Politics & Current Events
Cnon
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
More legal trouble for Affordable Care Act
If computer glitches are not enough of a problem, President Obama's healthcare law also has a legal glitch that critics say could cause it to unravel in more than half the nation.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-healthcare-glitch-20131025,0,5402697.story#axzz2io3uf46O
Cnon
Take back the Senate in 2014
Re: More legal trouble for Affordable Care Act
I would love to hear more about this (the 300,000 Floridians losing health care due to policies being ACA non-compliant) but can't find any info on it! Can you link me?
Other examples of policies that are being canceled- they offer no maternity care. I have a friend who owns a business where she and her sisters work. They are all past the age where maternity care would be necessary however her plan was canceled and now the cheapest plan (with less coverage in other areas but with maternity care) is now twice what she was paying.
Your plan is canceled if you have no substance abuse coverage. Let's say you are a teetotaler who in your sixties, you now must have comprehensive substance abuse coverage and pay for it.
If your deductible is too high, your plan is canceled. You could be a person who rarely sees a physician and takes great care of themselves. You have a great job with six months salary in the bank. The government will not take your word that you could afford the higher deductible and instead is going to force you to take insurance that costs two times or more what you pay now to save the rest of us from those people who are considered too stupid to be able to make that decision.
We will see wayyyy more of this next year when the employer mandate kicks in since that is the lions share of the coverage pool in the country.
The estimate is that about 53% of employer sponsored plans don't meet the guidelines so we'll see a huge surge next year in lost coverages. Many people have been feeling "safe" because they've confirmed that they are good at least through 2014. That's only because that's when the hammer hits the ground. All told between employer and private plans about 93 million people currently covered will be moved off of their current plan. Some employers will redo their insurance perhaps even with their current carriers and pick up a plan that is compliant, however some will use this an the impetus to move employees off of employer sponsored plans altogether. How that will shake out is anybody's guess. Since the cost to employers is significantly higher now due to the fees that are now charged in addition to premiums, it's a very real possibility and probability that we'll be seeing quite a bit of this.
This is so scary. Do you know of any indications of what sorts of changes to plans can cause these cancellations? What do you mean by "ANY" changes?
Hypothetical example: I am a spouse in a married couple. We start TTC, and we have a baby. Would going from a couple plan to a family plan (or a qualifying event) be a change in coverage that could cause a cancellation?
Well...what's there to say? We have already discussed the ACA with them - they all lauded it. Now that it's here and it sucks (like we said it would), what else is there to say?
1. It doesn't cover all people.
2. People are not getting the plans they want like Obama said they would.
3. It forces people to buy who don't want to. No choice there (yet, we are a "pro choice" nation).
4. It does not protect sensitive and confidential data from hackers.
5. Just read online that the government has to call in experts from GOOGLE to fix the sites.
6. It is increasing peoples monthly expenses, in some cases, by multiple hundreds of dollars. So much for Affordable.
7. It is a super expensive ordeal for businesses.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/10/29/this-is-why-obamacare-is-cancelling-some-peoples-insurance-plans/
and here is a more insurance-y goobledy gook explanation of more specifics
http://www.benefits-partners.com/nfp_life_and_benefits/hr/HCR/Losing_Grandfathered_Status.aspx
Here are the penalties for not having insurance:
The penalty is phased-in over a three year period.
In 2014, the penalty will be the greater of 1.0% of taxable income or $95 per adult and $47.50 per child (up to $285 per family).
In 2015, the penalty will be the greater of 2.0% of taxable income or $325 per adult and $162.50 per child (up to $975 per family).
In 2016, the penalty will be at the greater of 2.5% of taxable income or $695 per adult and $347.50 per child (up to $$2,085 per family).
After 2016, the penalty will be increased annually by the increase to the cost-of-living.
While $2085 per family might seem like quite a bit of money, if your premiums in 2016 as a family are $2400 per month and you have guaranteed insurability (can't be turned down for pre-existing condition) you still might find that it's a financial gamble worth taking. You'd pay $2085 to save $28,800 per year. Even if you had to pay $5000 in medical bills out of pocket that year for preventative care and minor injuries, after paying the penalty and the bills you still would have saved over $20,000 that year alone.