Obamacare

[glatt]

I have employer-provided healthcare.

[henry quirk]

If your employer (for whatever reason) chooses to terminate your coverage (or you), you'll use the exchanges, yes?

[glatt]

I expect I will. I'll at least check them out and compare prices with non-exchanges.

[Happy Monkey]

If fired, I'd compare them to COBRA. They'll probably be cheaper (COBRA is more about continuity than affordability), but I'd factor in the hassle of changing providers compared to how long I'd expect to be out of work. The next employer will probably provide coverage, and changing providers twice in a short time might not be worth it.

If healthcare were just dropped by my employer, I'd use the exchange. That's what it's there for.

[Clodfobble]

Like HM, I'd first look into COBRA because right now we have a plan that was specifically tailored to our unique medical needs (because Mr. Clod's employer was very clear that he wanted to keep him happy, and added certain coverages just for him.)

But yes, if everything fell apart and Mr. Clod were for some reason unemployed for a long time, we would certainly use the exchange.

[Griff]

We have employer paid insurance but now we can keep our daughters on ours until they get their own or age out at what 26? Thanks Mitt!

[Undertoad]

I am waiting until the website problems are sorted out.

[henry quirk]

Would any one just opt to pay the fine and be done with it?

As I understand: for the first year it's 95 bucks or 1% of your income.

At least for now: is that a better option than the exchanges?

[glatt]

But then you are uninsured.

The fines are low for this first year. But they will go up the next year. They are getting phased in.

[Clodfobble]

I imagine you would think it is, since you also believe that you have no need for emergency services paid for with tax money that you resent having had "stolen" from you.

But any reasonable risk assessment of life would come to the conclusion that we all get sick eventually, or perhaps get hit in an auto accident that wasn't our fault, but nonetheless leaves us with massive medical bills. There could be zero fine, and buying medical insurance would still be a good deal, when comparing risk vs. reward.

[henry quirk]

Clod,

I asked a question...I wasn't makin' a point by way of the question.

I didn't bring myself into the question, you did.

And: no, I resent nuthin' cause I ain't payin' nuthin.


Now...

As I understand it: the point of the fine is to cover those expenses one may incur if using medical resources without insurance.

Leaving aside that one may be able to pay his or her own way without resorting to insurance (out of pocket), at least for the first year might it be the better deal to just pay the fine?


It's just (a line of) questions, folks...I'm curious how people are doing all of this (what choices they're makin'), is all.

[DanaC]

I'd imagine that would work, if you only encountered run of the mill health problems. Antibiotics, inhalors, maybe even a bone reset after a break. But if you end up in a hospital bed for a few nights, or you have a sudden and unexpected need for chemotherapy and the like, I expect it would get cripplingly expensive quite fast.

It'd be a gamble. But then I guess that's the point of an insurance system in the first place. The insurance companies gamble that you will never need more treatment than would fall under the copay limit. And you gamble that you might just need a hospital stay at some point.

So, as long as you don't get seriously ill or have an accident requiring a complex medical response, it might well be more cost effective to pay the fine and be uninsured.

[henry quirk]

"as long as you don't get seriously ill or have an accident requiring a complex medical response, it might well be more cost effective to pay the fine and be uninsured"

I must have gotten sumthin' wrong in my readings 'cause I assumed the fine (which goes up to astronomical levels down the road) would cover you no matter the nature of a medical treatment (no matter how costly).

Again: isn't the point of the fine to cover those expenses one may incur if using medical resources without insurance?

If not: then what's the fine for?

[glatt]

The fine is a stick to get you to join the program. It doesn't grant you access to anything.

[Happy Monkey]

It's for not following the law, liker most fines are.

The only way it "covers" you is by adding to the governments coffers, from which it pays the subsidies for poor people buying insurance. Those people having insurance makes it easier for the hospital to manage the people who get emergency care, and can't pay.

So, if you decide to pay the fine instead of getting coverage, you'll be in the same boat as you are now if you have no insurance, but a bit of the pressure is taken off of the hospitals.