How to Protect Yourself From Obamacare

[heironymouspasparagus]

One of my friends once got into difficulty with the IRS for not anticipating a stock dividend and paying the quarterly estimate of the tax on that dividend before he even got the dividend.  They wanted penalties and interest on top of the tax.  He didn't object to the tax part, just the penalties and interest.

Better to be safe than sorry with the IRS.

That ain't how it works.  There is more to that story.

[guido911]

Another extension of time...to enroll.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/obama-administration-will-allow-more-time-to-enroll-in-health-care-on-federal-marketplace/2014/03/25/d0458338-b449-11e3-8cb6-284052554d74_story.html?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost


But just two weeks ago...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/12/us-usa-healthcare-sebelius-idUSBREA2B1VL20140312

[AquaMan]

Good! I spoke with a co worker yesterday who is way down the social ladder from us. I asked her if she had insurance and, if not, was she aware of the new Health Care act and its deadline approaching.  She said she was on her husband's policy but her married niece was not insured because she has narcolepsy and they had been told she was uninsurable. Didn't matter anyway she said because they were too broke to pay the premium.

I told her the couple needed to sign up for insurance on the new website, Healthcare.gov which she promptly wrote down. I told her that not only is it legally required but that there was help for those making small incomes, and they cannot refuse you for a pre-existing condition like her niece's. In fact, some policies range from pennies to just a few dollars per month. She had heard something about a new insurance offered but didn't know how to get it.
She actually cried and said she had been so worried about them and thanked me profusely. For what, I wondered.

We live in a different world with insurance, investments, homeowners assoc. fees, etc. Our education and income have separated us from an entire segment of workers unless you are lucky enough to have served in health, retail, social work or lower level education.  Most people who don't have health insurance are not aware of its importance, only its expense. These are the people the rest of us pay for and who Blue Cross Blue Shield hasn't been able to reach. Extend it again if necessary. And again.

[guido911]

Good! I spoke with a co worker yesterday who is way down the social ladder from us. I asked her if she had insurance and, if not, was she aware of the new Health Care act and its deadline approaching.  She said she was on her husband's policy but her married niece was not insured because she has narcolepsy and they had been told she was uninsurable. Didn't matter anyway she said because they were too broke to pay the premium.

I told her the couple needed to sign up for insurance on the new website, Healthcare.gov which she promptly wrote down. I told her that not only is it legally required but that there was help for those making small incomes, and they cannot refuse you for a pre-existing condition like her niece's. In fact, some policies range from pennies to just a few dollars per month. She had heard something about a new insurance offered but didn't know how to get it.
She actually cried and said she had been so worried about them and thanked me profusely. For what, I wondered.

We live in a different world with insurance, investments, homeowners assoc. fees, etc. Our education and income have separated us from an entire segment of workers unless you are lucky enough to have served in health, retail, social work or lower level education.  Most people who don't have health insurance are not aware of its importance, only its expense. These are the people the rest of us pay for and who Blue Cross Blue Shield hasn't been able to reach. Extend it again if necessary. And again.

WE live in a world that is informed, successful, and probably paying for this monstrosity, and that's secondary to those that are not informed, unsuccessful, and not paying for it? Sucks to be tuned in. And are you suggesting that this "segment", being this one person you know, is the reason for the extension and not because it is politically expedient to the dems? 

Point is, there are groups of people just hammering away at those that say "repeal", but ignore that this POS bill has been extended and "rewritten" a huge number of times. I am on "record" wanting this thing to start  moving, mainly because I want to put to bed the speculation on all sides as to its chances for success. The more I sit around and watch folks like the HHS secretary come out as a flat LIAR as I posted, the more I just want to kill the damned thing and start over.

[Townsend]

Point is, there are groups of people just hammering away at those that say "repeal", but ignore that this POS bill has been extended and "rewritten" a huge number of times.

What bill?

[AquaMan]

I don't even know how to respond Guido. Not very Catholic of you. And not very informed about your co-inhabitants on this part of the planet. You will pay for those uninformed whether you want to or not. At least by signing up they have a chance to change the culture that forces your insurance premiums to cover their poor health practices. Except that I hope your wish to have it fully implemented is granted.

[guido911]

I don't even know how to respond Guido. Not very Catholic of you. And not very informed about your co-inhabitants on this part of the planet. You will pay for those uninformed whether you want to or not. At least by signing up they have a chance to change the culture that forces your insurance premiums to cover their poor health practices. Except that I hope your wish to have it fully implemented is granted.

Are you kidding? You have to be. Obamacare was passed in 2010. Four years ago. And you think I am not being "Catholic" enough to expect people in this country to know what is going on?

[AquaMan]

http://news.yahoo.com/more-than-half-of-uninsured-don-t-know-health-care-law-deadline-is-looming-205351534.html

Do you ever fatigue from being so far out of touch with the rest of the country outside of Tulsa?

[Conan71]

http://news.yahoo.com/more-than-half-of-uninsured-don-t-know-health-care-law-deadline-is-looming-205351534.html

Do you ever fatigue from being so far out of touch with the rest of the country outside of Tulsa?

How can so many people not be aware of the deadline or that the program exists?  It's not like it's been a well-concealed secret. 

[Red Arrow]

How can so many people not be aware of the deadline or that the program exists? 

They don't watch FOX News

[Conan71]

They don't watch FOX News

Couldn't they page out texts on their Obamaphones or put a notice in with their monthly check? 

[Red Arrow]

Couldn't they page out texts on their Obamaphones or put a notice in with their monthly check? 

