June 29, 2012
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Probably too simplified . . .
Help me understand what's missing. This is a quick summary of the health insurance issue from here:
Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) explained!
Bob: Hi, insurance company. I'd like to buy some health insurance.
Insurance company: No. You had cancer when you were 3 years old, and the cancer could come back. We're not selling health insurance to you.
Bob: It's not my fault I got cancer when I was three! Besides, that was years ago!
Insurance company: If we sell insurance to you, we'll probably lose money, and we're not doing it.
Bob: But I need insurance more than anyone! My cancer might come back!
Insurance company: We don't care. We're not selling you insurance.
Obama: Hey, that's totally not fair. Bob is right, he does need insurance! Sell Bob some insurance.
Insurance company: If we have to, I guess.
Mary: This is cool. Obama said the insurance company has to sell insurance to anyone who needs it.
Sam: Hey, I have an idea. I'm going to stop paying for health insurance. If I get sick, I can always go buy some insurance then. The insurance company won't be able to say no, because Obama's told them they have to sell it to anyone who needs it!
Dave: that's a great idea! I'm not paying for health insurance either, at least not until I get sick.
Insurance company: Hey! If everyone stops paying for insurance, we'll go bankrupt!
Obama: Oh come on Sam and Dave, that's not fair either.
Dave: I don't care. It saves me money.
Obama: Oh for god's sake. Sam, Dave, you have to keep paying for health insurance, and not wait until you're sick. You too, Mary and Bob.
Mary: But I'm broke! I can't buy insurance! I just don't have any money.
Obama: Mary, show me your piggy bank. Oh, wow, you really are broke. Ok, tell you what. You still have to buy insurance, but I'll help you pay 95% of the cost.
Mary: thank you.
Obama: I need an aspirin.
Insurance company: We're not paying for that aspirin.
I think ACA says they have to cover the aspirin.
Comments (15)
Excellent summary. As a person whose medical history overfloweth with pre-existing conditions, I'm pretty darn happy with the big news of the day yesterday. I'm happier that we are a step closer to making health insurance accessible to everyone. I'm not greedy, I'll pay my premiums and share!
@scifiknitter - My daughter's mad about it. I don't think she understands how she benefits from this bill yet. But I'll talk to her tonight. In fact, I'm bringing this post up. Kind of the reason I have it, so I can refer to it at dinner.
I can't even begin to talk about this without cursing. I know this will benefit some, but it doesn't even begin to address the real issues with the American health care system.
@oceanstarr - It's a bandaid to a gushing wound but there's no way a complete overhaul proposal would even make it to committee. Too socialist scary for politicians.
@Lenore_Happenstance -
Wish we could sit down over drinks and really talk about this... The thing that ticks me off is that it is yet another motivation to drop out of work and live off the dole which means all kinds of bad things for this country. It seems to me like another penalty for those who want to work hard and do right... Why have a job and pay all those taxes if you can drop out of work, live on the cheap, barter, etc, and take gov't money?
@oceanstarr - hmmm. . .not sure hour this is living off the dole. My husband and I have our own business. Purchasing health insurance is currently a choice between bad and worse for crappy disaster coverage. If this law does what it's supposed to, we might actually have options to purchase decent coverage. Right now, unless you have a preexisting condition, work for yourself or work for a small company, you may not realize how broken this system is and how badly we need a fix. This does not do enough to remedy the problem, but at least it's a start. Civilized societies should not throw people to the wolves.
@oceanstarr - (apologies for typos. Mobile app. Phone autocorrect. Ugh)
This is really pretty great.
@Shahrazad1973 - Great points - thanks for putting forth another point of view not often heard! It will take a while yet for those options to be available, but I hope this does help you and your husband get better health insurance at a fair price.
@oceanstarr - If availability of health insurance is an incentive to stop working, that situation already exists - Medicaid. At least where I live, Medicaid is probably better insurance than what Shah and her husband purchase. The bigger advantage is for children, and people who work who have crappy or no insurance. I wish we had the political will in this country to do a true overhaul, but I still think that this will be an improvement over what was in place a year ago. It will take time to find out.
@Shahrazad1973 - @scifiknitter -
I know very well how messed up the system is. Believe me... I just had a baby and no bill from the care (because I quit working), but my husband can't get help for even minor ails without astronomical bills. I just think this further strengthens the grip of the enemies (pharmeceutical and insurance companies). Not like my opinion does anything to fix anything... It's a complex problem - far too complex for me to comment on comprehensively in this space.
@oceanstarr - @scifiknitter - I don't think health insurance will be an incentive to stop working but I think with a proper system, people shouldn't have to worry about having no income AND not being able to visit a doctor or go to a hospital. Health care won't house anyone but maybe this bill might help somebody from losing their house due to a medical catastrophe. I don't expect the execution to go smoothly, nothing the government administers rarely does go that way. But I'm in favor of seeing this through.
I'm about to give Kiddo's old car to a woman who couldn't get insured because of her 2nd bout with breast cancer. She lost her house, her son had to be pulled out of university and then her husband was laid off. They're all doing temp work around town. She is going without treatment because there's nothing anyone can do besides some programs that can help with prescription drugs. I have my fingers crossed this program can help her.
@oceanstarr - I do understand! Here is hoping the new law actually brings relief to families like both of ours who pay out pocket for health care! Honestly, I don't care what solution we come up with as long as it improves the situation.
@Lenore_Happenstance -
Do you think she knows about Gerson Therapy? I have to admit part of the reason I stay off an official payroll is to make sure Tiny has insurance. By the time I pay all the taxes off an average job, childcare and associated work costs, it just doesn't make sense for me to take most any job - even with a Masters degree.
@Shahrazad1973 -
Since I can't do much of anything to affect the law being passed or not, I just deal with whatever comes. See above comment about the worthlessness of me having an "official, on the books" job lol... It just makes more sense for our household for me to help keep our cost of living as low as possible and work under the radar.
@oceanstarr - I am with you on that. I, too, have a master's degree but choose to stay home. Partly because I tried for a decade to have sophie and don't want to miss a thing, and partly because it makes more financial sense.
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