Screw it, I'm moving to Brazil!

Not that their corrupt government is any better!

Had they hired the people that set up, and run, porn websites, there would be NO problems at all.


Porn sites NEVER crash.



So I'm told....;-)

Never mind that your laptop has the computer version of aids

Are we in agreement on something?

Get a room, jeez. 

So, my thoughts on the Affordable Care Act, ACA, have always been that we needed to legislate that all individuals have health insurance here in the US, but that the law as written has lots of problems... including saddling employers with even more costs and administrative fees than before. I've taken a bit of a wait and see attitude, but my beliefs are being borne out...


So today my workplace announced the changes for this year. I've been dreading this day, as I've been expecting increases.

So, the news is:

"There is a 6% increase in plan cost this year, which includes a 1.25% increase from fees associated with the Affordable Care Act. This means your paycheck deductions will increase by 6%, except for those with the High Deductible Health Plan. Those with the HDHP will see an increase in their deductible amount. We understand that cost increases are not ideal. This cost increase is at the low end of market forecasts of 6-9%. Even with these increases, the total out-of-pocket cost each year for the average employee compares very favorably to the average annual cost paid by employees at other leading U.S. companies. The average ?? employee pays about $3,000 a year in total costs compared to $4,500 paid by employees at other companies*.(*18th Annual Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health: 2012 “Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Health Care.”)"

This is a huge corporation, with over 100,000 employees. They've provided great healthcare for their employees for years, and they are getting forced to pay a bunch of stupid ACA fees, even though their coverage is basically self insured, and the company simply pays to have the plan managed and run. Note that in addition to the fees associated with ACA, there is a sizeable increase. This is due to a run-up in costs, as I've seen myself that doctors and hospitals have increased their rates over the last year, because they know how the ACA works. It charges based on average rates in an area, so the doctors have all decided to raise rates due to fear of red tape and bureaucracy.

So, the first portion of my fears have been ratified. In the very least, in the short term, our medical costs have gone up. So my fear that things will get worse before any possibly of improvement, seems correct.

On the administration front, the websites have shown how well we are likely to expect this to get run. It seems the majority of the sites were simply not well tested, and are broken on day one. Second fear is well on it's way to being proven correct.

If this all results in things getting better for the majority in the long run, that is great. But this isn't what I expect. I expect this to be poorly handled more than it is well handled.

As an example, I've recently been dealing with the IRS. One of our other "beloved" federal offices, that has no clue. I've been audited twice. The first time the auditor had no clue. There was clear documentation that the gain was a long term gain, and yet they audited me, and caused me to run off and prove items they had no evidence were incorrect. Yes, with the IRS it is guilty until you prove yourself innocent.

This time, it was around some employee purchase plan stock. This allows me to buy stock by having money withheld from my paycheck, at a discount. The discount is to be taxed at my income rate, while any other gains are to be taxed as either long or short term gains, depending on the length of time the stock is held. Yet the IRS doesn't seem to understand their own rules, and wanted to tax me at the income rate for all the gains. After educating the auditor on the IRS's rules, they calculated, and insisted on dropping some decimal places, and rounding, which in the end resulted in rounding a result up, so I ended up paying an extra dollar! My tax guy sat there and laughed at the auditor, slapped a buck on the table, and asked if we were done, as it wasn't even worth his time to educate the guy further. The auditor was then furious, and insisted we stay so he could look at other issues, while my CPA told him that we are only required by law to discuss the items disclosed before the meeting, and if he wants to discuss something else, to please give us another audit notice. LOL

Unfortunately this is the kind of issue I expect going forward with the ACA. The ride is about to begin. Hold on tight... It's gonna be bumpy!

I haven't read this whole thread so I hope I'm not repeating info but I saw something on why they 'said' they designed it 'backwards', the site design also seemed strange to me: They were worried that if they gave the insurance prices, without getting income information, the prices would scare people off and they would not sign up. It sounded like, they expected a lot of people using the site to get 'subsidized' rates so they wanted income info so they could show the person their subsidized/real insurance rate, instead of a 'generic' insurance rate so they wouldn't be scared off and not sign up.
(They said this on some morning news cable tv station on Tuesday morning.)
Obviously, this is a stupid and lame but that's what they said. I'm not sure what the income limits are but they could just ask if your income is over a certain limit and if it is then give you the generic prices but anyway, it's a government run program so you know what that means.