Who?  The folks who brought us the Obamacare website?

[Townsend]

How can so many people not be aware of the deadline or that the program exists?  It's not like it's been a well-concealed secret. 

The un-informed and ill-informed abound in this country.

[AquaMan]

How can so many people not be aware of the deadline or that the program exists?  It's not like it's been a well-concealed secret.  

Step outside your well earned, well educated, upscale existence for just a moment. Put yourself in a mobile home, a westside dump or a ghetto out north. Or, think about living in Questa, New Mexico in a rural setting where you don't have great Cox cable, AT&T and your prime social gathering and source of current events is your church or local  bar. Then dumb down, way down to where you are only thinking about your long shifts at the mine, your idiot co-workers and bosses at the factory or your first job at McDonalds. The father(s) of your children are long since gone or ignoring court orders. Your neighbor deals drugs and steals from your house whenever possible. The local school that failed you is now failing your children and they don't want to go to school anyway. You owe so you can't answer the phone for fear of collectors. Your computer is outdated, your phone is cheap or way beyond your abilities to use it and the kids have messed up your internet with facebook and porn. You steal toilet paper from the office bathroom and gamble at the casino when they send you those $5 coupons cause you just know one score clears the decks. Your car is in jeopardy of being repossessed because you bought it from a "buy here, pay here" and they did you no favors. The transmission failed, you can't afford to fix it and the bus gets you to work. I'm not even going to venture into the realm of how drugs, cigarettes, alcohol and mental illness affect their lives.

The last thing you think you can afford is the crappy insurance policy your employer offers. He shopped around and got the best deal he could for him and his managers with little regard for $10 hr employees.

But your kid has a fever of 102 and the local ER at the hospital has to take you and spread the cost of his treatment to the rest of its patients.

Now you're in the setting of about 25% of Americans.

I'm not trying to lecture Conan. I was surprised to see how few Americans have the education, the foundation, the upbringing, the culture to understand what we've spent 108 pages arguing over. 30% have a formal college education. Another 11% or so have post high school at either community colleges or for profit private colleges (debatable worth) and another 10%(est. but dropping) have vocational training. 15% have no high school education.

No, they aren't much aware of The Affordable Care Act, are confused about "Obamacare" (but it must be bad cause the pastor and the boss hate it) and don't know the deadline. Like most things, they think they'll fly under the radar, or deal with it when something happens that forces them to. In business we call that "Crisis Management". And it works sometimes.

Note: %'s modified to match current census data.

[Conan71]

Step outside your well earned, well educated, upscale existence for just a moment. Put yourself in a mobile home, a westside dump or a ghetto out north. Or, think about living in Questa, New Mexico in a rural setting where you don't have great Cox cable, AT&T and your prime social gathering and source of current events is your church or local  bar. Then dumb down, way down to where you are only thinking about your long shifts at the mine, your idiot co-workers and bosses at the factory or your first job at McDonalds. The father(s) of your children are long since gone or ignoring court orders. Your neighbor deals drugs and steals from your house whenever possible. The local school that failed you is now failing your children and they don't want to go to school anyway. You owe so you can't answer the phone for fear of collectors. Your computer is outdated, your phone is cheap or way beyond your abilities to use it and the kids have messed up your internet with facebook and porn. You steal toilet paper from the office bathroom and gamble at the casino when they send you those $5 coupons cause you just know one score clears the decks. Your car is in jeopardy of being repossessed because you bought it from a "buy here, pay here" and they did you no favors. The transmission failed, you can't afford to fix it and the bus gets you to work. I'm not even going to venture into the realm of how drugs, cigarettes, alcohol and mental illness affect their lives.

The last thing you think you can afford is the crappy insurance policy your employer offers. He shopped around and got the best deal he could for him and his managers with little regard for $10 hr employees.

But your kid has a fever of 102 and the local ER at the hospital has to take you and spread the cost of his treatment to the rest of its patients.

Now you're in the setting of about 25% of Americans.

I'm not trying to lecture Conan. I was surprised to see how few Americans have the education, the foundation, the upbringing, the culture to understand what we've spent 108 pages arguing over. 30% have a formal college education. Another 11% or so have post high school at either community colleges or for profit private colleges (debatable worth) and another 10%(est. but dropping) have vocational training. 15% have no high school education.

No, they aren't much aware of The Affordable Care Act, are confused about "Obamacare" (but it must be bad cause the pastor and the boss hate it) and don't know the deadline. Like most things, they think they'll fly under the radar, or deal with it when something happens that forces them to. In business we call that "Crisis Management". And it works sometimes.

Note: %'s modified to match current census data.

Have you ever considered writing children's books?  That's some damn cheery stuff right there. 

I admit, I'm very information-addicted so it can be a little hard for me to fathom people not being aware of one of the most topical issues in America today. 

I assumed people who needed coverage and who receive some sort of public assistance now would have been notified either via the mail, through a social service agency, or hospital/medical provider they have visited recently that they must purchase insurance or get on medicaid.  Heck, it's even a popular topic in cafes and bars.  It's simply hard to imagine there are that many people disengaged from politics and the workings of our country.  Of course I say "so many" or "that many" but the Kaiser poll never puts the percentages into numbers of Americans.  Is it thousands?  Millions?

It simply seems that with all the money put into this program, HHS would have done a far better job making sure they reached all the people they intended to reach with this program.  I'm also curious how many of the people who claimed to not know when the deadline was realize they are supposed to get insurance but didn't care about a deadline because they are in the 50% who have no intention of complying.