This is your annual reminder: for those of you like us, who obtain their insurance through ACA, open enrollment started today. I just got done renewing our policy for 2019 at https://www.healthcare.gov/. The site is functioning and running smoothly. If you need to enroll, do it now, before they take it down for maintenance or some other bullshit.
Don’t forget the dental plan, if you need one.
Healthcare is now the topic people are concerned the most, and for many of us ACA is the only option when it comes to insurance. Many of us are frustrated. Tempers run high because it is literally the matter of life and death. I am leaving comments open, but a fair warning, while civil discourse is encouraged, bashing won’t be tolerated. Consider the tone and substance of your comments carefully before posting, please and remember to be kind and understanding.
I’m Australian and can remember when Medicare (our nationwide health care system) was brought in by the Australian government by the then Prime Minister Paul Keating. It was a sweetener for something else that they wished to introduce. But it was overwhelmingly popular and while not perfect does the job remarkably well.
As with everything in a western democratic society, people have a say – they only have to make their voices heard by voting. Vote for the people who will support/initiate a working healthcare system that works for all. You have more power than you think.
Hope you and your family are feeling better.
Love your work
It never pays to procrastinate about these things. Thanks for the reminder to sign up again. Remember to vheck out the candidates. What they say about themselves and what their history says about them. Remember to vote this Tuesday.
I love the way Congress shouts about the cost but never mentions it’s not free. Everyone would have to pay in just like they have the current Medicare recipients pay.
If you can’t afford health insurance, a stay in the hospital, doctor visits or prescriptions, the #1 killer in America will become pneumonia, just like it used to be. All the advances in modern medicine in the last 100 years no longer available. People will die. How is this not criminal?
I live in Europe now but I lived in NYC for 12 years in my 20s.
I got pneumonia vaccine 3 years ago as I’d already gotten pneumonia twice – 1st time while 9 months pregnant with 1st child in NYC …
Having the best health care in the world (USA?) is USELESS if you can’t afford to ACCESS it ?
100% agree and unfortunately now several ACA care plans do not cover pre-existing conditions. So please be careful.
Two main reasons that I left USA (which I loved, made great friends + was happy there) + returned home was the insane cost of education + health care ?
I have free education for my family (including University) and free health care (including all pre-existing conditions) here. It’s not perfect and has its faults too but the older I grew in the USA the more worried I became about being able to pay for health care ?
One of the things all of us can do is be proactive – Get a physical every year – Get the shots like for shingles and the flu. Eating less processed food and walking more.
Its like owning a car, maintenance is vital. If you don’t change the oil and check the tires boom! One day you are sitting on the interstate and everyone is honking at you. Go see the doc! Get your bloodwork done, get your pressure checked. Live well.
Good advice except my plan doesn’t cover a physical every year. Flu shots yes. Shingles shot is apparently in short supply and they are giving it to the people who have had the first dose when they have any to give. Anything my plan does not cover is out of my pocket…
And even athletes in top shape get cancer.
What if we are born with something?
I am so happy to be old enough to be on Medicare. I am voting this year to ensure adequate health care for all Americans.
Thank you for posting this important reminder. The enrollment period this year is short so people need to know.
I’m likely to qualify for medicare before we see medicare for all in this country, but I hope to be wrong about that. Health care should be a right. Paying for it through our taxes instead of paying insurance companies who use the money for profit instead of running the system would be a big improvement. Yes, government programs are flawed, but the current system is terrible.
I live in the UK and although everyone has a winge about waiting times etc.with the NHS at least everyone has access to more or less free healthcare – prescriptions are about £9/$13 each but you can pay £30/$42 for all prescriptions for 3 month.
I knew US was expensive for healthcare but when I found out how much insurance was i shuddered at the thought.
Feel sorry for anyone in in US who can’t afford insurance and feel a lot more thankful for what we have in the UK
I live in Slovakia, and although we do complain about state healthcare system…. A lot…. You get treated and no one shows you a door if you are sick but dont have money. Prescriptions are about 5€ – 10€ for usual staff.
