Why This Woman's Health Care Plan Costs 994% More Under Obamacare

[DonViejo]

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ARIT JOHN OCT 28, 2013

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney admitted on Monday what hundreds of thousands of Americans have known for a while now: under the Affordable Care Act you might lose your old health insurance plan. At a press conference reporter Ed Henry asked Carney if he would "admit that when president said, if you have a plan, you'll get to keep it, that that was not true?" Carney replied that President Obama was clear from the beginning that Obamacare would raise the bar on insurance plans, so people would know that their plan covers mental health benefits, preventative care, no annual or life time limits, etc. Some existing plans don't meet "those minimum standards," though some "can be grandfathered if people want to keep insurance that's substandard."

Well, plenty of people seem to want to keep their substandard health insurance. Florida Blue, a major health care provider in the sunshine state, is dropping the plans of 300,000 Floridians that aren't compatible with the higher standards of Obamacare, including the GoBlue 91 limited liability plan of 56-year-old Dianne Barrette. CBS News profiled her this morning. "When I got this bill, I was outraged," Barrette said. Technically she didn't get a bill — last month Florida Blue wrote to let her know that her old plan was being discontinued and she'd be offered a new, more expensive but more comprehensive plan, in its place. Currently she pays $54 a month. The new plan will cost $591 a month. "What I have right now is what I'm happy with, and I just wanna know why I can't keep what I have," Barrette asked.

Well, here's why.

Yes, she's losing her old plan and her premium is definitely going up.

Even after subsidies are added in — Barrette said she doesn't know what subsidies she's eligible for because, Healthcare.gov doesn't work yet — she'll still be paying more than $54/month. According to Kaiser's Subsidy Calculator, however, she's probably eligible for a subsidy of at least $2,200 a year if she makes $45,000 a year or less. According to a 2008 summary of GoBlue plans, Barrette's GoBlue Plan 91 was "targeted toward the working uninsured and early retirees with annual household incomes between $25,000 and $50,000."

Okay, but Obama said she could keep her plan! Obama lied!

Regardless of what Jay Carney said, yeah. In June 2009 President Obama said the following in a speech on healthcare reform:

full article
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/10/white-house-admits-some-will-lose-insurance-heres-why/71010/

[frazzled]

1. Because what she had was useless "junk insurance"

that didn't even cover hospitalization (unless she was pregnant at her age, in which case it would have paid $50).

First of all, the plan that Barrette paid $54 a month for is barely health insurance at all. It’s part of a subset of insurance that Consumer Reports calls “junk health insurance” (and which even the company that sells it recommends that customers not rely solely upon) and it pays only $50 towards most of the services it covers. That’s it. If Dianne went to the doctor every week for a year, her plan would pay, at most, $2600. Meanwhile, based on average office visit charges, Diane would pay about $5,600.00. She probably doesn’t go to the doctor every week, of course, which means her plan pays a lot less, while her premium buys her a lot less. If she goes to the doctor, say, six times in a year, she’s paid a $648 premium for the privilege of spending another $600 on office visits. The plan also pays up to $15 per prescription, which will get you a few milligrams of most prescription drugs. The one decent deal on her plan is that it covers 100% of in-network lab services.

But many people just want the peace of mind to know that if something really bad happens, they won’t have to worry about being billed into the poorhouse. What if the worst happens, and Dianne needs to be hospitalized due to sudden illness or injury? Well, unless Dianne is suffering complications due to pregnancy, her plan covers nothing. If she’s having complications from pregnancy, it covers fifty bucks. It’s entirely possible that now-healthy Dianne is “happy” with this plan, but the whole idea behind the Affordable Care Act is that the rest of us are not happy having to pick up the tab if Dianne gets a disease, has an accident, or otherwise needs to go to the hospital. Frankly, though, Dianne would be better off saving that $648 and negotiating her office visits on her own.

. . .


Update: As I suspected, Dianne Barrette has no idea what her plan covers, and her actual premium under Obamacare would be about a third what CBS reported. She tells the Erik Wemple Blog that her plan has a “$50 copay,” when in reality, that’s the amount her plan will pay toward an office visit (she’s responsible for the rest), she says it provides “outpatient only” hospital care, but the plan only covers $50 of a very narrow set of outpatient services (mammography, osteoporosis screening, diabetes self-management, and complications from pregnancy).

She also told Wemple that she makes around $30,000 a year, which would put her Obamacare premium at about $209/mo. That’s for a plan that is literally infinitely better than what she had.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cbs-news-misleading-obamacare-report-womans-plan-paid-50-per-service-doesnt-cover-hospitalization/

[Cigar11]

2. Why can't I ...

keep using my original Flip-Phone?

[IADEMO2004]

5. the analog one?

[louis-t]

3. What she was "offered" to replace her plan by her insurance company

is not necessarily the best plan. BCBS offered me a new plan, wanted me to agree to it right away without knowing what it was. I have no doubt it was very expensive.

[IADEMO2004]

4. Woman thinks she has health ins. @ $58/mo. Wrong!

Terrible headline. Foxbats will shout this headline and never read the story.

[EC]

6. Who would have ever thought that someone would

actually LIKE a plan that was a waste of money. It didn't cover anything and this lady was wasting $648. a year buying it. So now she can get REAL insurance that would actually pay for healthcare. She can get the lowest plan and still have more coverage then that she was wasting her money on.

[Myrina]

11. I'd like to know where you get your specifics

Seriously, please. I've navigated the site close to 30 times over the last few weeks and the closest I get to anything detailing my 'coverage' is that a Bronze plan will cost me $230/mo, no subsidy due to my income, with a $6k deductible, $50 for office calls and I pay 60% of everything else.

What's covered at 100%? I can't find ANY detail, anywhere.

So it looks like the 'bronze plan' is useless because I'd be paying $2760/yr in premium + office calls + 60% ... for the privilege of saying I "have insurance".

[IADEMO2004]

7. Link to CBS This Morning video

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57609534/policy-cancellations-higher-premiums-add-to-frustration-over-obamacare/

Throw in the premium difference and not say one word about the crap coverage she had (and is happy with) is why CBS needs a big upside-da-head. The woman didn't even know she has no safety net at all. At least the Atlantic Wire took time to dig a bit deeper. Their headline still stinks IMHO.

[UCmeNdc]

8. This woman should be thanking President Obama

If she ever tried to use her old plan she would have soon found out just how expensive that health plan really is.

[moriah]

12. No kidding. It wasn't a health plan, it was a ripoff. n/t

[bigdarryl]

9. From the looks of her double chin she's going to need Obama care in the future

[Arkana]

10. I guess Obama should have said "If you like your plan and your plan isn't complete dogshit,

you can keep it."