This is probably the first time I have come out "ahead" on any issue. I work at Kaiser and they fully pay for my insurance premiums for me, and it's one of those "cadillac plans" that cost a lot, at least according to my pay stub (just under $1600 a month). On top of that, my positioned is covered by a union contract so it gets that favored tax exemption for awhile. The insurance benefits were why I originally chose to work where I did even though I could make a higher hourly wage at another hospital but less insurance coverage. So for now, I'm grateful for what I get and am also grateful for the new law that prevents denial for preexisting conditions since I hace an autoimmune blood clotting disorder and I'm getting to be borderline as to whether or not I require injectable blood thinners to control it. I priced out the prescription cost for a month without coverage and I'd be paying $1800 a month for it, which there is no way I could afford to do. With my current insurance coverage the same prescription is $180 a month. This all assumes nothing changes due to Obamacare, which I'm not counting on happening. I'm fairly certain I'll end up having to pay a lot more for things in the near future.

Democrats didn't "predict" anything. They merely went along with the power grab this represents.

Yes, no matter who you are, your health care costs will go up.

In some cases - such as for those who wait until they are ill to pile on this camel - the cost won't appear until they find that no, that service is not available - and it is illegal for you to try to get care by other means.

"So for now, I'm grateful for what I get and am also grateful for the new law that prevents denial for preexisting conditions..."

And you will discover that "preventing denial" is NOT the same thing as "getting care".

Stand in line. Sick? The clerk is not sick. Fill out this form.

Grandfathered in? My husbands plan adjusts every year to the point we aren't sure what is covered and what isn't. His prescription plan requires you to buy your meds for 3 months at a time. In bulk basically. Never did before. They will use stuff like that to weasel out of the grandfathering thing.

Everyone's plans will change and everyone's costs will go up. And I am betting the things they cover will go down. Like I might have to pay out of pocket for my next midwife if I have another baby.. Not like I haven't done that before but still. They will pay 10,000$ for a hospital birth and stay while mine isn't covered. I have had 3 homebirths, 4 actually but I had to transfer with 1.. The cost was varied. My first was 1,200 while the last was nearly 4 thousand, 1,400 coming out of my own pocket.

We pay more than a thousand a month for insurance.. Well we split the cost half and half with hubby's company so our cut is about 650$ a month. They aren't paying that, or the SS we will never get back, out of the goodness of their hearts. No one in my house uses 1300 in medical care a month but if we opt out its not like the company is just going to hand us that money. Now we aren't even going to have the option of opting out..

Its probably going to get to the point that insurance is no longer worth having but we are stuck paying for it. I just don't see how they figure they have the right to force us to buy a useless product.

Oh, one more thing. They already made my health saving plan basically useless. I have to get a prescription now for my kids OTC allergy stuff. My daughter is lactose intolerant and many of them have allergies like their dad. So to use my health savings plan, not included in the 1300 for insurance, I have to go to the doctor, costing 25$ per kiddo, and tell the doctor about their allergies and tell him what works. Which isn't going to work. They are going to want to do a dozen test to see whether or not they have allergies/food intolerance. Probably this will involve specialists. This is going to cost me more money on top of the 25$, god I hope it doesn't go up, copay. Then if I can get them to agree to writing the prescription for the allergy med I have found that works I have have to go to the store and buy it. So a 10$ box of meds is now going to cost me 35$ minimum. Per kid. Every time I need more allergy meds or Lactaid.

I have 7 kids. 1 is lactose intolerant and three have allergies. I am just thinking it will be easier to pay out of pocket..

How does this make my health care more manageable or cheaper?

Seriously, is ANYONE supervised by this? If you require insurance companies to not turn anyone away no matter what then of course they are gonna pass that love on to their paying customers. If you're gonna require that everyone *purchases* a product, of course the price is gonna go up.

Hey, Who could imagine the government getting involved and something being more expensive and less effecient? What a shocker!

We have had no warning except... medicare, medicaid, welfare etc...

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! as Gomer Pyle aka Jim Nabors used to say on the Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. show. It was his signature line.

It should be the signature line of our government.

The fallout from Obama care has just started. Stand by for more surprises!

By the way 60 minutes had a segment this week that said Medicare is ripped off to the tune of 60 Billion dollars every year. Not 60 million, 60 Billion!

Despite perfect health and zero doctor visits, my bare-minimum individual plan just went up $600 per year.
Strangely enough, I am not getting a raise to cover that amount [as I am a contractor, not staff.