I heard or read that also. The hang up for me and i would assume many others was the identity verification. There is no reason that i shouldn't have been able to create an account, enter my details and get/save a quote with an asterisk like "provided that your information is correct. subject to identity verification.".

Then i could go through with identity verification or not...i personally only logged in to see what it would cost. I had no intention of selecting a plan.

I sure hope things change in 2017, but it will probably take years to unravel the mess that has been created.
Just talked to a friend in Texas. When they started, he had 4 HC providers to choose from in his area. Now down to one. as of the beginning of the year a 67% increase and the deductible is up to $6k. At $1025 a month. (60yrs old).
Bye bye retirement.

[Link: zerohedge.com]
I have not fact checked this data, after all , it is Xmas eve.

My insurance went from 230 a month to $750 a month. Less coverage. Higher deductible and higher co pay. It would be cheaper to pay the doctor out of my pocket.

For the third time in a row my insurance company discontinued their plan and force me into yet another plan. And this year threw me into state web site which was as usual a nightmare to navigate (although much better than first year). The new plan no longer has coverage of one of my doctors. Spoke to them and they had no answer as to why they had dropped the old plan, etc.

Went down one level ("Bronze") to keep the costs at bay. $1,500/month for three of us. Was nearly $2000/month for the next level up. Remarkable that the cost is more than what you could rent an apartment for! Had to pay over $110/month for dental on top of that. And no eye care.

What I like to see is very cheap but full catastrophic coverage and be self-insured for day to day stuff. There is no way we are racking up $20,000+ in medical expenses right now.

Uh-Oh.....here we go....

We've been struggling with medical insurance for the last 4 years since our son was born and my wife was diagnosed with cancer. Between premiums, meeting deductibles and covering things not covered by insurance our medical expenses have exceeded $30k annually.

First thing is the healthcare site is still a nightmare IMO. I am not a new computer user or a total moron and i still cant figure out the site or the emails i get from it. Example...i get an email telling me i have a deadline to change plans or risk having my rates raised. These emails come every day for a week. I ignore them. Then i get an email telling me that my plan was updated blah blah im all good and i can move on with my life. Then the next day i get another email telling me i better login or risk losing it all!!!! Sooooo i log in and it looks like i am all set except for the button that i click that then takes me to sign up like i am a new user. There is no clear indication of which plan i have...whether or not i am signed up etc etc. So far all that site does is cause confusion.

As far as the costs go...i am a single 41 year old male with no children. This is the math for this year. All i did was go in for a sleep apnea test. 2 sleep clinic visits and a visit where i talked to the doctor for 20 minutes.

3 (co pays) X$40=$120 + $5181.72 (monthly payment X 12 months)

Total spent this year on healthcare $5301.72

Total billed for services $4134

$1167.72 is what i actually spent out of pocket. That works out to $97.31 a month to cover all of my healthcare needs in 2016.

The older i get...the more i go to the doctor...the better the deal will be for me. I realize it might suck if i stay healthy all next year and find out i actually spent $531 (my new monthly rate) a month for nothing...but if i break a leg or get hit by a car or find out i have cancer...$531 a month will seem like pennies compared to what the actual costs of my healthcare are.

I never cared about health insurance. I didn't have any between 18 and 35 because i "didn't need it". I learned my lesson a few years ago. Actually it was my brothers lesson but i paid attention. He was diagnosed with liver disease. Costs for his care were heading towards the $500k range. His insurance covered it. Even his co pays were covered by a credit card that his job supplies him with. He works for whole foods. Up until that point he never used the insurance. Like me...he never went to the doctor for anything for almost 20 years and "didn't need it". Then one day he did.

Bottom line is that either we need to lower healthcare costs or we need to lower insurance costs. I think $100 a month per person is all it should cost to have healthcare. Thats $32,518,590,600 (based on current population) per month.

ACA. Thank god I don't need it.

Hopefully there will be some changes made that will help make it more reasonable for the average person, and all the not so average.

The cost of insurance is, and will, continue to rise exponentially due to insurance company greed, and those same companies being forced to insure the un-insurable.

How would your company fare if the government forced you to install systems for a fee that didn't cover the cost of the equipment?

There IS a paralell here.