Category: Obamacare

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End of year Bullshit!

I hate CoveredCa and their demands where they seem to think I work for them. When they’re sending me a paycheck, I’ll get right on giving them all kinds of detailed information about my life. Until then I’m going to be sending my fucking money to the damn insurance company. I resent like HELL the State of California demanding shit from me instantaneously.

Tell me State of California Would you rather I spend 10 days collecting bullshit information that you’ll be automatically privy to come January, OR look for a job so that I can continue paying obscene taxes to provide services to others that I can’t access? I know the answer, you’d prefer I wasted the time. I was asking a rhetorical question.

I got message from DAN (Diver’s Alert Network) that my credit card on record is out of date. Uhhh DAN, the renewal isn’t for 6 months! I’ll worry about the issue in 6 fucking months!

Nerri.jpgADT Oh hi. Gee you’re JUST now getting around to sending me a letter telling me that the Credit card you had was expired? WOW, it’s ONLY two months after you sent me double billing and a nastygram. At the time we had a lovely telephone conversation wherein I gave you updated information and you billed me a past due month AND two months in advance. Gee Thanks!

I’m stressed enough right now without SERVICERS forgetting that They fucking work for ME, not the other way around.

Yeah, I’ve gone all Nebari again!

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Insurance!

As all of us in Amerika know. It’s open enrollment for our mandated healthcare plans.

I’m not overly fond of ACA, but it did actually do some good.

According to a friend who is an actuarial, there was a net gain in the number of people who previously couldn’t get health insurance now being insured.

I don’t know if that is still the case. It was true in 2013 – 2014. However it looks like the young people that ACA is dependent on, are staying away in droves in 2015.

Anyhow, I absolutely dread open enrollment. I hate having to revisit all the plans and really do miss the days when I just paid the bill and had insurance with an 80/20% split. I paid 20% the insurance company paid 80% and it was easy to figure out what was what.

Due to changes in the other half’s employment picture and my less than stellar year freelancing, this open enrollment has been particularly stressful.

We decided that we needed help. Changes in what is being phased in and what is being phased out confused the situation so that we weren’t sure if what we were doing was actually in our best interest.

SO we went to an insurance specialist who came highly recommended. Bottom line…

WE SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS SOONER!

Part of my insurance nightmare was that there were too many cooks in the soup. This guy called all the parties on the phone and declared HE is my agent and he had the ball.

Suddenly, Covered California, and Blue Shield were working together smooth as silk. Suddenly, I was paying a bit less for the same quality plan. Now instead of having to call one person, then another, and another, and get transferred to yet someone else, I call my agent. He takes care of everything.

The other half… is suddenly paying less than half what they were paying for much better coverage.

I’m still suspicious of something being too good, too easy, or too simple. We’ll see come January if our insurance is really straightened out and everything is on track for the year.

Based on the paperwork I have in hand… It looks like it really pays to have someone who knows how Obamacare works in your pocket.

That in itself speaks volumes about Obamacare and it’s complexity.

If the Republicans succeed in gutting ACA I fear we’re all going to be horrifically screwed. The insurance system is not capable of absorbing another significant disruption. Much as I hate to say it, Obamacare is here to stay. Congress should be forced to concentrate on fixing the parts that are broken.

 

 

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My Schrödinger’s Insurance policy

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Seems to be my lot in life, my insurance is always a pain in the butt.

I switched to a provider that supposedly has a real PPO instead of the Bullshit PPO that was really an EPO my previous insurance provider was selling.

I’m not getting a good feeling. The policy was supposed to have taken effect on Jan 1 but as of Jan 19th I still had no insurance cards, and no paper communication from them. 

Do I have a policy at all? They took my money.

I called them and found out BIG SURPRISE I apparently have Schrödinger’s insurance policy.

I’m not surprised at all. The universe seems to like to play with me and insurance policies. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem except that I was trying to have a prescription filled.

I think I’m playing the part of THE CAT in this experiment! 

After an hour on the phone, many assurances, apologies, and stressing my jinglish translation capabilities… I think it’s straightened out. Either that or I’ve initiated 3 additional policies and purchased 4 cats.

I was able to pick up the prescription so that represents at least a little progress.

In the Misrepresentation Category 

There is still the matter of the previous Insurance and policy that has declined to pay for anything except routine prescriptions. This is the policy that was sold as a PPO but it’s actually an EPO, or perhaps an HMO. I call it a NOMO (No Medical Organization). 

This policy was supposed to include a once a year physical at no cost to me. They’re refusing to pay any part of that routine physical and FYI the cost of my annual physical this year is well under $1000  

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The funny thing about it is this. The cost of the physical and labs is $100 LESS than a single monthly payment which I faithfully paid them throughout the year.

It turns out I can mathematically I can prove that for at least last year, I would have been better off without insurance at all.

I saw my doctor exactly once. I’m guessing that the Insurance company made about $300 profit from me each month.

I’m hoping that the folks associated with this rip off plan burn for a while in the fires of hell. Not because of me, per se.  

It’s all those little old folks that purchased this bullshit policy in good faith and then ended up screwed because their medical costs quickly spiraled out of control. I’m lucky in that I’m pretty healthy, but what about those other folks that aren’t?

I know that the legal system can’t punish these executives I can hope that a higher power does.