I have real questions about Obamacare

Jump to Last Post 1-2 of 2 discussions (5 posts)
  1. Eric Newland profile image60
    Eric Newlandposted 11 years ago

    I ask these without a hint of sarcasm, because I genuinely want to know. This is your chance to educate a non-believer.

    1. If the Supreme Court upholds the mandate, what will happen to the people who don't have health insurance because they can't afford it? Will they just be forced to buy something they can't afford or face a fine? Ditto for employers who don't provide health insurance because THEY can't afford it.

    2. Is the provision for pre-existing conditions open to abuse? Someone once told me that under the bill a person without insurance could get injured in a car accident, call an insurance company before calling an ambulance, and arrive at the hospital fully covered. Is that true?

    3. How will health insurance actually be made more affordable? What's gone into effect so far, as well as a lot of the planned future things, involve forcing insurance companies to cover things they weren't covering before. More coverage means insurance companies have to pay out more, which means higher premiums. Period. We are already seeing it happen, and it should surprise no one.

    Obama promised that his bill would save te average family $2,500 a year. Well, my family is in the neighborhood of average, and my healthcare has become a lot more than $2,500 more expensive since 2010. If I were on the same plan I was in two years ago my premiums would be 70% higher. The only way my employer could avoid this was to switch to a high-deductible plan, which is more or less the same for me; what I would have payed in extra premiums I'm now paying in extra out-of-pocket expenses. Obamacare was far from the only factor in these increases, but any effect the bill might have had on my current situation, no matter how small, is to my mind an undue hardship.

    How is Obamacare going to take my family from here to paying LESS than I was paying two years ago?

    Because if that's not going to happen then I feel I have no choice but to vote only for candidates who favor repealing the bill.

    1. SimeyC profile image87
      SimeyCposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Here's some objective observations:

      1. We ALL already pay for it either through charity donations to hospitals or with higher Insurance Costs due to the cost of uninsured people - personally I don't think people should be forced to buy insurance, but there has to be a way to stop people with a cold going to the ER because they cannot afford a doctor.

      2. Everything is open to abuse - I know many people who do not have insurance who 'fiddle' the system to get better health care than me for free - they go to the hospital when they are ill and use 'charity' to pay the bills.

      3. In theory as the cost of not having uninsured will be zero - you should see savings - hard to tell if this will be the case - the insurance companies will use this as a way to get profits.

      4. Health care costs were rising way above 10% for me before Obamacare - I don't see this as being the only cause of rates rising - there's a lot of money being made by insurance and drug companies and they use Obamacare as the excuse.

      There are some very good parts of Obamacare and if the Rs and Ds cannot get around the table and work out what should be kept and what should be removed then Insurance costs with or without Obamacare will continue to rise at 10%+ a year.

      Something has to change and our 'leaders' need to compromise and work for the people not for power....

    2. Josak profile image60
      Josakposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      As for the second one, everyone will already have health insurance so that is not open to exploitation. Also those who are very poor and cannot afford insurance will get free healthcare from the government.

  2. onegreenparachute profile image60
    onegreenparachuteposted 11 years ago

    Hello Eric:  I don't know how your system is going to work but I do know how the Canadian system works.  My husband & I pay $109.00 per month for our health care.  That amount covers both of us and is paid to our government health care plan, not insurance companies.  The cost per month is based on our earnings and, if we make less, the amount drops.  If we go below the poverty line we pay nothing.
    If we buy prescriptions the cost is also earnings based and we frequently get common drugs for free.
    Surgery costs nothing and if you stay in a hospital you are charged a nominal fee depending on the type of room you request.  The last time I stayed in a semi-private room I believe I was charged $10.00 per day.
    I have seen many people complain about wait times and this is a problem.  Elective surgery has very long wait times but if you are seriously ill and need immediate surgery - you get it.
    The problem with this type of health care is that everyone and their puppy goes to the doctor for everything.  Get a common cold - go to the doctor.  We are spoiled that way and we need to learn that not all illness needs a doctor's care.
    We also abuse the emergency room.  I have taken my elderly mom to emergency only to wait for hours while doctors see small children with colds.  Although, if I were to arrive in emergency with a heart attack, I would be seen right away.
    No one should be without medical care and insurance companies should not be allowed to dictate a person's treatment.

    1. profile image0
      Peelander Gallyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I don't know how so many Americans can argue so fervently about systems like this not being better. There's no point to having the freedom to buy whatever insurance you want (if you want it) when you can't afford any of it anyway. There's no point to bankrupting your family, losing everything you own and living in poverty to survive a terminal illness or paying $30K-$40K just to have a baby safely.

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)