You are required to buy health insurance

[wolferine]

Originally Posted by erosewater

Also, employees already bear basically the full cost of insurance anyway through lower wages. If that market starts to deteriorate employers will have to make up some or all of the difference. It won't be overnight, but they won't be able to pocket those savings indefinitely.

But that is a broad paint brush. Employees in total bear the cost of insurance, but does an employee who makes $20,000 bear the same burden as one making $100,000?

If you take away a $5000 expense on both, do they both go up the same amount? Or does $20,000 go up to $21,000 and $100,000 go up to $110,000.

[Extreme Extremist]

Originally Posted by ADoubleDot

Personal responsibility FTW. Removes the free loader ER problem. Great win for conservative politics.

No it doesn't because there is Guaranteed Issue and Community Rating. So if you are relatively young and healthy and not poor you pay your fine (which will be a fraction of the premium you would have had to pay and then you get healthacre when you get older and your health status changes.

[MightySchoop]

Originally Posted by Extreme Extremist

No it doesn't because there is Guaranteed Issue and Community Rating. So if you are relatively young and healthy and not poor you pay your fine (which will be a fraction of the premium you would have had to pay and then you get healthacre when you get older and your health status changes.

And because of these factors, the average insured population will be older and sicker, driving a general increase of insured costs and therefore premiums.

[erosewater]

Originally Posted by yoyo

i'm not fully understanding you. are you saying that no pre ex is only good for some open enrollment period, and after that insurers are free to not sell you a policy or not cover that condition?

Yes, HHS has suggested, but not released a final rule, that there can be open enrollment periods when you can sign up, and if you don't you wouldn't have guaranteed issue until the next open enrollment. It would probably be something like December 1 to March 1 give or take a month.

Could be each exchange setting their own rules with some guidelines/minimums set by HHS. And there would be some exceptions for life changes like marriage, birth, changing jobs, etc.

[Guerilla poster]

Originally Posted by Extreme Extremist

No it doesn't because there is Guaranteed Issue and Community Rating. So if you are relatively young and healthy and not poor you pay your fine (which will be a fraction of the premium you would have had to pay and then you get healthacre when you get older and your health status changes.

What if the penalty finances the hospital bills of free-loaders? Essentially the public option for free loaders.

[yoyo]

Originally Posted by erosewater

Yes, HHS has suggested, but not released a final rule, that there can be open enrollment periods when you can sign up, and if you don't you wouldn't have guaranteed issue until the next open enrollment. It would probably be something like December 1 to March 1 give or take a month.

Could be each exchange setting their own rules with some guidelines/minimums set by HHS. And there would be some exceptions for life changes like marriage, birth, changing jobs, etc.

got it

please share with me the PM you get from IP on letting those folks die who don't act in teh open enrollment period - thanks!

[yoyo]

Originally Posted by erosewater

Yes, HHS has suggested, but not released a final rule, that there can be open enrollment periods when you can sign up, and if you don't you wouldn't have guaranteed issue until the next open enrollment. It would probably be something like December 1 to March 1 give or take a month.

Could be each exchange setting their own rules with some guidelines/minimums set by HHS. And there would be some exceptions for life changes like marriage, birth, changing jobs, etc.

okay, so assume employer drops ins benefit and i pay tax, but don't buy a policy and get the big c. i'll be bankrupted and die on street, right?

[mathmajor]

Originally Posted by wolferine

I was just making up examples without real data similar to your claiming that Germany was the first country with national healthcare program when they were in fact 3rd.

That was me, and as I corrected, Germany had the first national healthcare -program.- A third of German workers' costs were subsidized by the government by rules enacted by Otto von Bismarck. Just not the first Universal system.

[erosewater]

Originally Posted by yoyo

okay, so assume employer drops ins benefit and i pay tax, but don't buy a policy and get the big c. i'll be bankrupted and die on street, right?

If the market is allowed to function, yes, you would be in the same predicament as if you'd gotten cancer today.

But since we've passed the health care bill that is supposed to save everyone's life and stop the evil insurers from killing babies, your story will definitely show up on the evening news, and all bets are off as to what happens then. Certainly there would be people spinning it as "evil health insurers exploit PPACA loophole to kill yoyo".

[FormLetter]

Originally Posted by erosewater

Yes, HHS has suggested, but not released a final rule, that there can be open enrollment periods when you can sign up, and if you don't you wouldn't have guaranteed issue until the next open enrollment. It would probably be something like December 1 to March 1 give or take a month.

Could be each exchange setting their own rules with some guidelines/minimums set by HHS. And there would be some exceptions for life changes like marriage, birth, changing jobs, etc.

Imagine the fun of running the enrollment departments at insurers if they aligned the enrollment periods exactly with those of Medicare Advantage.