[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=bearishgurl]FIH, if you are referring to my “flyover-country” brethren, no,
[/quote]
Things are hunky dory then.
[quote=bearishgurl]
the only anger I have witnessed was from a cousin and her spouse (who are small biz owners) who signed up for BCBS PPOs on the healthcare.gov exchange. After getting their ID cards in the mail, they discovered the nearest in-network primary care provider to them was 34 miles away and the nearest specialist of any kind was 81 miles away.
They complained vociferously about lack of providers participating in the exchange.
And they live about 22 miles from a large city![/quote]
And what kind of health care did the cousin have before? Was the anger justified?[/quote]
They had COBRA before from the small manufacturing co she retired from (he ran the small biz while she was still working) and when that ran out, they went without for 2-3 years, until they were “required” to sign up on the exchange or pay a penalty (fall 2014).
Yes, I checked into their lack-of-provider story after I returned home in mid-November and found it was true. And that’s THE major PPO in that region which offers plans on the exchange. As is BSoC in CA. My cousin’s area was on my “retirement short list” but I took it off after finding out this information.
I will only sign up for a PPO. I’ve never had any other kind of plan (1st in line to pay my bills, that is) and won’t accept any other kind of plan. If Covered CA in my region no longer offers a PPO, I will leave the exchange and obtain my coverage elsewhere … or even leave the county or state, if necessary. My “tax subsidy” isn’t so much that it’s making the decision for me.
I now feel the ACA was a big lie perpetrated on US citizens. My BSoC policy purchased on the exchange only reimburses my providers 1/4 to 3/4 of what Aetna did for the same procedures/tests. Hence, I received a one-page radiological report last month instead of the 12-page detailed report I received for the same procedure back in 2013. It’s the old adage at play here, “you pay for what you get.”
My 2016 renewal premium (back in early November) for my exchange-purchased BSoC plan was going to be 3x what my Aetna premium was in fall of 2013, before they dumped my “grandfathered” policy and told me to sign up on the exchange. Hence, I ended up downgrading one metal level for 2016. But I resent being told what I need in the way of depth and breadth of coverage. I was perfectly happy with the way things were, my selection of providers and the competition of healthplan carriers within CA prior to the ACA. I feel healthcare reform should have been focused primarily to assist with the monthly cost for a policy obtained on the states’ high-risk pools (purchased by those who couldn’t qualify to purchase a healthplan directly from carriers due to a pre-existing condition). They didn’t need to fvck the rest of us up … especially those who went to great lengths to qualify medically for a policy (which we thought we’d have until we turned 65).
As it stands, my healthplan premiums have gone up 300% in 2 years and are in no way based upon my own usage anymore.
I feel the passing of the ACA into law is what could very well ruin the 55-64 year-old set financially (and cause all of the best providers not to accept health insurance at all) if the ACA isn’t scrapped in its entirety.
