What Made you Smile/What Ticked you off Today?

[prfsnl_gmr]

Frown: My health care has been "temporarily" cancelled. I'm in the bucket with over Five Million other Americans.

The big cheese (my boss, who unfortunately isn't Mayor McCheese) said this was going to happen years ago. "Don't expect any reactivation anytime soon". Great.

Did your company cancel for all of its employees? (And, if so, does it plan on giving you a "raise" equal to what it was paying for your health insurance?) Finally, will you have to go out and buy on the individual exchanges? (If I recall correctly, your wife is a teacher. Can you be added to her plan?)

[Ack]

Frown: My health care has been "temporarily" cancelled. I'm in the bucket with over Five Million other Americans.

The big cheese (my boss, who unfortunately isn't Mayor McCheese) said this was going to happen years ago. "Don't expect any reactivation anytime soon". Great.

Did your company cancel for all of its employees? (And, if so, does it plan on giving you a "raise" equal to what it was paying for your health insurance?) Finally, will you have to go out and buy on the individual exchanges? (If I recall correctly, your wife is a teacher. Can you be added to her plan?)

Most likely yes, as healthcare costs are usually deducted from your salary. At least that is how it is done here: my insurance costs are deducted from my monthly pay, before taxes.

As for his wife's position, that may not be the case. Many employers are discovering it isn't cost effective to keep spouses on insurance. He may have to buy on the exchange or just eat the tax if he is unable to get a plan that suits his needs.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Most likely yes, as healthcare costs are usually deducted from your salary. At least that is how it is done here: my insurance costs are deducted from my monthly pay, before taxes.

This is not necessarily the case. At my firm, a portion of my insurance premiums are deducted from my paycheck before taxes, but the lion's share of the (extremely high) cost is borne by my firm. We had some changes to our health plans this year, and the cost will end up being about the same for me, but radically less for my firm. (To my knowledge, however, I will not be receiving any sort of "raise" based on the lesser amount that my employer will be paying for my health insurance.)

[fastbilly1]

Most likely yes, as healthcare costs are usually deducted from your salary. At least that is how it is done here: my insurance costs are deducted from my monthly pay, before taxes.

This is not necessarily the case. At my firm, a portion of my insurance premiums are deducted from my paycheck before taxes, but the lion's share of the (extremely high) cost is borne by my firm. We had some changes to our health plans this year, and the cost will end up being about the same for me, but radically less for my firm. (To my knowledge, however, I will not be receiving any sort of "raise" based on the lesser amount that my employer will be paying for my health insurance.)

Similar thing is happening at my company. The contracted call center people are losing their insurance and not getting a raise.

[Luke]

Frown: My health care has been "temporarily" cancelled. I'm in the bucket with over Five Million other Americans.

The big cheese (my boss, who unfortunately isn't Mayor McCheese) said this was going to happen years ago. "Don't expect any reactivation anytime soon". Great.

Did your company cancel for all of its employees? (And, if so, does it plan on giving you a "raise" equal to what it was paying for your health insurance?) Finally, will you have to go out and buy on the individual exchanges? (If I recall correctly, your wife is a teacher. Can you be added to her plan?)

Yes.

No.

Yes, but no.

Yes, but no.

To elaborate, all employees are "temporarily" cut-off of their once current health care. This decision has been in the making for years. Not to get too into the latest SWOT analysis, but Aging Workforce and Health Care were the two BIG W's. We're exploring options, but there is no other way to say it other than it looks bleak.

No raise or compensation. It's a "this stinks, roll with the punches for now" situation. My CEO has been against the Affordable Health Care Act since day one and this almost feels like a "Told you so!" from him. Which, to his credit, he has been telling us so since (I would say) 2010.

I'm not buying nathan. I'm not paying any penalties either and if my wages are garnished so be it, but I'm not going to willingly pay for this nonsense of a racket.

My wife is an educator (ESL) and we've looked into adding me to her plan, but the cost is far beyond ridiculous (it's close to 2k a month, not kidding).

All is well that ends well and I'm not concerned about my health nor the penalty (although I'm far from happy with it) but when I think about the other MILLIONS of people who are going through the same thing, I get angry. People in manufacturing who are at great risk of injuries on the job have basically been given the financial finger.

But anywho:

Smile: Hate to be the TGIF guy, but that's me. Quoth Will Smith, "Yo baby, yo..Check it":

Tonight: Handmade Ravioli with rosemary foccacia, a red sauce, artichokes with clarified butter, and a bottle of chianti. Followed by meeting with a group of friends for regular shenanigans.

Tomorrow: Rake the yard (for the fourth time this month), pressure wash the house (again), and then install a new projection screen for the home theater. Stoked about the screen, the rest will be fun just by spending time with the wife.

Sunday: Throwing my wife a surprise early birthday party. Her parents are coming on a surprise visit as well and they might even pick up the bill for lunch (fingers crossed). After the family fun, having a Walking Dead party (again) with snacks and cocktails.

[dsheinem]

Frown: My health care has been "temporarily" cancelled. I'm in the bucket with over Five Million other Americans.

The big cheese (my boss, who unfortunately isn't Mayor McCheese) said this was going to happen years ago. "Don't expect any reactivation anytime soon". Great.

Did your company cancel for all of its employees? (And, if so, does it plan on giving you a "raise" equal to what it was paying for your health insurance?) Finally, will you have to go out and buy on the individual exchanges? (If I recall correctly, your wife is a teacher. Can you be added to her plan?)

Yes.

No.

Yes, but no.

Yes, but no.

