Friday, November 8, 2013

How the Affordable Care Act or “Obama Care” Affects My Family

Since there are tons of stories out there all claiming how horrible the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) is and how no one can afford it and worse yet, how people are getting cancelled by their current insurance companies, I decided to post what I know from firsthand experience.

At two years old, my son was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.  He is twenty-seven years old now.  Up until very recently, when I tried to get insurance coverage for him, companies would decline him based on his medical history.  Fortunately, one carrier, Anthem Blue Carrier offered him coverage.  

Unfortunately, they increased their rate by an additional 25% because he had leukemia twenty one years prior but he needed medical coverage and I was just glad that someone would insure him and he paid those rates for the next few years until he switched over to Kaiser.


He’s been with Kaiser for the last few years and initially, the premiums were $160 per month and after six months, they increased to $209 and after six more months, it went up to $220.  

In September , he received notification from Kaiser that they would be discontinuing his current coverage because it didn't meet the ACA minimum standards but not to fret, they would automatically insure him under a new plan.





As you’ll notice , his rate would increase by 32.5% under their proposed plan and although the increase is not significant, the coverage between his current plan and the plan they were proposing were not similar . The $1,800 jump in deductible alone is ridiculous.  Basically, they wanted to provide less coverage for more money.  



I decided to check out the California Insurance Exchange website to see what my son's options were.  Not only did I sign him up for better coverage with Kaiser but it's also at a lower price because he will receive $91 in premium assistance.








I guess my point is, don’t listen to half of what you hear from people.  Demand proof of what they are telling you and if they can't offer proof, then their sole intention is to fan the flames of mass hysteria.  Honestly, if you need to wag the finger of blame, wag it at the insurance companies.


There there, now.    It wasn't so scary after all, was it? 

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