Obamacare
I usually don't get political on this blog; I think my political posts can be counted on one hand. I recently began exploring the website to sign up for Obamacare, and I am not impressed. First of all, when Obamacare was upheld as law, I was curious, as me and my wife are among the uninsured. Neither of our employers offer coverage, so I waited to see how Obamacare would turn out. As the deadline for the implementation drew near, I began to believe that it was nothing more than "Get insurance or be penalized" despite how it was touted as making coverage affordable to everyone, regardless of income or pre-existing conditions. As someone in that last category, this seemed like welcome news. I went on the healthcare.gov website the other day and began exploring my options.
First, the enrollment process was laborious. All I wanted was an idea of what coverage for me and wife would cost. However, to get to that point, I had to enter all of our data, such as SSN's, income, employers, etc. Once all of that was done, only then could I start pricing plans. At the least expensive level of coverage, a plan that would cover the two of us started at about $559 a month, with a $12,000 dollar deductible. This would be a 60/40 split, although I don't remember who would pay the 60%. So that means before we could even begin to reap the benefits of insurance, we would have to fork over at least $6700 per year plus meet the deductible. I then went into live chat to find out if that premium took into account any subsidies we might qualify for. Turns out we didn't, because at an income level of around $50,000 per year, we made too much money. So that premium would be ours if we enrolled. I then tried to find out what coverage just for my wife would cost, but the website, despite having a feature that (supposedly) allowed you to break down your coverage by groups (family of 2, one individual, etc), would not work. I called up the live chat function to ask how to use it, and the operator typed back that he was not familiar with that function, and perhaps I should just open an account in my wife's name, enter her data and shop that way. $559 per month is almost as much as my mortgage, and perhaps if my house was paid for I might consider buying insurance. But right now, I think I would rather risk the penalty for not enrolling rather than go back to living from paycheck to paycheck.
First, the enrollment process was laborious. All I wanted was an idea of what coverage for me and wife would cost. However, to get to that point, I had to enter all of our data, such as SSN's, income, employers, etc. Once all of that was done, only then could I start pricing plans. At the least expensive level of coverage, a plan that would cover the two of us started at about $559 a month, with a $12,000 dollar deductible. This would be a 60/40 split, although I don't remember who would pay the 60%. So that means before we could even begin to reap the benefits of insurance, we would have to fork over at least $6700 per year plus meet the deductible. I then went into live chat to find out if that premium took into account any subsidies we might qualify for. Turns out we didn't, because at an income level of around $50,000 per year, we made too much money. So that premium would be ours if we enrolled. I then tried to find out what coverage just for my wife would cost, but the website, despite having a feature that (supposedly) allowed you to break down your coverage by groups (family of 2, one individual, etc), would not work. I called up the live chat function to ask how to use it, and the operator typed back that he was not familiar with that function, and perhaps I should just open an account in my wife's name, enter her data and shop that way. $559 per month is almost as much as my mortgage, and perhaps if my house was paid for I might consider buying insurance. But right now, I think I would rather risk the penalty for not enrolling rather than go back to living from paycheck to paycheck.
posted by Granimore | 10:06 PM
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