Monday, January 28, 2013

ObamaCare And Insurance Premiums

I just got notification of my new health-insurance premium amount.

A 25% rate hike, and I barely ever use the policy, a policy of a catastrophic nature with zero pharmacy coverage and a high deductible.

Didn't Obama say that the reforming health insurance according to ObamaCare would keep health-insurance costs down?

Pfffft.

To top it all off, my longtime physician (not a gold digger by any means) is now advising that his patients pay  $40.50 every month so as to have the guarantee of timely appointments, access to medical records and referrals at no additional charge, and quick responses to emails and phone calls.

4 comments:

Pastorius said...

Maybe your Dr. can hire some Muslims to enforce that extortion racket. Or maybe he should just Unionize.

Fuck Obama.

Always On Watch said...

Pasto,
My doctor despises Islam. His father, also a doctor, came from Hungary, where he fought both Communists and Nazis.

Have I ever mentioned to you that my doctor is Walid Phares' doctor? I saw Dr. Phares one day at the office.

My doctor is aware of my stance on Islam -- and agrees with me. He knows that I blog on the topic and has complimented me on my commitment to Western ideals.

Another little factoid about my doctor: he's not a Democrat and is quite vocal about it, too.

I don't see what my doctor doing as an extortion racket. Many of his patients are Medicare or Medicaid, and payments to doctors have been drastically cut. I've also seen how little the doctor receives when health insurance discounts the doctor's fee; a $100 office visit yields to the doctor about $25 in payment from BCBS.

Now, my doctor is about my age and can withstand the cuts; but the other doctor in the office is young and cannot financially survive the cuts. This partner lives modestly -- not far from me; he even makes house calls.

So, Mr. AOW and I are ponying up the extra money every month. It's optional to pay the extra.

However, I suspect that in a few years paying something like concierge fees will become the norm; most concierge fees run at least $2000/year. My doctor considers high concierge fees as unethical, so he's come up with a compromise via Privia Health.

We patients are becoming aware of what ObamaCare is doing to us. Doctors are also impacted.

Pastorius said...

I get it then. Your DR. is trying to make up for the fact that the government pays him 6-12 months late, if at all.

Epaminondas said...

I don;'t have this problem. In Maine I can't afford insurance ($795-1300 a month from any one of 4 corps). No worries only 2 heart attacks, so far. So I guess because I can't afford it and Maine cannot afford exchanges, I'll be paying the $695 nobamacare fine. But never mind that, my wife will be paying the surtax for a cadillac policy as a teacher, even though for me to be on her plan, we would have to pay just as if I was an individual. Therefore we have to pay about $2,800 in additional taxes FOR NOTHING.
BTW, it takes her 4 days on this 'cadillac plan' to get an Rx refill from her physician when she needs one on each of HER medications, but if we could HAVE a prompt service retainer fee, we'd do it.
My son, who has his plan thru his employer faces a 50% increase in his contribution.

I know NO ONE who is better off today than in Jan 2009.