A quick question for Americans (Health Insurance)

[rah]

We keep hearing about all the issues with Obamacare. The biggest being rate increases in the 40% range. So for those that get insurance through work it's time for to re-enroll.
I just went through the process and our cost did not increase at all. This is the first time it hasn't increased in a while. (some years it's hard to tell because we changed providers and benefits were different so a comparison wasn't easy.)

So for those that get it through work, did your's go up and if it did, was it a lot or just a little.

The only good thing about Obamacare is the preexisting coverage. What will the repugs try to replace it with?

You just can't throw out the whole thing and drop coverage for millions of those that currently can only get it through Obamacare

Will we see an expansion of Medicare as a stop gap on the way to single pay.

[Aeson]

Mexico can pay for our healthcare...

[rah]

Do they even pay for their own?

[PLATO]

Mine is going up $30/mo. Spouse and self coverage. Total for my part is now $570/mo or $6840/yr...or (assuming a 2080 hour work year) $3.29/work hour. My company contributes an additional $590/mo. (one could consider that I would earn a higher wage if my company didn't have to pay this much for my benefits??) This brings total cost to $1160/mo or $13,920/yr...or $6.69/work hour.

I went to McDonald's this morning for a breakfast biscuit and wondered what the guy serving it to me for $7.25/hr gets for his health coverage. Then I realized that he probably only works 25-30 hours a week and probably qualifies for a subsidy from the government. Assuming that is true and the money comes from the taxes I pay, then we could effectively double the $6.69/hr to $13.38/hour. So I guess I pay $27,830.40 per year...but at least I cover 4 people!!

[Ben Kenobi]

Well, I've been paying the penalty, and paying for what I need up front rather than paying for insurance. Obamacare has had a pretty drastic effect on my coverage! My school dropped their coverage when it became apparent that the administration was going to sue Catholics for their plans that did not cover abortion.

It would be great if Trump put a stake in that and then we could get our own private coverage again. Prior to that, I think our coverage was about 1k a year. Pretty good deal compared to the penalty.

[rah]

I would be willing to bet that the plan that he gets is nowhere near as good as the one you have, so your math probably needs some tweaking. My company picks up a larger share so my cut is only around 420 a month and it's top of the line plan.

And I'm glad to see that Ben will be contributing to subsidize a needy persons insurance.

[Ben Kenobi]

And I'm glad to see that Ben will be contributing to subsidize a needy persons insurance.

And you wonder why folks went Trump? O-care is unaffordable, unless of course, you get the subsidies, which is the entire point of Obamacare. More people have lost coverage than gained.

[Thoth]

It's threads like this that make me appreciate Canada's single payer system. It isn't perfect by a long shot, but it's light years ahead of what you people have.

[Ming]

More people have lost coverage than gained.

Cite please... There are more people insured now than before O-care. Please prove your statement or stop making crap up.

[SlowwHand]

I'm doing V.A.
It's like county hospital, but for veterans.
It sucks.

[Dinner]

I have VA and it is free so I am unconcerned. Single payer for all would be best.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Mine went down by ~$20/mo (self & spouse) but my plan from this year isn't being offered next year. The main differences are they added more pre-tax options, bumped the deductible up $1k, added a no-cost employer health contribution that pretty much covers the larger deductible, and dropped the co-pay from 20% to 10%. Max out of pocket is higher too, though.

[rah]

Cite please... There are more people insured now than before O-care. Please prove your statement or stop making crap up.

Yeah, Ben, you really need to back that one up. Which I"M SURE YOU CAN'T.

[PLATO]

Single payer for all would be best.

I know this will be looked at as a dumb question, but I really don't understand...

Why would this be best?

In nearly every other industry competition has promoted cost savings and efficiency. Why would removing competition make it cheaper and better?

Wouldn't standardization of filing forms and regulation of coverages be better?

Sorry...don't mean to be dumb, but I just don't get this one.

[Ben Kenobi]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertlaszewski2/2015/08/17/has-obamacare-really-reduced-the-uninsured-by-16-million-and-continued-to-show-strong-growth/#3c923cdb5cb4

Pretty good article from Forbes.

Obamacare enrollment is tepid at best, accounting for only a gain in the number of insured of 4.1 million people.

Only about 40 percent of those eligible for the Obamacare insurance exchanges have so far signed up with exchange enrollment.

Researchers estimate that 5.9 million lost coverage.

So yes, Obamacare is net negative by about 1.2 million.