.

But that debate is for other threads, what I wanted to do here is simply give people access to info that the healthcare.gov site has massively failed at without a tedious registration process.

reply to post by jefwane

Well, I'm right in that middle class that neither party cares about, and I feel that the ACA is directly responsible for the +50% increase in my contribution (not to mention the increase on my employers side that I haven't quantified yet) to have the same insurance next year as this year.

Could be, it's really hard to tell. It's hard to say which companies are just using this as an opportunity to shift some of their insurance obligation onto their employees and which are honestly getting hit by higher premiums.

However, I will tell you this. If it is truly do to higher premiums, you should be receiving more benefits out of your insurance plan. Things like 100% coverage of preventative care...that is one free visit to the doc every year for you and your family. Plus, free recommended screenings once you hit certain a certain age for certain sexes. Also, I would expect that your medication costs would be going down (I know on the plans I just checked on the insurance websites, the pharmacy plan is incomparably better to what I have right now).

I'm not saying it won't hurt your pocket book a little...because I do know that is going to happen for a segment of the population. All I'm saying is that you should look into what extra you are getting for the higher premiums before you decide if it is that bad of a deal.

reply to post by AlienScience


I'll revisit this thread tomorrow, my wife and i are sitting down together comparing plans, coverage, and prices between both employers before enrolling. I do have pretty decent insurance and at first and second glance it looks like the main thing that is changing is the cost, but I'll know for sure tomorrow.

I think it's great that some people are finding obamacare to be a better plan than what they have now! I wish more of the population were at that income level.
I, however, am not. obamacarecare is going to be one GIANT step backward in my standard of living, and not being a 'spring chicken' anymore, I have no opportunity to regain a comfortable life style.
I'm not really sure what the "A" stands for in ACA - but it sure as hell isn't 'affordable' !!!

Ms. Nugget

wondering how the subsidies work, i've tried to find out, and can't seem to find any info or i can't see for looking at it.

what i mean is do they kick in right when you sign up and lower your monthly payment cost?
do they send you a check after you sign up?
do you have to wait until tax time for it?
also if your income goes up do they lower the subsidy?

if they kick right away and lower your monthly payment that would be all right i guess.
if you have to wait for a check or tax time, well that will hurt, your still making the premiums. and you have to meet the deductible, before you see the money.

if they lower your subsidy if your income goes up, that's just wrong. insurance companies don't even do that. they do have rate adjustments from time to time, but they don't raise your rate if you get a pay raise.
that's just squeezing more money out of your pocket.

what happens if you win a small lotto prize, are they gonna get you there to.

reply to post by jefwane


Here's a quick overview of the prices, assuming this really is the table! All the really high priced plans are in Virginia. IMO $6000 a month for a family is really over the top no matter what the coverage and deductables are. There are cheaper ones too, but I'm glad I'm not living in Virginia!

FYI: There are about 78000 rows of data in the table, so if you can see a bar in the histogram it's a pretty large group. For an earlier poster -- WV is included but the whole table probably doesn't fit in an older spreadsheet program due to the number of rows.

I could easily write a website that would display that data to people in a nice friendly format.

reply to post by BayesLike


Here's another view for Family premiums (median price) by state and coverage "metal" level. This will tell you a lot about the state to state inequities in prices but doesn't tell you a lot about state mandated requirements or what the state allows for premiums.

This also shows you which states are not included in the table at this time.

reply to post by hounddoghowlie


From everything I have read so far, you have to pay the monthly fees, and the subsidy will be in the form of a tax credit at the end of the year. And yes, if your income goes up, your subsidy goes down.

So, if your barely making it right now, after you start paying your monthly medical, you won't be able to afford to eat until at least February of the next year, if you get your taxes done early.

And that is another thing. How much longer are people going to have to wait for their tax returns, the year after this gets started? I can see this being a nightmare that way as well.

Also, as bad as these premiums are, they will skyrocket later. Initial plan rates are always lower to get you in, they know changing will be a hassle (there will be blackout periods when changes cannot be made) so they will escalate premiums at every opportunity once you have locked in.

reply to post by hounddoghowlie


I posted this on another thread, I decided to do some more digging.

Ok, I stand slightly corrected on the subsidy part of this.
How it works

If this page is correct, you do have the option of applying for an Advance on your credit amount.
A: Good luck, I wonder how long it will take for them to send the money to your healthcare provider. You could be dropped while waiting.

B: You better not underestimate your income, they will nail you at the end of the year.

Still, not going to help much, in the short term, when you have to come up with the money to get started.

lernmore

Getting 300 million people to send cold, hard, cash to your buddies in the insurance industry, every month, doesn't sound very caring to me.

It sounds more like a shakedown.

I do not support this kind of forced redistribution... period.

It is a shakedown.

It's a crying shame that government has to directly interfere in *our* lives before we raise a fuss. This little racket called affordable care is just a minor inconvenience compared to what the federals have been doing overseas to foreign governments and people.

reply to post by AlienScience


Not certain what number you got for your price, but the top platinum plan is a 90% deductible. And the rates are according to age. So if you are 25 years old, you fare well, 50 you pay double. If you smoke the average penalty is $125 a month per person. But this penalty depends on your state. Income also makes a huge difference also. If you are poor, then yes your numbers will be much lower. Me and my husband would have to pay the entire $18,000 a year if I didn't have work provided insurance.

Just a quick note, here is a 100% accurate calculator for UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA. Use the zip code 15213, if you are not from this area and just curious. This will show you exactly what your insurance cost is without subsidies, ( I think subsidies may be included but I can't vouch for them if so) what is covered, and what your copays and deductibles are. You do not need to enter your personal information, just make certain to skip that part. If you try this, let me know how you fare.

UPMC 2014 Obamacare Rates

And on a good note, me and my husband would only have to pay $1229 a month ($14,748.00 a year) if we didn't have insurance. Far less than the $1500 a month that I anticipated. Oh yeah... Party party..