Junk Insurance Plans Dumped because of ObamaCare

If you listen to the Conservative media, you will now hear day in and day out that many people are now loosing their insurance coverages. At the same time you will read on the latest Gallup poll that as far as Obamacare approval is concerned, 41% now approve in August, but now in October, the number has jumped to 45%. It seems to be gaining in popularity. So what is the real story. Yes, many people have received notices by now that their insurance plan is being discontinued because of the Affordable Care Act, Obama's signature bill.
Presently, there seems to be so much negativity in the media about health care right now. It seems that none of the media has a single good thing to say about it. Are they right? Is ObamaCare bad for the American people?  The answer is 'NO'. Obamacare is not bad for the American people. Of course, I'm just the writer and editor of this blog, and you don't have to believe me. But it doesn't take rocket science to do a little research. But what you see on TV day in and day out are reporters, mainly from the Conservative markets that are always negative about Obamacare because they can be viewed as "journalistically compromised". If they do, they will not be showing a very great deal of integrity if they say something positive about ObamaCare. Examples would be.... Fox News and CBS News. On "CBS This Morning" reported that at least 2 million Americans cannot renew their health insurance policy. Governor Cristie also makes a report on the CBS morning show that "people are not told the truth, remember that they were told that they would be able to keep their policies if they liked them." The conservative markets want ObamaCare to fail.
There is so much mis-information about ObamaCare these days, I think it's time to take a closer look, actually just highlighted points I'm about to make here can give you allot more information about the Affordable Care Act, dubbed by the Conservative markets as ObamaCare.

To start, at least 14 million people in this country buy insurance on the individual marketplace. What does that mean? It means that if you were one of the lucky ones to already have insurance on the individual marketplace, there will be NO CHANGES TO YOUR PLAN. Well, how about that? Or just maybe there will be changes..  You are actually what can be considered 'grandfathered in'. But what if you are one of those 14 million that purchased junk insurance, and now your insurance company makes changes to your plan, like changing your premium and your plan is no longer valid, then you would recieve as so many people have by now, a cancellation notice.
So what does that mean? It now means that you will be forced to be upgraded to insurance with "standards" under the Affordable Care Act. Obamacare is all about raising the standards in America. Now that doesn't really sound that bad, does it.

So let's start with junk insurance, or what is better called 'low quality insurance plans'....  In many cases if you were enrolled in such a plan, you may be better to have no insurance at all than to fork over hard earned money into a plan that is not good for anyone.

As an example of a junk insurance plan, let's take a look at  a 'Fixed Benefit Indemnity plan..

The cost may be $450 a month, which is allot for many families, but some people have no other choice. The plan can hang you out to dry financially.  

For $450 per month, you can get $100 apiece each for 5 doctors visits. How about a grand amount of $50 a year for tests and screenings and the kicker, where people think that they really have something is when they are told they will get at least $1,000 a day, for up to 30 days in the hospital. Such a great deal, isn't it.

Well think again. the average doctor's stay in the hospital on the average is over $1,700 a day, so the money you will collect under your junk insurance plan wouldn't even cover for 30 days in the hospital. That doesn't acount for the specialized tests and screenings, and multiple blood tests that are a regular thing that takes place multiple times a day, every day. How about doctor's visits in the hospital room. How about specialists that are needed in your particular case. How about extra things like special nursing care or daily physical therapy, even after you leave the hospital.

On a personal basis, I was admitted to the hospital last January for a blood clot in my right leg, which required an operation and special therapy in the hospital and afterwords for approximately 2 months at home by professionals after I left the hospital. The hospital stay alone cost over $90,000 for just a week's stay, and without insurance I would have had to pay that bill myself. I had to take a blood thinner called Warfarin. The drug requires regular weekly blood tests once a week because the drug is so dangerous. This test was done in an outpatient clinic in a hospital. Do you think that the junk insurance plan as stated above would cover such medical needs. Of course not. On what I call a minimum good plan, I would have had to pay at least 25% of that cost. Instead, I only paid less than $700, which was my total personal liability for the hospital stay and pay nothing for any of the outpatient services. Having insurance is a wonderful thing, and as you get older, you will discover that you will depend on it more and more. If you are one of the unlucky ones not to have it in the past, you now have the ability to have it now. Maybe not the same plan that I have, but to give you an idea what you can now have, especially if you have no insurance at the moment.

Now, with ObamaCare, here are the new standards that MUST be provided to consumers...  which are considered essential health benefits..

1) Ambulatory services are included with ObamaCare
2) You can be covered by Emergency Services even if you are not admitted to the hospital.
3) Hospitalization is covered under ObamaCare (Includes surgery)
4) Maternity and Newborn care is covered under ObamaCare
5) Mental health and substance abuse using disorder services are also covered under ObamaCare
6) Perscription drug costs are covered under ObamaCare
7) Rehabilitative services are covered under ObamaCare, including physical therapy under ObamaCare
8) Laboratory services must be covered under ObamaCare
9) Preventative wellness visits will be covered under ObamaCare
10)Pediatric services must be covered under ObamaCare

These are just the top ten highlighted items that will be addressed under the Affordable Care Act, known as ObamaCare.

To top the list just mentioned is that for all of this, there are 2 main benefits that all of the above mentioned fall under. First, there is NO LIFETIME LIMITS ON COVERAGE FOR THESE BENEFITS, and second, PRE EXISTING CONDITIONS ARE COVERED. No one can be turned away, regardless of your condition or when you became stricken.

Now is this better than the junk insurance plans that are already falling by the wayside? Should anyone care that junk insurance is falling by the wayside now that ObamaCare is here. Of course they shouldn't. The conservative markets claim at least 2 million people are loosing their health insurance. That most likely is a good thing, because they now have a chance to purchase insurance that would really work for them.  Isn't it a good thing that people now have the ability to receive good health care now, even if you have a pre-existing condition, and you don't have to worry about the limits to the coverage?

What you have just read here are the minimum standards that ObamaCare will now bring to the marketplace. Be happy to have the ability now to get rid of your junk insurance policy. It's about time that you had the quality health care that you deserve as a citizen of this country.