I've been unemployed for five months and without health insurance for four. It's the first time in my life that I've been uninsured and I have to admit it's a little scary. I was in the middle of a bunch of medical stuff when this happened, going to an ENT to try and find the source of my recurring
benign positional vertigo. I was scheduled to get an MRI when all this happened and have not been back. Fingers crossed that I don't have another episode before I get health coverage.
I could have continued my health coverage with COBRA at the insane amount of $740/month for a plan with a $10,000 deductible. So I'm not sure why I would even consider that. So when October 1 rolled around, I was pretty excited to see my options and what subsidies my be available to me. Why October 1? Well, if you haven't heard, you must be living under a rock! The new health exchanges required under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) aka Obamacare were up and running. New Yorkers, including myself, will have to be enrolled in a health insurance plan by December 15 or face a tax penalty.
On the plus side, there are tons of subsidies. So while most people will have to pay something out of pocket, they will be getting health insurance out of it, the government will be giving tax breaks that will make it much more affordable. Total bonus!
Check out this great story out of Utah as an example.
Sure it's been a rough start. So many people have gone to healthcare.gov to learn more and to apply for coverage that the system was overloaded and many people, including myself, were denied access to the web site. But hey, I'm patient. So today I went to the NYS site to see my options. It was easy to set up an account, and it walked me through creating a household to determine which plans are available to me and my husband. It turns out there are 106 plans available to us! WOW! Where do I even begin?
Well, first off, the site lists them in cost order, low to high. This is great. You can click on different plans and compare to see if your meds are covered and your doctors and hospitals are in the plan. There is a filter that is not working yet that would make it even easier. Really great stuff.
The disappointing part? (There had to be right?) The plan rates start at $466/month for a plan with a $3,000 deductible. WHAT? So if I don't qualify for subsidies (I know I do), I will have to pay $466/month for absolutely nothing because my health care costs never reach $3,000. This is exactly what the anti-Obamacare Republicans were waiting for: healthy people getting pissed off about paying for a product they don't need/think they don't need.
I've always been someone who believes in health insurance. It's a bet you hope to lose. You may lose money on the deal, but that's because you're healthy. Yahoo! You never want to need health insurance to pay for cancer treatment or bypass surgery, but you're glad you have it. But America's deal seeking, bargain hunting, bang-for-your-buck mentality is counter to this. Will this mentality lead Americans to seek more car than they need to feel they are getting their money's worth? Will there be a rush to MRI centers, CAT scans and surgeons? Probably not. But it may lead to grave dissatisfaction with the law and it's requirements.
My next step is going to be figuring out how to apply for subsidies. The web site section related to this appears to be down at the time. My friends in that world have suggested I contact a "navigator," someone who is available to help people like me figure it all out and assit you in your application. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.
Despite the bumps and concerns, this is a BIG deal. It's going to change our lives for the better. I'm excited about the implementation of Obamacare. And I hope you are too. Check out your options at
Healthcare.gov.
