The Great Health Insurance Discussion

innerSpaceman · 01-09-2014, 04:10 PM

I have very decent employer-based standard Anthem/Blue Cross health insurance.

But I wonder if I could get a "better" deal through the ACA on a similar or even identical plan - even though I certainly don't qualify for any subsidies.

I haven't even bothered to find out though. No incentive ... unless I can get my employer to agree to hand me 50%, say, of any savings I get them. I imagine, though, that would be chicken feed.

The ACA is a stop-gap, and I'm surprised to learn it has indeed - apparently - slowed the rate of health insurance cost increases. Of course, if they don't get hit that 7 million mark by March, it's trouble. And if they don't hit it in a year or two, the entire system will collapse.

I kind a hope that happens. We need single-payer for sure. Private insurance for health care is a horrible joke. The hospitals simply make-up the charges they want to charge the privately insured ... and things like a $50 aspirin are barely an exaggeration. Medicare is very stingy, and hospitals don't make money off that - so they literally pull prices out of their asses and charge those to insured patients. And sue people for the bills.

Most hospitals are non-profit ... but that just means they can't take money out of the hugely profitable business. They must instead put it into construction new facilities and paying VAST salaries to the upper echelons of management. It's all a scam and a crime and, because health and lives are at stake, I consider it highly immoral.

I hope the ACA enables more people to afford private insurance. But private insurance is a cancer.

01-09-2014, 04:10 PM	#8
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	I have very decent employer-based standard Anthem/Blue Cross health insurance. But I wonder if I could get a "better" deal through the ACA on a similar or even identical plan - even though I certainly don't qualify for any subsidies. I haven't even bothered to find out though. No incentive ... unless I can get my employer to agree to hand me 50%, say, of any savings I get them. I imagine, though, that would be chicken feed. The ACA is a stop-gap, and I'm surprised to learn it has indeed - apparently - slowed the rate of health insurance cost increases. Of course, if they don't get hit that 7 million mark by March, it's trouble. And if they don't hit it in a year or two, the entire system will collapse. I kind a hope that happens. We need single-payer for sure. Private insurance for health care is a horrible joke. The hospitals simply make-up the charges they want to charge the privately insured ... and things like a $50 aspirin are barely an exaggeration. Medicare is very stingy, and hospitals don't make money off that - so they literally pull prices out of their asses and charge those to insured patients. And sue people for the bills. Most hospitals are non-profit ... but that just means they can't take money out of the hugely profitable business. They must instead put it into construction new facilities and paying VAST salaries to the upper echelons of management. It's all a scam and a crime and, because health and lives are at stake, I consider it highly immoral. I hope the ACA enables more people to afford private insurance. But private insurance is a cancer.
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