How to Protect Yourself From Obamacare

[RecycleMichael]

You don't know of anyone who does hernia repair in their spare time do you? 

I been reading some chapters on it. I simply need some practice.

All I need is for you to trust me and not be afraid of a little electricity.   

[Red Arrow]

Trying to clarify why you posted what you did.  It seemed you were posting to say it wouldn't happen.

A common mistake. Reading what you want something to say rather than what was written.

I saved over $500 on my overpriced deductible.  My deductible could be less if costs weren't so high due to having to pay for people without insurance.

Uninsured costs are certainly passed on to everyone who pays, even insurance companies.  I haven't had an MRI so I don't have a number to quote but I would be VERY surprised if the price an insurance company would have paid was close to $2000.  I also doubt that hospitals would go out of business if the only payments they received were from insurance companies at negotiated rates.  When insurance companies and the government demand a (pick a number) 50% discount, the health care provider industry just raises their prices to accommodate the final cost/payment.  Unfortunately, people without access to the discount get hosed.

Deductibles are influenced mostly by what the insurance buyer is willing/able to pay to adjust that deductible.  Automobile deductibles are an easy to understand example of that.  There may not be as many options in the health care industry as in auto insurance though.

We should all probably be more diligent in calling health care policies "health care" rather than "insurance".   I left "insurance" above to be more clear about provider and payer.  I doubt a home/auto/boat/life insurance company would be willing to cover an event that happened before you bought a policy.

[Red Arrow]

I been reading some chapters on it. I simply need some practice.
All I need is for you to trust me and not be afraid of a little electricity.   

Don't do it Conan!  He is planning to turn you into a liberal.  The electricity is what will do it.

[RecycleMichael]

Stop telling people my secret plans.

And I have many other methods to turn people into liberals. You might be next.

[Red Arrow]

And I have many other methods to turn people into liberals. You might be next.

Others have tried.

[Townsend]

A common mistake. Reading what you want something to say rather than what was written.

Oh now, reading what I'm accustomed to reading rather than what you think you've written.

You don't even believe in sidewalks.

[Townsend]

Deductibles are influenced mostly by what the insurance buyer is willing/able to pay to adjust that deductible. 

Any cap cost reduction will be influenced by other costs.  In this case, covering the uninsured.

[Red Arrow]

Turning her back on 693,000....
Shameful.....TW got it right.

Did you read the whole article or stop at 693,000?

Fallin's decision means the federal government will set up a health insurance exchange in the state that will start selling federally subsidized private insurance plans to people who earn between 133 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level - $30,657 to $92,200 for a family of four under current standards.

But her decision not to accept the Medicaid expansion means there will be a coverage gap for people who earn too much to be eligible for the state's existing Medicaid plan or are categorically ineligible for the program but earn less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level.

For example, a single, 19-year-old man who earns $15,400 a year would be eligible for a $2,921 federal subsidy on a $3,391 insurance plan, according to figures developed by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

But without the Medicaid expansion, the same man would get nothing if he earned $100 a year less.

Fallin acknowledged that gaps are possible and said the state may be able to seek solutions by expanding the Insure Oklahoma program, which is funded with federal Medicaid money and state tobacco tax revenue, or through Medicaid waivers.

"The reality is there have always been some gaps in the system, and we're actually trying to address some of those needs," Fallin said.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=336&articleid=20121120_16_A1_CUTLIN244929&r=5383

[Red Arrow]

Any cap cost reduction will be influenced by other costs.  In this case, covering the uninsured.

The cost of your plan and the deductible with it are certainly influenced by other prices.  Covering the uninsured is certainly a part of it.  I have never denied that.  The actual deductible is influenced most by what you are willing/able to pay for a certain deductible and if that deductible level is available.

Cap cost.  Are you talking about the maximum out of your pocket cost after meeting your deductible?  My "insurance" policy has a deductible, a co-insured range where I pay typically 10%, and a cap on my annual out of pocket expense including my deductible and the part where I paid 10%.

