The title "Millions of workers might dump employer plans under Obamacare" seem inappropriate to me. I have had my health insurance provide by my employer (now retired) continuously for years. Starting next year I hear a new thing (new to me at least) called an exchange will be providing my interface to the health care system. I receive a fat package in the mail last week, but I really didn't learn a thing except a website name to sign up for an appointment. The website has all sorts of subjects to click on but all say not available yet, except for the appointment. The bottom line is I won't be dumping anything, I only have the opportunity to sign up through and exchange. No info, no idea of cost, no idea of coverage. I am not really to worried about it for myself, I can use the VA, but I really am concerned what is going to happen with my wife. Nothing I can do until 10-3-2013 when my appointment is scheduled.
[video=youtube;wfl55GgHr5E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfl55GgHr5E[/video] So trustworthy. I believe him.
That involves having cash to give to physicians. I guess I made the incorrect choices (lol who gets a master's degree?) and deserve to die of whatever preventable condition I will die of.
If only I had worked harder to make more money instead of doing what makes me happy! Also, if only I had foreseen all of my various physical ailments! No but seriously, I have no idea if Obamacare will help me in this regard or not. I have a feeling that even with it, I won't be able to afford going to a doctor.
You obviously have made poor choices if you can't scratch together $75-$100 to see a doctor. I spent a hell of a lot more time in grad school than you have and I always made sure I had enough money. It's possible to both work and go to school simultaneously. However, let's assume your graduate program is much more demanding than the cake ones I had at Hopkins and Chicago. If you're that destitute, why aren't you on government assistance? Extreme poverty is the reason for our social safety net. There are also free clinics. Bottom line, you have other options. You shouldn't pretend you don't.
First, you should have worked harder. You have a responsibility as a member of society to make every attempt to provide for yourself before you do things that "make you happy". Second, you should have made the reasonable assumption that you would one day fall ill and would require funds to cover such an eventuality. Also, I'm noting your sarcasm, but also highlighting your ridiculous assumptions that we are responsible for your well-being.
I've actually been looking for info on prices and coverage to see if I should switch but can't find that info anywhere, even though you'd think it would be readily available. I have a family of 4 and my coverage through work got more expensive and worse last year. Can anyone direct me someplace to find the info or let me know of any drawbacks that could come from switching? Thanks
I've been to and have paid for doctor's visits. It's the treatments that I can't afford. I worked through college so I could pay for food and housing. Studying linguistics is what made me happy, but I obviously should have gotten a degree in economics so I could get a real job after school. Bad choice, right? And honestly, I don't think our grad-school experiences can be compared. I'm 100% sure that my degree was easier than yours. Like many things in life, it is external factors that make a big difference. Not everyone is the same. I honestly don't know if I qualify for the OHP, being in grad school and living with my well-to-do parents. Something to look into. oh, and since when am I assuming that you are responsible for my well-being?
Yes, you should have. Or at least made a better decision with respect to your education. Catastrophic insurance. You're doing something wrong if you can't afford a couple hundred dollars a couple times per year. Do you have a cell phone? Cable tv? Internet? A car? It seems that protecting your health should be prioritized above all of those.
Oh now it seem you and I and millions of others will all be the same without regard to how wise we may or may not be, or how hard we did or didn't work. We will all have the Gov'ment chit to give the Doctor. Perhaps the problem will be finding a Doctor now, that wants the chit. It seems kind of iffy with the same number of Doctors and millions more people with the same chit. The wait time has to grow would be my guess and I think you had best have some real coin available to sort of shorten that wait time if you want to get help in a timely fashion. Dang that seems as if in reality, we are returning to the days of more than a half century ago when most did not have health insurance. You needed to barter with the doctor with something valuable to get him to serve you. Many worked for free on poor little kids, but he could not do that all day everyday. I wonder if the chits will pay full freight or will each require a give a way by the doctor? Today Medicare only pays the doctor 66% of cost, he has to tag the full freight patients a little extra to make up the difference. Geez just think, if the chits are all paying 66% of cost, who is going be tagged with the make up costs? We will run all these doctors right out of business in the first month. Well the good new is, I suspect some will take cash if you really need some help.
Hard work doesn't guarantee one will become a millionaire. Hard work, however, will virtually guarantee that you can afford a medical checkup.
I hope you do find the health care you need. I don't want anyone to be sick or to suffer. That's the reason I'm fine with a social safety net. However, a part time job is probably feasible in your case.
What better decision should I have made? I studied what I wanted to study. I went into debt like I was supposed to. I worked through school like I was supposed to. I got good grades. I got a Fulbright fucking scholarship. Where am I now? Broke, in debt, and without insurance. "You should have made better decisions" is awfully short-sighted and prescriptivist. Do you know who I am? How I was raised? What my values are? No. As far as I see it, most of the decisions I made were good ones. I worked in the system like I was supposed to. My problem is that I have interests and passions that do not make money in today's society. I chose them over studying something I do not like in order to get a better job (like my dad, who is now a depressed alcoholic.) I guess I'm just being a drain on the system. Does that cover chronic conditions? Like I said before, it's not the going to the doctor that I can't afford. It's the treatments. Yes. $25 a month. No. Right. And when I need to go to the doctor, I'll write a fucking letter.