To elaborate, all employees are "temporarily" cut-off of their once current health care. This decision has been in the making for years. Not to get too into the latest SWOT analysis, but Aging Workforce and Health Care were the two BIG W's. We're exploring options, but there is no other way to say it other than it looks bleak.

No raise or compensation. It's a "this stinks, roll with the punches for now" situation. My CEO has been against the Affordable Health Care Act since day one and this almost feels like a "Told you so!" from him. Which, to his credit, he has been telling us so since (I would say) 2010.

I'm not buying nathan. I'm not paying any penalties either and if my wages are garnished so be it, but I'm not going to willingly pay for this nonsense of a racket.

My wife is an educator (ESL) and we've looked into adding me to her plan, but the cost is far beyond ridiculous (it's close to 2k a month, not kidding).

All is well that ends well and I'm not concerned about my health nor the penalty (although I'm far from happy with it) but when I think about the other MILLIONS of people who are going through the same thing, I get angry. People in manufacturing who are at great risk of injuries on the job have basically been given the financial finger.

But anywho:

Smile: Hate to be the TGIF guy, but that's me. Quoth Will Smith, "Yo baby, yo..Check it":

Tonight: Handmade Ravioli with rosemary foccacia, a red sauce, artichokes with clarified butter, and a bottle of chianti. Followed by meeting with a group of friends for regular shenanigans.

Tomorrow: Rake the yard (for the fourth time this month), pressure wash the house (again), and then install a new projection screen for the home theater. Stoked about the screen, the rest will be fun just by spending time with the wife.

Sunday: Throwing my wife a surprise early birthday party. Her parents are coming on a surprise visit as well and they might even pick up the bill for lunch (fingers crossed). After the family fun, having a Walking Dead party (again) with snacks and cocktails.

Why pay a penalty through garnishment instead of using those funds to buy care on the exchange? Wouldn't you rather get something for them?

[Luke]

Why pay a penalty through garnishment instead of using those funds to buy care on the exchange?

Thousands of dollars. Potentially, that is.

I'm still exploring my options (my wife is making me) but so far the financially wise decision is to take the penalty. That is, unless I get hit by a milk truck.

But I'm young and according to my internest in top physical shape and have a financial security net. My decision is also based on principle. Now if that principle is deemed stupid or not is up for debate, but I'd rather pay $97.00 a year than be forced to pay for health care that I don't need or want.

I know I'm over simplifying things, but this is like telling me I need to go to a dentist twice a year or pay the government a fine. I don't see how this benefits society one iota.

[prfsnl_gmr]

[My wife is an educator (ESL) and we've looked into adding me to her plan, but the cost is far beyond ridiculous (it's close to 2k a month, not kidding).

That sounds about right, unfortunately. Excluding dental and vision insurance, my family's health insurance costs a little under $22K annually. (I paid about 40% of that out of pocket, and my employer covers the rest.) We are moving to "high deductible" plans next year, and between the cost of premiums and HSA deposits, I will be paying about the same amount out of pocket. (I do not have the information in fron of me, but I predict that my employer will be paying far less.) I am not too concerned about this, however, since (and as was made apparent when my daughter broke her arm earlier this year) I still ended up paying thousands of dollars out of pocket whenever someone got hurt. (It was fantastic for maternity care, however, and I am glad that my wife and I had children while we were covered by my old plan.) At least with the high deductible plan, I know where I stand (i.e., I am going to pay for everything out of pocket). Moreover, the ever-increasing cost of my former plan has basically "eaten up" all of my raises for the past few years; so, if the ACA does nothing more than allow me to receive a raise that actually results in me bringing home more money, then I will be happy about that.

EDIT: We should probably have a separate thread for this at some point.

[dsheinem]

Why pay a penalty through garnishment instead of using those funds to buy care on the exchange?

Thousands of dollars. Potentially, that is.

I'm still exploring my options (my wife is making me) but so far the financially wise decision is to take the penalty. That is, unless I get hit by a milk truck.

But I'm young and according to my internest in top physical shape and have a financial security net. My decision is also based on principle. Now if that principle is deemed stupid or not is up for debate, but I'd rather pay $97.00 a year than be forced to pay for health care that I don't need or want.

I know I'm over simplifying things, but this is like telling me I need to go to a dentist twice a year or pay the government a fine. I don't see how this benefits society one iota.

Hmm, I thought the fine was $95 or 1%, whichever is higher, but apparently that's the family cost. However "By 2016, the penalties do jump to $695 per adult, $347 per child and $2,085 or 2.5 percent of family income whichever is greater."

Just hope you don't get cancer or something else costly, I guess.

[Luke]

[My wife is an educator (ESL) and we've looked into adding me to her plan, but the cost is far beyond ridiculous (it's close to 2k a month, not kidding).

That sounds about right, unfortunately.

Excluding dental and vision insurance, my family's health insurance costs a little under $22K annually.It was fantastic for maternity care...

EDIT: We should probably have a separate thread for this at some point.

Yup. It's weather the storm or lose close to $30k a year, and Blue Cross isn't exactly offering anything that is appealing. Bare bone plans and such.

My wife's maternity care (which I hope to God we use sometime soon) is incredible, but adding myself to her plan would be, well, stupid. It boggles my mind, it really does that the options on the table range from nearly $30,000usd to $97.00usd. It is a mess. A complete and utter mess.

I think a thread solely based on this topic would not turn out well and end up in finger pointing at politicians. I don't have much more to add than what I've already said. Sales taxes, automobile taxes, driver's insurance, housing taxes, etc...I'm fine with those. But the ACA is a debacle.