Everytime i hear about US health issues I feel so sorry for you guys, and remind myself we could have it so múch múch worse?
I hope times will change for the better soon.
For anyone active or retired inthe military, Tricare’s renewal period starts November 15 and runs through mid December. Make sure you read the current flyers, emails, etc., as the policies for changing providers due to life circumstances have changed.
I was just coming to say this. No switching mid year even if you pcs to a remote area.
I am from Spain (having amazing “free” public healthcare we take for granted which is actually paid with our taxes) so I never had to worry about health insurance until I moved abroad… Now I completly understand you! Having to take care of more (Super necessary) bureaucraticy sucks T.T (time and money)
My fiancee and I are contemplating getting married this December specifically so that I can be put on his work’s health insurance [It’s not even that good of insurance]. Otherwise, I would pay over a thousand dollars more per year through my school’s offered health insurance.
Every time we talk about it, it feels perilously close to souring our relationship. We love each other – don’t get me wrong there. But there’s something about the financial necessity of the situation, the pressure it’s putting on him to continue working in a job he finds depressing, that is completely off-putting. We would marry anyway, in our own time and with a wedding we wanted and planned. But now everything feels rushed and forced, so it feels like our love for each other is rushed and forced. Even though we’ve been together for 7 years.
As a person who married sooner than intended specifically for health insurance, I will say it may well be better to spend the extra thousand if you’re able rather than shackle both of you to a depressing job in the name of insurance. Especially if you’re both already feeling strained about it!
See, for us, a few years later, Hubby lost his in layoffs & we lost the insurance anyway. My depressing job then was our only insurance option. I stayed in that opportunity, health & relationship wrecking job for 10 years in the name of insurance before losing the health & nearly the relationship while hubby was trying to keep jobs as layoffs & the Great Recession severely limited his success. Even with the best of intentions, understanding & mutual agreement, exhaustion, resentments & feeling trapped slowly took root on both our parts.
Looking back, we’d not make the same rush as before. We keep our insurance separate now too.
Best of luck 🙂
I’m from Australia and because I was curious I looked at the plans. So very expensive. Whilst we are all covered by Medicare here, I am lucky to have unlimited private health insurance for $3500.00 a year unlike many Australians. This lets me choose doctors, hospitals and skip the waiting lists and Medicare still pays most of my out of pocket costs. Let your votes speak for you because universal health care is a basic right that we should all enjoy.
The fact that I’m still suffering from withdrawal symptoms due to a lack of Innkeeper tells me the two of you still aren’t at the top of your game. Hope you can get the medical care you need to get you back to 100% before too much longer. I know it’s miserable when illness hangs on.
I have great appreciation for the ACA process! It’s the only way I have healthcare over the last 8 years. It surprised me how many people are unaware that the program is designed to really help the millions of Americans that work but do not have the option of employer based insurance. Self-employed, less than full time, less than full times with two or more jobs, working full time but the benefit costs almost as much as your take home et cetera. There can always be improvements and such but shain, I’m very grateful.
I just cut and pasted your comment because that is what I have been trying to tell my friend and her family for years… to look for insurance outside what her husband’s job offers. Only he is covered because it would cost too much for his wife and sons and even just him is a lot.
I am hoping that your comment will be confirmation that they can at least try and see, though I am disturbed by the changes that are not covering pre-existing conditions… I’m sure that would mean my crooked spine that has moved my ribs in a painful position. Right now I am getting PT, but found out my place of work will only offer Aetna or nothing and it would be outside network to continue getting treated there, but then I was told that my current BCBS would be having major changes next year starting Feb. 1 where there would be more paperwork with possible delays in getting treatment.
