(06-16-2019 09:10 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-16-2019 08:20 AM)Rice93 Wrote:  

(06-16-2019 06:57 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-15-2019 07:03 PM)tanqtonic Wrote:  Funny. Most care went from literally tens of thousands of plans from hundreds or thousands of providers to ----
a) bronze **** plan;
b) silver crap plan;
c) gold still kind of crappy plan.
What rock have you hidden under to miss that mass extinction of choice in healthcare plans? To be blunt, that 'extinction event' in what is offered is part and parcel of the fing law.
To characterize the change as "[does not] eliminat[e] choice" relative to pre-ACA is indicative of a pretty superlative form of psilocybin.
Seriously lad, the fact that you cannot even comprehend that, or fight substantively on that point, makes me truly wonder if you are capable of owning up to *any* shortcoming that progressive idolatry has inherent in it.
I mean, it was less than two weeks ago that you tried the absolute serious 'progressive shuffle' in your explanation of the booing at the California Democratic convention -- and in this instance you either cant (or wont) even face up to the absolute fing massive reduction in choice of style of healthcare plans that the ACA is responsible for.
I mean, most conservatives can wake up and face the music in the shortcomings in both results and philosophies that their actions result it, or could result in.
To claim that the ACA did *not* result in a truly extinction event-like culling of numbers of styles of healthcare plans available simply borders on delusional, to be blunt. Are you so vested in support of the ACA that you cannot fathom or even admit to that stark fact?

My guess is that Lad has an employer-provided plan (for which he may pay a highly-subsidized premium) and thus has not had to deal with the self-insured market. Employer plans are still out there, so he hasn't been affected.
Like you, but for a different reason, I have looked at a the self-insured market. Used to be, retirement did not bother me from a health insurance standpoint because as retired military I had CHAMPUS, now Tricare. But to make Obamacare work from a cost standpoint, one thing they did was to screw up Tricare. As a result, I no longer see retirement as a viable option for me. Not ever. Yes, I have Medicare, and I can supplement it.
What irritates the crap out of me is that republicans cannot come up with some form of Bismarck. I think it is clearly the best approach, and that it would sell politically for that reason.
I think Obamacare was a very perverse and cruel hoax foisted upon the Anerican people, and republicans are too dumb to come up with a viable alternative. Stupid party versus evil party personified.

Medical insurance is one of the more confusing personal budget items out there.
What is it about your current insurance that is so superior to Medicare+supplement? What would you be missing out on if you went to Medicare+supplement? Not debating you here, just trying to understand. Do your current doctors not take Medicare? Would the switch result in a massive out-of-pocket expense for you somehow?

My current situation is that I am teaching at a state university, so I get the Texas teachers group insurance (TTRS), which is an excellent plan. Medicare is my secondary and basically pays my copays and Tricare kicks in on top of it, primarily for expensive medications. If I retire I can keep the TTRS insurance at COBRA rates as my primary, or I could do Medicare primary and Tricare secondary (but nobody takes Tricare anymore because of the Obamacare changes), or I could move to San Antonio and use the military facilities there (getting in line behind active duty personnel), or I could goto the VA. None of those options works anywhere nearly as well as either the TTRS primary plus Medicare secondary with Tricare backup, or the old CHAMPUS/Medicare combination would have worked. Tricare is good for prescriptions, but that is about it. But heck, I teach three days a week nine months a year, so I'm not exactly killing myself. If I get to where I can't teach, then I would probably not be able to enjoy much else of my current lifestyle, so the plan would be to move to one of the USAA retirement high rises in San Antonio. But I hope that's a way down the road, if at all.

I know a number of people who celebrated Obamacare with comments like, now I can afford to retire. Many of them are finding out, "Not exactly."

The problem with Obamacare is that it combines the worst aspect of our old health care system (insurance tied to employment) with the worst aspect of single-payer/single-provider systems (bureaucratic decisions replacing the doctor-patient relationship). The best thing about Bismarck is that it eliminates both.

So if you go Medicare primary and Tricare secondary what do you anticipate will materially change for you as compared to your previous insurance? Specifically I'm wondering about ability to see your current doctors and your out-of-pocket expenses.