Obamacare/Trumpcare Horror Stories

[fan_since79]

On 1/6/2018 at 3:28 PM, yvangelfan said:

I just spent 4.5 hrs signing up with Covered California. I made about 4 calls for assistance. 

It takes time to recover from this experience...

Helpful hint: If you happen to see your application I.D. at the top of the page WRITE IT DOWN IMMEDIATELY. You might need it later.

I spent 48 minutes on hold with HealthNet on Friday, all the time being assured every 15 seconds by a recorded female voice that "your call is being transferred to the next available representative". When a real person finally answered, she guaranteed that my choice for primary care doctor would be approved. No ID card yet, but a verbal assurance that I have a doctor. This, after five other attempts since mid-November to get this straight.

Now, with some fear and trembling, I'm going to call his office and see if I can get an appointment. I've got prescriptions that will need refilling soon, and my previous doctor cannot renew them. One of them is a heart medication that is absolutely necessary.

 

 

[Blarg]

Take two asprin and call them again tomorrow.

[yvangelfan]

23 minutes ago, fan_since79 said:

I spent 48 minutes on hold with HealthNet on Friday, all the time being assured every 15 seconds by a recorded female voice that "your call is being transferred to the next available representative". When a real person finally answered, she guaranteed that my choice for primary care doctor would be approved. No ID card yet, but a verbal assurance that I have a doctor. This, after five other attempts since mid-November to get this straight.

Now, with some fear and trembling, I'm going to call his office and see if I can get an appointment. I've got prescriptions that will need refilling soon, and my previous doctor cannot renew them. One of them is a heart medication that is absolutely necessary.

 

 

I tried to pay my first premium at the same time my application was approved and my selection of blue Shield was approved. Didn't work. I think I have to wait for a premium notice to arrive, but I'm not sure.........I'm probably a few steps behind you at this point.

[fan_since79]

2 hours ago, yvangelfan said:

I tried to pay my first premium at the same time my application was approved and my selection of blue Shield was approved. Didn't work. I think I have to wait for a premium notice to arrive, but I'm not sure.........I'm probably a few steps behind you at this point.

I went through the same thing in late 2013 with Anthem. They lost my first premium payment which I had made at the Covered California site, so I had to make a second payment before my insurance was effective in January, 2014. Two months later they 'found' my first payment and cashed it, so I ended up a month ahead. I also had to endure incredibly long wait times on the phone. The worst was a 90-minute wait, then when they finally answered, they hung up on me about 30 seconds into the call. Their call centers back then were staffed with people from India and the Philippines who had not a clue as to the workings of the company.

Yes, at this point probably best to wait for the premium notice to arrive. There should be something coming soon in the mail. There might also be a way to set up an online account with Blue Shield, to pay premiums and get information on your benefits, etc.

Edited January 8, 2018 by fan_since79

[Stradling]

Sounds like TrumpCare is failing you guys.  

[fan_since79]

17 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Sounds like TrumpCare is failing you guys.  

At some point I'll re-work the title, but let's face it, 99% of this is on Obama.

 

[Stradling]

7 minutes ago, fan_since79 said:

At some point I'll re-work the title, but let's face it, 99% of this is on Obama.

 

I am just busting your balls since you two are pretty much the most two vocal guys for Trump on here.  He is the one that said it would be repealed and yet it hasn’t.  When I read of other peoples struggle on this, it makes me that much more grateful that my company takes care of this for me and will until the age of 65.  

[red321]

26 minutes ago, fan_since79 said:

At some point I'll re-work the title, but let's face it, 99% of this is on Obama.

 

laugh...healthcare companies have it good

[tennischmp]

4 hours ago, fan_since79 said:

At some point I'll re-work the title, but let's face it, 99% of this is on Obama.

 

Obama has been out of office for over a year and Trump has had a Republican majority Congress to repeal and replace it. Not only were they unable to repeal and replace, they also got rid of the CSR subsidies and the individual mandate which made it even worse for those that are actually enrolled. So it's 100% Trump and the Republicans now. 

[nate]

The skyrocketing individual premiums this year are about 95% Trump's fault.

The US is the last in child mortality rate when ranked with the other 19 first world countries.  So much for the GOP being the pro-life party.

[Stradling]

7 minutes ago, nate said:

The skyrocketing individual premiums this year are about 95% Trump's fault.

