Old Bookaroo
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- Dec 4, 2008
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Why Some People Can't Keep Their "Insurance" - Even If They Like It
It's been widely reported that far too many Americans have been bankrupted by medical costs they can not pay. Many of these people had health insurance. Their problem was it wasn't very good insurance.
Now, with the Affordable Health Care Act, many people are no longer able to keep the policies they had. There are a number of reasons why. One of them is the insurance wasn't worth the money.
"Not content with a website that performs like a Yugo with sugar in its gas tank, the mainstream media has continued to broadcast misleading, deliberately incomplete, and one-sided reports on the effects of the Affordable Care Act on consumers. The latest champion of the form is CBS News’ Jan Crawford, whose report on 56 year-old Dianne Barrette of Florida has become a North Star for those seeking to undercut the health care law by claiming that her premium increased tenfold under Obamacare, without disclosing that what Ms. Barrette was paying $54 a month for barely qualifies as insurance.
"On CBS This Morning, Crawford reported that 56-year-old Dianne Barrette received a letter last month 'from Blue Cross Blue Shield, informing her that as of January 2014, she would lose her current plan. She pays $54 a month. The new plan she’s being offered would run $591 a month, ten times more than what she currently pays.'
“'What I have right now is what I’m happy with,' Barrette says in the report, 'and I just want to know why I can’t keep what I have. Why do I have to be forced into something else.'
There are very good answers to her questions, answers which Crawford, either deliberately or through ignorance, failed to report, answers which are available to anyone with a passing familiarity with health insurance.
"First of all, the plan that Barrette paid $54 a month for is barely health insurance at all. It’s part of a subset of insurance that Consumer Reports calls 'junk health insurance' (and which even the company that sells it recommends that customers not rely solely upon) and it pays only $50 towards most of the services it covers. That’s it. If Dianne went to the doctor every week for a year, her plan would pay, at most, $2600. Meanwhile, based on average office visit charges, Diane would pay about $5,600.00. She probably doesn’t go to the doctor every week, of course, which means her plan pays a lot less, while her premium buys her a lot less. If she goes to the doctor, say, six times in a year, she’s paid a $648 premium for the privilege of spending another $600 on office visits. The plan also pays up to $15 per prescription, which will get you a few milligrams of most prescription drugs. The one decent deal on her plan is that it covers 100% of in-network lab services."
CBS News? Misleading Obamacare Report: Woman?s Plan Paid $50 Per Service, Doesn?t Cover Hospitalization | Mediaite
Bare Bones Health Plans Expected To Survive Health Law
By Jay Hancock and Julie Appleby
KHN Staff Writers
Aug 25, 2013
This KHN story was produced in collaboration with Consumer Reports calls it “junk health insurance.” A California regulator described them as “skeleton policies.” To an expert from the American Cancer Society, they “are a perfect example of why health care reform is so crucial.”
Bare Bones Health Plans Expected To Survive Health Law - Kaiser Health News
Good luck to all,
~The Old Bookaroo
It's been widely reported that far too many Americans have been bankrupted by medical costs they can not pay. Many of these people had health insurance. Their problem was it wasn't very good insurance.
Now, with the Affordable Health Care Act, many people are no longer able to keep the policies they had. There are a number of reasons why. One of them is the insurance wasn't worth the money.
"Not content with a website that performs like a Yugo with sugar in its gas tank, the mainstream media has continued to broadcast misleading, deliberately incomplete, and one-sided reports on the effects of the Affordable Care Act on consumers. The latest champion of the form is CBS News’ Jan Crawford, whose report on 56 year-old Dianne Barrette of Florida has become a North Star for those seeking to undercut the health care law by claiming that her premium increased tenfold under Obamacare, without disclosing that what Ms. Barrette was paying $54 a month for barely qualifies as insurance.
"On CBS This Morning, Crawford reported that 56-year-old Dianne Barrette received a letter last month 'from Blue Cross Blue Shield, informing her that as of January 2014, she would lose her current plan. She pays $54 a month. The new plan she’s being offered would run $591 a month, ten times more than what she currently pays.'
“'What I have right now is what I’m happy with,' Barrette says in the report, 'and I just want to know why I can’t keep what I have. Why do I have to be forced into something else.'
There are very good answers to her questions, answers which Crawford, either deliberately or through ignorance, failed to report, answers which are available to anyone with a passing familiarity with health insurance.
"First of all, the plan that Barrette paid $54 a month for is barely health insurance at all. It’s part of a subset of insurance that Consumer Reports calls 'junk health insurance' (and which even the company that sells it recommends that customers not rely solely upon) and it pays only $50 towards most of the services it covers. That’s it. If Dianne went to the doctor every week for a year, her plan would pay, at most, $2600. Meanwhile, based on average office visit charges, Diane would pay about $5,600.00. She probably doesn’t go to the doctor every week, of course, which means her plan pays a lot less, while her premium buys her a lot less. If she goes to the doctor, say, six times in a year, she’s paid a $648 premium for the privilege of spending another $600 on office visits. The plan also pays up to $15 per prescription, which will get you a few milligrams of most prescription drugs. The one decent deal on her plan is that it covers 100% of in-network lab services."
CBS News? Misleading Obamacare Report: Woman?s Plan Paid $50 Per Service, Doesn?t Cover Hospitalization | Mediaite
Bare Bones Health Plans Expected To Survive Health Law
By Jay Hancock and Julie Appleby
KHN Staff Writers
Aug 25, 2013
This KHN story was produced in collaboration with Consumer Reports calls it “junk health insurance.” A California regulator described them as “skeleton policies.” To an expert from the American Cancer Society, they “are a perfect example of why health care reform is so crucial.”
Bare Bones Health Plans Expected To Survive Health Law - Kaiser Health News
Good luck to all,
~The Old Bookaroo
