Author Topic: American Healthcare  (Read 6106 times)

rcjordan

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Re: American Healthcare
« Reply #15 on: October 04, 2013, 04:01:14 PM »
>I'm convinced that makes the country more productive as a whole

Agreed, particularly for the "entrepreneurial class" that is the lifeblood of development, be it tech or otherwise.  Back at Wmw when a member would ask about going out on his own one of the first questions was EU or US?  If EU, it was probably worth a shot. US? ...massive risk financially, with the cost of insurance being 25-35% of their available income.

ergophobe

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Re: American Healthcare
« Reply #16 on: October 04, 2013, 05:59:02 PM »
Absolutely. My brother went out on his own as a consultant and had more work than he could handle and liked the work, but because of having had thyroid cancer, his insurance cost was $20,000 per year with a $10,000 deductible. He ended up taking a job with one of his clients.

I often explain it like this. Every system has its problems, but if I were trying to design the dumbest possible system for funding health care, I would set up like this:

 - your insurance is tied to your job. lose your job and you lose your insurance

 - it's prohibitively expensive to get insurance without a large company behind you unless you're very healthy and don't really need insurance expect in event of accident.

 - costs are hidden because you have no idea how much your insurance actually costs your company who passes that cost onto you in the form of lower wages

 - if you can't afford insurance, you're cut off low-cost preventative care, but you can walk into an emergency room and get care for the same issue at ten times the cost and force everyone who does have insurance to pay for it.

That's quite a system!


rcjordan

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Re: American Healthcare
« Reply #17 on: October 04, 2013, 06:43:01 PM »
I have a younger brother, 58, who is disabled. I've been dicking with the HealthCare.gov application process for 3 days now.  With 19 years of experience hanging crappy websites, I believe I am exceptionally qualified to judge crappy websites  ...damn! this is one f###ed up mess!

rcjordan

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Re: American Healthcare
« Reply #18 on: October 04, 2013, 07:21:25 PM »
<added>
Looks like they have chatbots for help:

[3:04:47 pm]: Thanks for contacting Health Insurance Marketplace Live Chat. Please wait while we connect you to someone who can help. 
[3:05:52 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:06:24 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:06:57 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:07:29 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:08:01 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:08:32 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:09:04 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:09:36 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:10:07 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:10:39 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:11:11 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:11:42 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:12:14 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:12:46 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:13:17 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:13:48 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:14:19 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people. 
[3:14:49 pm]: Welcome! You're now connected to Health Insurance Marketplace Live Chat.

Thanks for contacting us. My name is Aidris. To protect your privacy, please don't provide any personal information, like Social Security Number, or any other sensitive medical or personal information. 
[3:15:06 pm]: RC 
ok 
[3:15:19 pm]: RC 
I have been phone verified by Experian but my application still says I must upload documents. When I try to upload a 65k .jpg file of my drivers license it gives an error message and says try again. 
[3:16:05 pm]: Aidris 
Hello. How may I help you? 
[3:16:20 pm]: RC 
I have been phone verified by Experian but my application still says I must upload documents. When I try to upload a 65k .jpg file of my drivers license it gives an error message and says try again. 
[3:16:47 pm]: RC 
Repeat tries also fail 
[3:18:37 pm]: Aidris 
Thank you for your patience. 
[3:19:07 pm]: Aidris 
Thanks for your interest in the Health Insurance Marketplace. We have a lot of visitors trying to use our website right now. That is causing some glitches for some people trying to create accounts or log in. Keep trying, and thanks for your patience. You might have better success during off-peak hours, like later at night or early in the morning. We'll continue working to improve the site so you can get covered! 
[3:19:46 pm]: Your chat session is over. Thanks for contacting us, and we hope we've answered your questions. Have a great day. 
[3:19:46 pm]: 10/4/2013

grnidone

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Re: American Healthcare
« Reply #19 on: October 05, 2013, 01:36:49 AM »
OMG.  Seriously, RC, that is one of the worst things I've seen!

Gurtie

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Re: American Healthcare
« Reply #20 on: October 05, 2013, 09:47:01 AM »
we have doctors receptionists which do largely the same thing :)

Seriously - thats not good.Although with (presumably) millions of people trying they were always going to have load issues

littleman

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Re: American Healthcare
« Reply #21 on: October 06, 2013, 01:24:13 AM »
I have a big family and two minor pre-existing conditions, at one time I was paying $1,400/month for coverage with a very high deductible and the only reason why I was able to qualify for that insurance was because I carried it over from a previous employer.

One thing we did that helped cut our rates was to form a small business in my wife's name and then have her higher me.  This way we qualified under a group plan even though the group was essentially one family coverage.  I don't know if this would work in every state, but it works in California.  Rates were basically cut in half.  Talking to an insurance broker it looks like our rates will be reduced under the ACA and that we won't have to do this approach anymore.

RC a lot of states set up their own ACA sites.  Though, I bet most of the red states don't.

California's: https://www.coveredca.com/

rcjordan

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Re: American Healthcare
« Reply #22 on: October 06, 2013, 02:10:18 AM »
NC did not sign up for the medicaid expansion so we use the federal exchange and website.

dogboy

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Re: American Healthcare
« Reply #23 on: October 06, 2013, 12:33:33 PM »
'Healthcare' is all about money and politics.... and when it comes to politics, I am eclectic, and take from both sides of the isle. In the last 5 years or so, you will see me side more with Ron Paul, than either party. But here I think I'm on my own...

I think a government should:

1.) Ensure that its constituents are free to do whatever they want, as long as it doesn't affect anyone else's rights, or the environment.
2.) Offer 'free' education to its citizens, of all ages.
3.) Protect the environment for future generations/No 'Tragedy of the Commons'
4.) Offer a stable organization/network/framework upon which to operate
5.) Pay for 'free' healthcare for those in need, by allowing the person to choose their provider, from among non-profit companies with contracts with the govt, at fixed and agreed up rates, for services rendered. This would ensure that providers who do a good job will get business, and those that don't fall out of the system.

...
« Last Edit: October 06, 2013, 12:38:25 PM by dogboy »

Mackin USA

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Re: American Healthcare >> NOE it gets Personal
« Reply #24 on: October 06, 2013, 11:23:47 PM »
RC:
I past that info on "from an anonymous source" to my anonymous friends in California.

Blue Cross PLANS to increase Ruth Ann's premium by $200 per month and increase her deductible by $1000

MOTHER Fxxxxxxxxxx
Mr. Mackin

grnidone

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Re: American Healthcare
« Reply #25 on: October 08, 2013, 11:01:23 PM »
New thread...off topic.
« Last Edit: October 08, 2013, 11:03:14 PM by grnidone »

Mackin USA

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Re: American Healthcare
« Reply #26 on: October 10, 2013, 08:16:43 PM »
We don't need no STINKING maternity coverage !
Mr. Mackin