Most of us won't be allowed to choose the exchange or the P.O.

[canoeist52]

It's a moot point for anyone who already has crap insurance through work. We can't choose it. As of January, my husband's and my insurance will have deductibles too.

My 21 yo. daughter just applied for Masshealth to see if she was eligible. She would need to be pregnant, under 19, have a child under 19 or have cervical or breast cancer to get MassHealth. So maybe the state would let her into the Mass. exchange for the other insurance choices.
No go -her part time job offers 80/20 "insurance" with deductibles she can't afford - so she's stuck being uninsured.

[ProSense]

1. How did you determine how a public option would operate based on Mass?

Mass doesn't have a public option. There are similarities in some of the reforms, but the bills in Congress are different in a lot of ways from Mass' plan.

[canoeist52]

2. I believe MassHealth is subsidized on a sliding scale

which is like a public option. But my point is that even the exchange is unavailable if your company offers insurance.

[ProSense]

4. "But my point is that even the exchange is unavailable if your company offers insurance." Not true

There are a number of variables, from the choice to opt out of an employer's plan and to the Wyden amendment, that makes that statement false.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProSense]

9. Don't accuse people of lying when you obviously have no clue what you're talking about

Any automatic enrollment program shall include adequate notice and the opportunity for an employee to opt out of any coverage the individual or employee were automatically enrolled in. Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede any State law which establishes, implements, or continues in effect any standard or requirement relating to employers in connection with payroll except to the extent that such standard or requirement prevents an employer from instituting the automatic enrollment program under this section.’’.

<...>

‘‘(2) if the employer plan’s share of the total allowed costs of benefits provided under the plan is less than 60 percent of such costs, that the employee may be eligible for a premium tax credit under section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and a cost sharing reduction under section 1402 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act if the employee purchases a qualified health plan through the Exchange; and

‘‘(3) if the employee purchases a qualified health plan through the Exchange, the employee will lose the employer contribution (if any) to any health benefits plan offered by the employer and that all or a portion of such contribution may be excludable from income for Federal income tax purposes.

PDF


You can read about the Wyden Amendment here

[canoeist52]

6. If that is so in the federal plan,

why aren't they using that as a selling point? It certainly isn't so in the Massachusetts insurance exchange.

[freddie mertz]

8. I don't think those variables made it into the bill now up for amendment...

Maybe something better will get in, but the trend seems to be to ramp it BACK, not make it stronger....

[quiller4]

3. What is wrong with 80/20 insurance? As an individual who has been

purchasing private insurance since my husband retired early in 2002, I'd be really happy with an 80/20 plan with modest eductibles. That would be better than anything my employers offered from 1997-2002. We play over $750/mo to buy an 80/20 plan with a $3500 deductible per person per year.

[canoeist52]

7. Now try paying those premiums with a part-time minimum wage job

It's not even catastrophic insurance with those deductibles. You can't afford to use it.

[freddie mertz]

10. And we have huge levels of unemployment, not to mention shrinking wages right now

This just sucks.

[harun]

11. If your insurance is only making you pay deductibles starting THIS jan. 1st you

had pretty damn good insurance compared to everyone else. Most of us have had to do that for the last 10 years.

[frazzled]

12. If she's 21 and a student, she can be on your insurance

If the health care bill passes (even without the PO), she can be on your insurance until she's 27.

We were able to keep our son on our insurance until he graduated from college. He then got insurance, totally paid for, through his graduate school. Lesson to the wise for those who don't want to buy the insurance. It may not sound like a good bargain if you have no health problems, but if you get hit by a bus or come down with a complicated illness, you'll be glad you have that 80/20 insurance, even with the deductibles. Even on a more minor level, our son had opted not to take the dental insurance on his graduate-student health plan, because it cost $300 a year. So he lost a filling, and it turned out to be a $2,000, several-visit cost. He's going to get it in the next sign-up period.