So if ACA is saving money, but I see the savings only if I go to the hospital, healthy people get hosed right?

Question

ACA is causing massive increases in the number of people on Medicaid and receiving taxpayer funded subsidies on their health insurance premiums.

ACA supporters say this will result in an overall savings, because now previously uninsured people can see a doctor instead of using the ER as their primary care provider.

They say people use the ER and can't pay, so the cost is passed on to the other patients at the hospital to cover the losses. Now those losses are less, so hospital patients will see lower hospital bills.

This is great UNLESS I AM HEALTHY AND I DON'T GO TO THE HOSPITAL.

If I don't go to the hospital, how do I see any of these savings?

If I manage to stay out of the hospital, all I see is a higher tax bill, right?

How are any of these savings passed on to people who DON'T go to the hospital?

Answer 1

Everyone is getting screwed already.

Answer 2

The poor can not pay the deductible! Now instead of having medical care at the ER they go home and suffer!

Great system there! Whoever thinks that a person making $15,000 a year can afford the $6,000 deductible for an ACA bronze plan kindly place hands on cheeks and push until head pops out!

The ACA works on the principle of the rich get richer and the poor can curl up and die!

At least before they could go to an ER for free care!

Answer 3

No. The only way you see a higher tax bill is if you decide to be a deadbeat and not get insured.



How much money do you have in a dedicated emergency fund to pay for your medical expenses? If the answer is $50,000, then maybe you don't need insurance. You probably could pay for anything that wouldn't kill you in five years anyway, and if you catch one of those you just need to die a little sooner.



If you don't have $50,000 to put in a bank account and forget about, then you need insurance. Maybe you don't understand what insurance is...



Health insurance is a wager against your health. Because health care is so expensive that it would hurt you financially to get it when you need it, you take out a bet against your health. If you get sick, that ticket pays out a little less than what it would cost you to be treated. So, mostly those gambles are a waste, but if you ever really need the money for your health, then it is there for you!



If you want to gamble that you will always be healthy and not take that bet, it would be fine with me--if you had the ($50K) money to take care of yourself saved. But you don't, so we are back to the only three workable choices--force you to cover yourself, take care of you, or leave you to live or die according to your own preparation and finances.

Answer 4

This cancer patient is able to get affordable insurance on the Obamcare exchange and find savings.



"Boonstra’s old plan cost $1,100 a month in premiums or $13,200 a year, she previously told The News. That didn’t include money she spent on co-pays, prescription drugs and other out-of-pocket expenses.



"By contrast, the Blues’ plan premium costs $571 a month or $6,852 for the year. Since out-of-pocket costs are capped at $5,100 for in-network doctors and hospitals, including deductibles, the maximum Boonstra would pay this year for all of her cancer treatment is $11,952."



http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140...



Even if you assume she spend nothing on co-pays under her old plan, she is still saving over $1,200 a year if she is forced to pay co-pays and deductibles under the new plan. Savings of $1,200 is good for a cancer patient.



EDIT

Unless you make more than $200,000, you will not see a higher tax bill because of Obamacare.

Answer 5

Lower hospital costs mean lower insurance premiums, for everyone.



Every person will eventually need hospital care. Including you. And you won't see anything on your tax bill unless you refuse to take responsibility for your own health insurance. If you don't, the additional tax is so that the rest of us don't get stuck paying for you when you get sick.



You are not invincible. What the ACA does is insist that you take the responsibility to provide for your own healthcare needs. No more refusing to buy insurance and then falling on Medicaid when you get sick.



It is about responsibility. Everyone must pay something, even if it is a few dollars a month. It is your responsibility.

Answer 6

Correct. I worked for 50 years and never paid a premium, deductible or co-pay. Glad I retired 4 years ago. Everyone is getting hosed now.



I do pay now. Part B, Part D, Plan F $280/month. No co-pay, no-deductible. For me it is a lot but compared to options it is good.

Answer 7

You need to ask an other ? Does the gov. run anything well.My husband works for the gov. and there is so much waste you wouldn't believe it or maybe you would since our eyes are open.People don't want to earn anything anymore,its has become a what can I get for free.My husband didn't even have running water until he was in 6 or 7 grade.Everyone of his bro.sis.7 all together have some type of degree.That proves that if you want to be educated you can be.this is why the Dems.are getting votes.Wait until we become communism then are wont be able to complain,they wont like that either.

Answer 8

You will need that hospital one day, just as you needed it during your birth. Granted the Obamacare system is a small step toward the single payer system that every other industrial democracy offers its citizens but at least it requires us all to pay a share of the cost of health care.



As others have pointed out, we pay a share of the cost of automobile accidents whether we have one or not. How does this differ from that?



You are too partisan to think clearly here. try a little harder, because you are not stupid, just blinded by politics.

Answer 9

There are no savings passed onto to those who don't go to the doctor much. If you were a really sickly person, you might see a monetary benefit



You can't compare it to car insurance. You don't HAVE to own a car.

Answer 10

The ACA was created for the minority of americans who cant afford healthcare, its not at all a great system but at least its a start

I hear cons say 'let the free market decide'

but the free market is only about making money which is often very much at odds with saving human life

Answer 11

Yes, because that's how insurance works. Those that are sicker get more benefit than those that are healthy. Obama didn't invent that. It's always been true.



Perhaps we should abolish insurance. Make it illegal to sell it, use it. That way, there need be no complaints from you.

Answer 12

Right.



In the same sense that you get "hosed" on car insurance by not crashing your car.



We should probably just nationalize health care and do away with insurance then... right?

Answer 13

who do you think pays for hosptial bills?



insurance companies?



do you pay for health insurance?



if they spend less, then they charge you less...



well there you go...



EDIT: lol,... you don't have insurance...



do you have a few hundred grand around if you get in serious medical trouble?



or you will just get on medicaid, right? lol



and you can't just wait... you said you worked in insurance and don't know that? lol... you must have been really bad at it?



I guess by your own definition, you will become a moocher one day too and then you will get something out of it...

Answer 14

about 1 million americans under 25 have signed up for ocare. reuters

Answer 15

I see the savings in my paycheck. That is another $80 a month for me