I know the following is anecdotal and based upon a single experience I had, but I think it may be more common than our government realizes.
First, let me say that one of the few things I agree with concerning the ACA is letting people with pre-existing conditions get insurance, most of the rest of it I disagree with.
So, here is the background.
One of my daughters has a boyfriend with Crohns disease. He is in his early 30's. He cannot get health insurance due to his pre-existing condition. In the past seven years he has been in the hospital once or twice a year (every year) for treatment. Additionally, in the past seven years, he has been mostly unemployed. He's had jobs off and on in that time but nothing that has lasted. He is currently unemployed.
In my opinion, he is the perfect candidate for Obamacare. It will allow him to get medical care when he needs it. He is a liberal and one of the main reasons he voted for Barack Obama was because of the garunteed healthcare he was promised.
I was spending time with my family over the holidays, and I asked him if he had signed up for health insurance on the government exchange. His reply was quick and short, "No".
I explained to him that a large purpose of the ACA was to benefit people like him that had pre-existing conditions, so that they could get medical insurance. I asked if he had actually been to the healthcare.gov website. He told me he had been to the website and that he had gone through all the steps to sign up for insurance. He told me the insurance was too expensive, the out of pocket deductible was too expensive, and that he couldn't afford it. I asked him about the subsidies, surely since he is currently unemployed, the subsidies would help.
He explained that since he did have some income this past year, insurance on the exchange isn't 100% free and since he has no income now, he can't pay any premium.
Then, he sort of went off, his words, "Fuck congress, Fuck Obamacare, Fuck Obama, they aren't taking care of me. And good luck to the IRS trying to fine me, fuck them too,
I don't pay taxes on my non-existent income so they ain't getting shit from me".
I asked him what he was going to do the next time his Crohns disease flared up. He said he was going to do to the same thing he's always done, show up at the emergency room,
check into the hospital for a few weeks, and then tell them he can't pay when he checks out. "They just write it off on their taxes", he says.
My thoughts......
The first thought is quick.
He expects free medical care, he thinks it is a right, he thinks the government is supposed to take care of him.
The second thought has much more.
Obamacare was created to provide medical insurance for those that couldn't currently afford it. Be that because of a low income or a pre-existing condition, or both. Even with Obamacare, my daughters boyfriend still has his pre-existing condition and he still has the inability to pay for health insurance and health care. The insurance is still to expensive, the out of pocket deductibles are still more than he is willing to pay even if he had the insurance. He is going to continue doing what he has always done. I suspect that a lot of people with low incomes and pre-existing conditions are following the same path as my daughters boyfriend. In my opinion, Obamacare has not helped a large portion of its target market nor changed their behaviour or the outcome for them.
Early in the healthcare debate we were told 30-40 million were lacking healthcare and that this bill would fix that. 1.1 million signed up on the federal exchange.
State exchanges are unknown, but estimated at another 1 million. That would only be 2 million of the 30-40 million. Then there is the 5 million that lost their current coverage. Government just added 3 million to the original problem they were supposedly fixing. Not only did they fail to actually fix the issue, they exacerbated it.
In the future, the same foolish do-gooders that voted for the government to fix this will vote for the government to fix that which they just made worse.
First, let me say that one of the few things I agree with concerning the ACA is letting people with pre-existing conditions get insurance, most of the rest of it I disagree with.
So, here is the background.
One of my daughters has a boyfriend with Crohns disease. He is in his early 30's. He cannot get health insurance due to his pre-existing condition. In the past seven years he has been in the hospital once or twice a year (every year) for treatment. Additionally, in the past seven years, he has been mostly unemployed. He's had jobs off and on in that time but nothing that has lasted. He is currently unemployed.
In my opinion, he is the perfect candidate for Obamacare. It will allow him to get medical care when he needs it. He is a liberal and one of the main reasons he voted for Barack Obama was because of the garunteed healthcare he was promised.
I was spending time with my family over the holidays, and I asked him if he had signed up for health insurance on the government exchange. His reply was quick and short, "No".
I explained to him that a large purpose of the ACA was to benefit people like him that had pre-existing conditions, so that they could get medical insurance. I asked if he had actually been to the healthcare.gov website. He told me he had been to the website and that he had gone through all the steps to sign up for insurance. He told me the insurance was too expensive, the out of pocket deductible was too expensive, and that he couldn't afford it. I asked him about the subsidies, surely since he is currently unemployed, the subsidies would help.
He explained that since he did have some income this past year, insurance on the exchange isn't 100% free and since he has no income now, he can't pay any premium.
Then, he sort of went off, his words, "Fuck congress, Fuck Obamacare, Fuck Obama, they aren't taking care of me. And good luck to the IRS trying to fine me, fuck them too,
I don't pay taxes on my non-existent income so they ain't getting shit from me".
I asked him what he was going to do the next time his Crohns disease flared up. He said he was going to do to the same thing he's always done, show up at the emergency room,
check into the hospital for a few weeks, and then tell them he can't pay when he checks out. "They just write it off on their taxes", he says.
My thoughts......
The first thought is quick.
He expects free medical care, he thinks it is a right, he thinks the government is supposed to take care of him.
The second thought has much more.
Obamacare was created to provide medical insurance for those that couldn't currently afford it. Be that because of a low income or a pre-existing condition, or both. Even with Obamacare, my daughters boyfriend still has his pre-existing condition and he still has the inability to pay for health insurance and health care. The insurance is still to expensive, the out of pocket deductibles are still more than he is willing to pay even if he had the insurance. He is going to continue doing what he has always done. I suspect that a lot of people with low incomes and pre-existing conditions are following the same path as my daughters boyfriend. In my opinion, Obamacare has not helped a large portion of its target market nor changed their behaviour or the outcome for them.
Early in the healthcare debate we were told 30-40 million were lacking healthcare and that this bill would fix that. 1.1 million signed up on the federal exchange.
State exchanges are unknown, but estimated at another 1 million. That would only be 2 million of the 30-40 million. Then there is the 5 million that lost their current coverage. Government just added 3 million to the original problem they were supposedly fixing. Not only did they fail to actually fix the issue, they exacerbated it.
In the future, the same foolish do-gooders that voted for the government to fix this will vote for the government to fix that which they just made worse.