I was hoping there would be reform, improvements and fixing the problems there were with Obamacare, but not to go backward. Voting will be difficult because there are many things I agree with the Republicans about, but healthcare is a sore spot, especially when there are people in my family including myself with pre-existing conditions. The system itself is overinflated and needs to cut down to levels that are more in line so that insurance and even out of pocket would not bankrupt people! Someone looked at their itemized hospital bill and saw $5 for an aspirin… that is ridiculous!
What I really would like to see is the government and country working together to solve the major issues we face, not all the lies, fear, hate, politically biased news, etc. I just want the truth, facts, honesty, no special interest groups trying to buy their own way and a sincere effort and commitment to really be for the people in the media and government!
Wow, I’m thinking it might be time to leave the good ole USA. The health care systems in Europe, UK, Australia, NZ and others look so much better.
My husband and I are paying $1,690 monthly for health insurance (we are self employed) My husband is a brain tumor survivor, and this year I had a lumpectomy and a hysterectomy, ugh. If the GOP has it’s way with prexisting conditions we will be screwed ?
Don’t have to look so far….Canada has universal health care.
Profit should not be in health care. A single payer system is needed. Too many are left without coverage, due to pre-existing conditions.
You are 100% right. The amount of profits realized by various middle people and administrative folks is obscene.
Get well soon, but the important thing is to get well first. The other tasks can wait.
I have insurance for my whole family through my husband’s insurance we pay for the top level PPO choice and pretty much everything runs smoothly. I have one adopted child that has medi-cal (California). I could not stand the places for medical and dental that would see him with medi-cal only. So I take him with my other children and have them run everything through both and sometimes I end up paying deductibles and things, But my wait for a doctor is 15 minutes or less everytime.
Yes, my sister refers to me as a princess and gladly signs up for the obamacare for her biological children because her adopted children have healthcare and she says it is the only way to afford healthcare. One daughter needs monthy medication that is almost $400 without insurance one pill a day. My sister is grateful, and is willing to wait in waiting rooms for hours. I am very glad my husband is an awesome engineer. Yay geeks.
Better hope he doesn’t lose that job then!
I’m happy to have found a Direct Primary Care model nearby and bypassed the insurance and state quagmire.
Yeah!
I think the BDH comments should be sent to U.S. Congress. The comments show how a legitimate conversation on healthcare should happen: Ideas on how healthcare is handled throughout the world and the struggles U.S. citizens face trying to afford healthcare. It can be an honest discussion and solutions can be implemented but only if you remove politics and party from the process. I am lucky to be Canadian with free access to healthcare and can only hope that the U.S. learns, one day, to put the needs of it’s citizens before company profits and lobbyists.
Just FYI on dental plans for those of you who are checking them out, their quality and the level of what they cover can vary tremendously. Look out for: Waiting periods- some plans won’t cover certain procedures until you have been covered for a set period, sometimes years. Exclusions- won’t cover anything beyond a basic level of services. For example: exams and cleanings only, or fillings but no crown and bridge. Low annual maximums- I’ve seen as low as $300 a year maximum coverage. Bait and Switch: A plan may not be labeled as an HMO, but it may be one. Or a dentist may be listed as a provider but his/her panel is actually not open to new patients or they may provide for one type of plan under the insurer, but not the others. If you want to keep your current practitioner, call the office and talk to the front desk to see if the plan you are taking on is accepted before you commit.
Here’s a good one – someone needs gum treatment in all 4 quadrants of their mouth (upper left, upper right, etc.). They take off work to get the treatment. The policy says it’s covered 100% but in the teeny tiny writing it states “only two quadrants per appointment”. Pissed off patient and the doctor gets to eat the uncovered charge.
My experience with government run healthcare was in helping my father. He was a disabled USAF veteran and needed some expensive medications. The government Medicare paperwork was so daunting and overwhelming that I ended up just paying for it myself. Our private insurance experience is also horrible. Too many bureaucrats involved. My husband’s cancer surgeon at MD Anderson wanted some tests that the insurance person said were unnecessary. It wasn’t his life at stake.
Catalina!!
Yayay!!