Your posts seem to imply (to me) that if everyone had insurance that the $2000 retail price of that MRI at the major hospital would instantly drop to the $500 price at the imaging center.  It's possible but unlikely.  If everyone were insured, the price of your insurance may come down.  You might choose a lower deductible for the same policy cost as your present coverage.  There are too many variables to make blanket statements.

[Townsend]

Your posts seem to imply (to me) that if everyone had insurance that the $2000 retail price of that MRI at the major hospital would instantly drop to the $500 price at the imaging center.  It's possible but unlikely.  If everyone were insured, the price of your insurance may come down.  You might choose a lower deductible for the same policy cost as your present coverage.  There are too many variables to make blanket statements.

I don't believe it would instantly adjust, no.  It reasons that the costs would be reduced at major hospitals if they don't need to cover as many uninsured patients.  I don't see why they wouldn't at least try to match the market.

[Red Arrow]

It reasons that the costs would be reduced at major hospitals if they don't need to cover as many uninsured patients.

I can agree with that principal.

I don't see why they wouldn't at least try to match the market.

That would be nice but I expect there are other overhead items that would preclude a real match.  I am thinking of things like a 24/7 staff in the emergency room that an imaging center doesn't need to provide.  If everyone were insured without limits, the hospitals could increase the retail price of services as much as they wanted because the only price they received would be the negotiated prices with health care payers (formerly known as insurance companies).

[Red Arrow]

Oh now, reading what I'm accustomed to reading rather than what you think you've written.

You don't even believe in sidewalks.

Again, you are reading what you want to see. 

I have said that sidewalks have appropriate places.  You and I just disagree on the extent of that amount and where.

[Townsend]

I have said that sidewalks have appropriate places.  You and I just disagree on the extent of that amount and where.

You've been wrong.  It's okay.  Lots of people are.

[Townsend]

Denny's, Papa John's, walk back criticism of Obamacare

http://tv.msnbc.com/2012/11/20/dennys-papa-johns-walk-back-criticism-of-obamacare/

Conservative restauranteurs are discovering that retaliation against the Affordable Care Act is bad for business.

Papa John's CEO John Schnatter took to the Huffington Post to clarify his earlier suggestion that some restaurants might need to increase prices and cut employee hours in order to deal with the cost of Obamacare.
"Many in the media reported that I said Papa John's is going to close stores and cut jobs because of Obamacare," he wrote in a blog post. "I never said that. The fact is we are going to open over hundreds of stores this year and next and increase employment by over 5,000 jobs worldwide. And, we have no plans to cut team hours as a result of the Affordable Care Act."

Though the Affordable Care Act is still somewhat divisive, the trend in public polling is towards broad acceptance of the law. Last week, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that support for the health care law's repeal had hit an all-time low of 33%.

Regardless of how many Americans felt about the law when it was first passed, making them pay extra in return seems to be a public relations loser.

Schnatter isn't the only one feeling the heat. Just days after Denny's franchise owner John Metz said he would add a 5% Obamacare surcharge to all his customers' checks, Denny's CEO John Miller publicly distanced himself from the decision. "We recognize his right to speak on issues, but registered our disappointment that his comments have been interpreted as the company's position," he told the Huffington Post.

Given the public backlash against Metz, Miller has good reason to be disappointed. Denny's franchise owner Abdo Mouannes told the Huffington Post that traffic at his seven Florida locations dropped "overnight" after Metz's comments went viral. His restaurants received so many angry phone calls that one of his managers wanted to unplug the phone, Mouannes said to the Post.

"People didn't like what they heard and were saying they wouldn't support Denny's," Mouannes said. "But we have nothing to do with that decision. I am not a fan of that [5% surcharge] idea."

[Townsend]

Oklahoma Policy Institute FB post:

"Hospitals continue to be the safety net for their communities, including the one-in-six Oklahomans who are uninsured. Today, Oklahoma hospitals provide nearly $600 million annually in uncompensated care. Without increased coverage for the uninsured, such as Medicaid expansion would provide, these costs are shifted to businesses and those who have insurance, contributing to increased health care costs. Oklahoma's elected leaders cannot continue to opine on the need for a healthier Oklahoma without supporting and establishing public policies that promote health and improve access to care."

-Craig Jones, President of the Oklahoma Hospital Association