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? 

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Only in America......

The battery on my laptop died recently which mandated a call to Dell Customer Service which in my book, is about as fun as a root canal.

Here's how the conversation went:

Dell Dude:
(somewhere in India). Thank you for calling Dell Customer Service. My name is Jonathan Appleby and I will be assisting you this evening. May I have your home phone number?

Me : (looks out the window to confirm it's morning and thinks to herself "Jonathan, my ass") 555-555-5555.

Dell Dude
: And your given name, please?

Me: Angela

Dell Dude
: Yes, Miss Angela, can you confirm your home number?

Me : It's the number I just gave you.

Dell Dude : Um oh yes, okay Miss Angela. Can I have the last four digits of your account number?

Me : I do NOT have that.

Dell Dude : I am thanking you for your permission to assist you, please.

Me : ::sighs::

Dell Dude : Can I confirm with you the spelling of your family name?

Me : What?

Dell Dude : Your last name, Miss Angela

Me : D E B E N.....

Dell Dude : D B E N ....

Me : No. ::pregnant pause::

Dell Dude : My apologies, Miss Angela. Let's try that again, shall we?

Me : (spells it again even faster this time)

Dell Dude : Let me see if I have that correctly. B as in Bravo, E as in Echo, D as in Delta, N as in November, E as in Echo...

Me : N as in.......Negative (growing somewhat exasperated by this time)

Dell Dude : I'm very sorry, m'am. Let me try again. D as in Delta, E as in Echo, B as in Bravo E as in Echo, N as in November, E as in Echo...

Me : (her "inner child" starts misbehaving and the voice in her head shouts out "CHAI WAILLA*!).

Me: Roger that!

Dell Dude : I am begging your pardon, Miss Angela?

Me: Never mind

(Being that my last name is eleven letters long with five e's, b's, d's and n's, this continues on for several more minutes and the real issue at hand has not even been addressed). Finally I blurt out:

Me : No offense, SIR but what we have here is a "fail-yuh tuh co-myoo ni cate". Is there a
number I can call in America to speak with an...........American?

Dell Dood: My apologies m'am. Yes that number is 555-555-5555. Is there anything else I can assist you with?

Me: You're kidding me, right? No.

Dell Dood: Well, Miss Angela. I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you for shopping with Dell. I hope I have provided you exceptional service. If you need to reference this..........

Me: (click)

This is just a glimpse of what is wrong with "Corporate America". In an effort to maximize profits, large companies are "restructuring" (read: terminating employees) and outsourcing their call centers to 3rd world countries. While this may bode well for the company, it kinda blows for the consumer.

Wonders what happened to the old adage "the customer is king?"

*character in Slumdog Millionaire

Sunday, August 30, 2009

This video is for an old friend......



You know who you are....And this without out training - LOL. We refer to it as "playing dead" cockroach-style