The President considers the PPACA of 2010, as “done.” Instead of informing Americans about the law, he’s resorted to trying to pitch it to the American public, with his latest efforts since the failed attempt to enlist the help of the NFL, to sign on a bunch of celebrities to “pitch his signature health care law to younger Americans,” (CNN, “Obama Meets with Celebs who want to promote Obamacare,” 7/22/2013).
Why the need to pitch younger Americans? As stated in the article, young people, you know those least likely to need medical care, are seen as “essential for their [health exchange] long-term viability.”
Anyone who follows health insurance knows that the CNN article is accurately reporting that Obamacare depends on healthier, young adult dollars in order to survive. But do the celebrities know? Do the young people know? This is unclear.
So, in the spirit of information, here’s some text that Obama could use to accurately inform and persuade young adults to enroll in a healthcare plan using an exchange if they are unable to obtain employer-provided health insurance:
1) “Enroll in Obamacare because we need you to sustain it.”
2) “Avoid the IRS tax from the individual mandate, enroll in a health insurance plan.”
3) “If You’re Still unemployed and your state didn’t choose to expand Medicaid, No Insurance For You.”
4) “Sorry, But I needed to cover the spread so your rates are higher.”
5) “You know that health insurance plans that cover 60 percent, 70 percent or a catastrophic plan will likely leave you bankrupt because of uncovered expenses in the event you get sick, but sign on anyway.”
6) “Try for a rebate or a credit to cover some of those premium costs, you never know.”
But the President has not learned. If anything, he is more arrogant, less visionary and more belligerent in his defense of even the worst features of Obamacare, and that’s why he’s ready for the next sales push for Obamacare.
So that leaves the option for young people to learn. It’s simple.
In order to have a health insurance plan you need to qualify for employer-sponsored insurance, if you’re under 26 (or 29) in some places OR
If your parents can still afford to pay for your insurance coverage on their plan, then you also will avoid having to use the health exchanges OR
If you are married and your spouse has employer-sponsored insurance you can be carried on that insurance OR
If you are eligible for Medicaid in your state, you also will avoid health exchange activity (unless Medicaid enrollment is provided through a health exchange)OR
If you are an employee without an employer health insurance option or you are self-employed you can use the health benefits exchange in order to choose a plan. On that site you will find out what your total bill will be for PREMIUMS for the plan after any rebates or credits for which you're eligible but you'll have to pay careful attention to exactly what is COVERED and HOW MUCH OF IT IS COVERED under your plan.
Those are the chief ways you CAN obtain insurance.
NOTE: Don’t forget that Dental insurance is an extra fee not covered by health exchange policies in many cases.
What if you don’t have health insurance?
First, unless you qualify for an exemption, you will (as of now) be subject to the Obamacare tax. Look up how much that tax will cost you. [More to come on exemptions, but briefly, you’ll be able to determine whether you qualify for an exemption on the health exchange sites and receive a certificate of exemption or through your tax filing.] Remember, this is not a criminal penalty like a ticket or something.
Second, in the event you become ill you will not be able to afford needed medical care without going bankrupt (which of course if you have a cruddy insurance plan, catastrophic, bronze or even silver and higher you might still face).
Third, you will have to pay for checkups included in the “essential health benefits” of qualified plans. You can explore community health centers that are supposed to provide these services to the uninsured based on a sliding scale of what you can afford.
Fourth, like many other people, you will also not have dental insurance UNLESS you purchase a dental insurance plan, which you might be able to afford.
It’s probably becoming clear why Obama is going out on the campaign, the selling circuit. Obamacare is neither a radical change nor an advantage to many citizens who are finally realizing that its chief goal was to increase the number of people enrolled in insurance plans, not to make sure that people received quality medical care when they got sick.