However, for those of you immediately blaming the govt.:
Is it not the insurance companies grabbing cash while they can?
They haven't yet paid out more under the upcoming changed insurance laws, have they?
But they are billing much more as of now.

Yeah, the insurance companies' greed and obscene salaries and bonuses are President Obama's fault. There was NEVER anything wrong with the insurance companies until that health reform passed. Denial of coverage, dropping people without warning, stringing them along until they die of treatable illnesses, all those are just part of the American Way.

Bad enough living with sheep, what a pity they're even dumber than rocks.

Is it not the insurance companies grabbing cash while they can? ... They haven't yet paid out more under the upcoming changed insurance laws, have they? ... But they are billing much more as of now.

Can't blame the insurance companies.

They know their costs are going up, just not by how much. And they don't know if they'll get socked with a price freeze.

Remember the 70's and 80's? When you bought a car, you got a "rebate." Why didn't the car companies simply lower the price of the car? Because in the early 70's the government enacted price controls, freezing the prices at their then current level.

As soon as they could, companies raised their prices. Companies feared getting stuck with a price that didn't cover increased or additional costs. So, they raised the price and gave a rebate. It wasn't until the middle of Reagan's first term that businesses began to feel confident that they wouldn't get trapped by price controls.

Insurance companies are in that boat right now.

"Bad enough living with sheep, what a pity they're even dumber than rocks."

Especially those who don't understand the market.

Health care isn't free, no matter what drug-fueled fantasies might be going on. If you want a say, you MUST pay.

They haven't yet paid out more under the upcoming changed insurance laws, have they?

That is how it works. They know their costs are going up so their fees go. That is way things are supposed to work.

A year or two back there was an article on insurance that noted that at a bunch of the larger insurance companies (they listed them, I don't remember) if the top employee's (CEO/COO, etc) was applied equally to the insured it would reduce the bill less than $1/month per insured person. Which doesn't mean they aren't over paid.

Government = waste and confusion. Just think about income taxes.

If you really want insurance companies to charge less, make sure there's competition. I think the government restrictions have been choking some of the competition, for example, selling insurance accross state lines. Of course we need some restrictions to make sure they can actually pay out insurance.

The sooner you 'get off the grid' the better. Be creative. I understand not everybody can do this, but at least examine your options to the current system.

Get a catastrophic plan. Health savings accounts. Talk with your providers about paying cash for services.

Cut out the insurance companies/HMOs/government as much as you can.

You'll be smarter and more in tune about the choices you make, and you won't be as impacted by the constant changes we're going to see.

"This all assumes nothing changes due to Obamacare, which I'm not counting on happening." - bunnygirl

I mean this in the nicest way possible. That's naive. It will be constant change as the three main variables - access, cost and choice - will always be subject to the whims of those in charge.

Yeah, the insurance companies' greed and obscene salaries and bonuses are President Obama's fault. There was NEVER anything wrong with the insurance companies until that health reform passed. Denial of coverage, dropping people without warning, stringing them along until they die of treatable illnesses, all those are just part of the American Way.

Bad enough living with sheep, what a pity they're even dumber than rocks.

Posted by: Steve H at September 8, 2010 12:57 PM
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The sheep recognize that there has been a problem. The sheep also recognize that Obama care has only made the problem worse. See other government program e.g. medicare, medicaid, welfare for the benefits of governmental bureaucratic interference. See national healthcare in England, Canada for other national healthcare debacles etc...
-Yours truly the sheep.

A report from the government has just come out and it says that the cost of healthcare is going to go up "moderately." I don't know how much is in a moderately but in the past when the government has used the word "moderately" it has meant get ready and bend over.
Remember Obama care was going "to make health care more affordable."

Out of all the democratic senators who voted for Obama care guess how many of them are using the fact that they voted for health care in their campaign re-election bids? You guessed it Johnny! Zero! C'mon they should be proud of this. They should be standing proudly on their soap boxes for all to hear.
Hmmm! How come none of them are using it in their campaigns? Oh, because it's a failure.
-signed sincerely the sheep

By the way 60 minutes had a segment this week that said Medicare is ripped off to the tune of 60 Billion dollars every year. Not 60 million, 60 Billion!

Actually that was somewhere around the third or fourth repeat in two years. Regardless -- I knew a guy that made "hard" back-braces. It was essentially a 30 minute job with about $50 worth of material and $2-3K in equipment. He was mobile (a small station wagon). He made about $850 per patient. And he was part-time. With that kind of crap -- why is the health-care system screwed-up?