The US is the last in child mortality rate when ranked with the other 19 first world countries.  So much for the GOP being the pro-life party.

When you typed that were you laughing with an erection or were you just smirking with an erection?  

 

Asking for a friend.

[Thomas]

Partisan sniping aside, it would be interesting to parse the root causes of the increasing health care costs. Certainly the GOP-led sabotaging of the already flawed ACA is a key new wrinkle this year. However the existing causes for the ever increasing increases cannot be so conveniently forgotten either. 

[Thomas]

Just now, Stradling said:

When you typed that were you laughing with an erection or were you just smirking with an erection?  

 

Asking for a friend.

Nate was laughing, his erection had the smirk. 

[Make Angels Great Again]

This page is great.

The hysterical anti-trumpers are practically jerking themselves off over the chance of being able to now pin Obamacare's many many faults on Trump.

[red321]

3 minutes ago, Thomas said:

Partisan sniping aside, it would be interesting to parse the root causes of the increasing health care costs. Certainly the GOP-led sabotaging of the already flawed ACA is a key new wrinkle this year. However the existing causes for the ever increasing increases cannot be so conveniently forgotten either. 

The reasons haven't changed for 20+ years. And it's not just one thing or one area. The way we utilize services drives up costs...we over test/diagnose...doctors are paid by how much service they provide, not results...we have more expensive technology and medicine...population base is getting older...not enough preventative medicine...emergency room instead of early wellness,...lack of competition in some areas...etc. etc. 

This is just one link...but there are a plethora of articles that talk about cost drivers

https://khn.org/news/health-care-costs/

[red321]

3 minutes ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

This page is great.

The hysterical anti-trumpers are practically jerking themselves off over the chance of being able to now pin Obamacare's many many faults on Trump.

reading comprehension fail

[Thomas]

4 minutes ago, red321 said:

The reasons haven't changed for 20+ years. And it's not just one thing or one area. The way we utilize services drives up costs...we over test/diagnose...doctors are paid by how much service they provide, not results...we have more expensive technology and medicine...population base is getting older...not enough preventative medicine...emergency room instead of early wellness,...lack of competition in some areas...etc. etc. 

This is just one link...but there are a plethora of articles that talk about cost drivers

https://khn.org/news/health-care-costs/

Sure. But I meant parsed out, chewed up, and presented so simple even a manager (or myself) can understand how much each factor contributes clearly. And certainly the recent GOP efforts have had a tangible effect on these increases. 

[nate]

Obamacare did nothing to stem the cost of medical care, in fact it encouraged it to continue to increase.

The skyrocketing this year is mostly to do with the elimination of the CSR subsidies.  Insurance companies had to build that cost into the premiums.  Add to that the assumed removal of the individual mandate means it is less likely healthy people will sign up which also hurts the risk pool.

Obamacare needed to be completely reworked, it had lots of problems and caused a lot of the premium spikes.  Instead of being reworked, it was sabotaged which just made things worse.

@Stradling ¿porque no los dos?

[Stradling]

Good point.  I’ll let Adam know. 

[Adam]

I gotta get a vasectomy. 

[fan_since79]

3 hours ago, Thomas said:

Partisan sniping aside, it would be interesting to parse the root causes of the increasing health care costs. Certainly the GOP-led sabotaging of the already flawed ACA is a key new wrinkle this year. However the existing causes for the ever increasing increases cannot be so conveniently forgotten either. 

There's the problem.

Neither Obamacare or, okay, we'll call it Trumpcare, has done a thing to address the problem of escalating medical costs. They've skyrocketed under Obamacare and they continue to skyrocket under Trump. Hell, they skyrocketed for years before Obama and the Dems tried to 'reform' the system.

 

 

Edited January 9, 2018 by fan_since79

[Spirit]

3 hours ago, nate said:

The skyrocketing individual premiums this year are about 95% Trump's fault.

The US is the last in child mortality rate when ranked with the other 19 first world countries.  So much for the GOP being the pro-life party.

 

Where do we rank in the list of the 25 first world countries?

 

[fan_since79]

Title of thread adjusted to reflect current realities.

 

[fan_since79]

What the hell have I gotten myself into?!?!

Health Net Reviews (99% negative)

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/insurance/health_net.html

[Blarg]

Yeah but the 1% are thrilled.