1. Went to healthcare.gov. Referred to Maryland exchange.
2. Went to maryland exchange at http://www.marylandhealthconnection.gov.
3. Filed an application and put in 0 for my income and was forced to a medicaid page. I thought, “woops, I will be making money at some point this year (although my first paycheck is just shy of 45 days away… paychecks after are pending on if they want to keep me employed on this contract).
4. Deleted this application and started over.
5. Put in my appropriate income that I was expecting this year (provided I would still be employed on this contract).
6. Website crashed.
7. Called the customer service for the maryland exchange.
8. Phone number busy 5 times in one hour.
9. Finally got through to a person. Went through submitting the application on the phone.
10. Got down to the plan selection point where I was sent to www.healthsherpa.com (God knows what this site is or where it is from).
11. Put in my estimated income, age, and told them I was a smoker.
12. The cheapest plan listed was $143 a month with a $6000 deductible with no vision, dental, or prescription drug coverage. All the plans up to $300 a month were managed by Blue Cross in Maryland (I’ve worked for Blue Cross in PA and hated them. Do not want to insure through them at all).
13. In order to get a deductible less than $5000 I had to pay the upside of 300 a month with no vision, dental, or prescription coverage.
After some calculating, I found it was cheaper to pay the 1% of my annual income fine and go uninsured. With a deductible of 5-6000, you might as well be uninsured. I couldn’t afford the deductible much less a full uninsured hospital bill. Both the $6000 and the uninsured hospital bill would bankrupt me.
So I ask: WHAT IS THE POINT OF HEALTH INSURANCE IF YOU CANT AFFORD IT? I cant afford to be insured. I cant afford to be uninsured.
SOLUTION: FUCK AMERICA! FUCK OBAMACARE! PAY THE FINE! IT’S CHEAPER!
Once again… America fucks me!
Read this article. Apparently I’m not the only one. Basically, if uninsured health care is not affordable, and health insurance is not affordable, then obamacare and health insurance providers are unacceptable.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/20/affordable-care-act-healthcare-not-affordable
Might as well be a criminal…
A couple things come to mind. The first is that the whole process of getting insured is frustrating. But what about the fact that this is probably the first time in a while that you have the option to take on that frustration and actually get insurance at something you might be able to afford? Before this year, many people didn’t even have the choice. And it sounds like you’re healthy right now. YEA! But if you weren’t, this would be a godsend to you. Maybe one thing to try is a delayed plan. If it doesn’t kick in until later in the year, but you secure it before March 31, there are no penalties. The hope is that you don’t actually need insurance this year, because otherwise you will truly be responsible for the full amount of any health expenses, no? Also, don’t forget about so many of the preventive care services that may be free or partially covered by a plan. Vaccinations, screenings etc.
I guess all in all, I hope you try to view it in a larger sense. Right now a lot of people are having to bite the bullet as the program gets up and running. But it the long run it should be better for everyone, including you when you might need medical treatment most.
Look Matt, I’m a registered democrat. I want the ACA to succeed. But this is simply a BROKEN system. and for a government (and i dont care if its dem or rep) that cuts off unemployment for someone who has compromised everything WHILE trying to find gainful employment, or has HAD employment and had it snatched away because there is no such THING as employment (only contracting), I’M FURIOUS!!!
america sucks right now… everything about it. and i will not compare it to another system… this is OUR system… its broken… and it sucks…
i WILL pay the penalty this year (hell, they’ll probably rescind the damn thing or not follow through with it) and maybe try again next year… but really…
REALLY?
medicare for everyone… everyone pays in the same… everyone gets the same coverage… PERIOD… automatic…
ABOLISH HEALTH INSURANCE ENTIRELY.
in summary, see:
http://ctrlzstudio.com/wordpress/?p=6658
…………………………….. and i thank you.
c