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After looking at this thread: http://www.debatepolitics.com/off-topic-discussion/175028-sense-does-make.html I decided to check to see what a 25 year old male smoker in Illinois would pay for the same Health Insurance coverage I had when I was a self-employed 25 year old smoker back in 2002 and the difference is quite interesting.
I had a $2,500 deductible, $5,000 max out of pocket with 80% coinsurance back then ($25 copay) and I paid about $300 a month for it.
Comparatively, a 25 year old male smoker in Illinois can now get a plan with a $1,500 deductible, $3,500 max out of pocket with 80% coinsurance ($10 copay) for about $240 per month.
Not too shabby. That's without adjusting for inflation, too.
If we adjust for inflation, my coverage then was the equivalent of a plan with a $3,250 deductible, $6,500 out of pocket with a $30 copay today and it cost me $390 per month (this website: CPI Inflation Calculator was used for inflation calculations).
What's interesting is that there is a plan available today that would only cost $230 per month that has $3250 as the max out of pocket cost and deductible which has a 100% coinsurance.
So it looks like I would have saved a lot of money on health insurance if Obamacare existed in 2002. I found this interesting.
How did you get this data? Heathcare.gov?
The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois' website here: https://retailweb.hcsc.net/retailshoppingcart/IL/census and my previous experience being self-employed and paying for my own insurance.
FWIW(essentially nothing), my current premium is ~$235. The one from your link that closest matches my current benefits is $411...but I am in a different state...
After looking at this thread: http://www.debatepolitics.com/off-topic-discussion/175028-sense-does-make.html I decided to check to see what a 25 year old male smoker in Illinois would pay for the same Health Insurance coverage I had when I was a self-employed 25 year old smoker back in 2002 and the difference is quite interesting.
I had a $2,500 deductible, $5,000 max out of pocket with 80% coinsurance back then ($25 copay) and I paid about $300 a month for it.
Comparatively, a 25 year old male smoker in Illinois can now get a plan with a $1,500 deductible, $3,500 max out of pocket with 80% coinsurance ($10 copay) for about $240 per month.
Not too shabby. That's without adjusting for inflation, too.
If we adjust for inflation, my coverage then was the equivalent of a plan with a $3,250 deductible, $6,500 out of pocket with a $30 copay today and it cost me $390 per month (this website: CPI Inflation Calculator was used for inflation calculations).
What's interesting is that there is a plan available today that would only cost $230 per month that has $3250 as the max out of pocket cost and deductible which has a 100% coinsurance.
So it looks like I would have saved a lot of money on health insurance if Obamacare existed in 2002. I found this interesting.
Not too shabby, indeed, when you adjust for inflation.
When you consider that inflation in the health care market has gone up far faster than inflation overall, then it's even less shabby.
Shame on you for not bashing Obamacare, comments like those are not acceptable, especially coming from a right-libertarian. What's this world coming to when people like you are making rational analysis of Obamacare. Thats simply not allowed. Tucker, right now, some tea party dude reading your comments just burst a blood vessel in his forehead.
Just kidding of course. Keep doing what you are doing, we all need to become informed about this stuff, beyond the made up rhetoric that we hear at the barber shop.
To be fair, the "right libertarian" stuff is simply due to the lack of a "neo-anti-federalist" lean here (despite my repeated attempts to get one added :lol. I wouldn't actually call my political views "right-libertarian" if I wasn't joking around.
I was surprised about the fact that the insurance was actually cheaper for similar coverage. This could actually be a boon to self-employed people.
Tucker, right now, some tea party dude reading your comments just burst a blood vessel in his forehead.
Yup.
My wife and I are both self employed. I am very happy with the insurance that I have, it's a high deductible policy from Blue Cross, and it also covers my kid. Inexpensive, yet it fits my needs perfectly as I rarely spend much on healthcare.
My wife though has been turned down repeated for insurance due to a pre-existing health issue. I believe that she will be able to get insurance from the federal exchange for about $350/mth (although she hasn't actually applied yet, so we aren't for sure about that). That will be a bargain, compared to the small group coverage that we have checked on, which is the only way that we can find an insurance company that will insure her. The last time I checked into a small group policy for our company, it was going to be over $850/mth per employee, and it simply ain't worth it to us. But I don't have any issue at all with $350/mth. We make too much money to get the subsidy, but we can certainly afford an unsubsidized policy at $350/mth.
A facebook friend of mine was bashing Obamacare the other day, and I asked her why she didn't want my wife to be able to purchase insurance. That facebook friend immediately deleted her posts. I think that a lot of people are just into the bashing, without actually thinking this thing through.
I'm not a huge supporter of Obamacare, I even met with my congressman before the ACA was voted on by congress, to suggest better options. There are better potential options, but Obamacare will likely be better than the system we have now. I just don't see how so many people can possibly believe that it is going to destroy our economy or our health care system - thats pure malarky.
What's really interesting is that my savings would not have been "paid for" by tax dollars. It was really all about access to an affordable plan.
My biggest concern is will the plans STAY affordable year after year? Nothing was done to curb the root causes of escalating costs, so my guess is they won't. I hope I'm wrong.
Hey Imagep
Whats your thoughts on single payer health care?
My biggest concern is will the plans STAY affordable year after year? Nothing was done to curb the root causes of escalating costs, in fact costs have been added, so my guess is they won't. I hope I'm wrong.
I hope you're wrong, too, but I'm afraid you're not. The root of the problem is cost of care, and that simply hasn't been addressed. The bottom line is that medical care costs on average over 8 grand per person now, and the costs keep going up.
Nothing was done to curb the root causes of medical care, you are certainly correct about that. But something was done to curb the cost of insurance.
After looking at this thread: http://www.debatepolitics.com/off-topic-discussion/175028-sense-does-make.html I decided to check to see what a 25 year old male smoker in Illinois would pay for the same Health Insurance coverage I had when I was a self-employed 25 year old smoker back in 2002 and the difference is quite interesting.
I had a $2,500 deductible, $5,000 max out of pocket with 80% coinsurance back then ($25 copay) and I paid about $300 a month for it.
Comparatively, a 25 year old male smoker in Illinois can now get a plan with a $1,500 deductible, $3,500 max out of pocket with 80% coinsurance ($10 copay) for about $240 per month.
Not too shabby. That's without adjusting for inflation, too.
If we adjust for inflation, my coverage then was the equivalent of a plan with a $3,250 deductible, $6,500 out of pocket with a $30 copay today and it cost me $390 per month (this website: CPI Inflation Calculator was used for inflation calculations).
What's interesting is that there is a plan available today that would only cost $230 per month that has $3250 as the max out of pocket cost and deductible which has a 100% coinsurance.
So it looks like I would have saved a lot of money on health insurance if Obamacare existed in 2002. I found this interesting.
FWIW(essentially nothing), my current premium is ~$235. The one from your link that closest matches my current benefits is $411...but I am in a different state...
My biggest concern is will the plans STAY affordable year after year? Nothing was done to curb the root causes of escalating costs, in fact costs have been added, so my guess is they won't. I hope I'm wrong.
That's my concern too, but it is my concern both with and without obamacare.
After all, Obamacare falls flat without those people buying in, figuratively and literally.
Which tells me that the insurance companies want Obamacare, because they are the one's setting the price to try and get enrollments up. This has been my problem with Obamacare from the start. It seems very much like a "corporate stooge" maneuver disguised as "helping the poor".
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