Has obamacare been a bad or good thing for you?

[resy]

Why do I ask this?
because I am tired of hearing politicians talk about how good/bad it is, instead I want to ask real people, workers and employers alike. Not a big corporation.
I want to know your perspectives so I can form my own unbiased, informed view about it.
Personally, my family is in a lower tax bracket AND my husband got hit by someone running a red light a few years back and has serious back injury; because of this law we can now not only be able to get medical insurance but its also fairly affordable.
What has been you personal experience from it?

[DocCyane]

It allowed my life partner to be properly insured while she was looking for work.

And it will allow me to retire early, knowing I'm eligible for insurance. I would have been uninsurable without Obamacare due to a pre-existing condition.

[notmyhand]

Bad for me.  Mid 20s, healthy female, self-employed so buying healthcare off of the exchange.  My plan just went up another 40% for 2015 for the same exact plan.  It is a high deductible plan, the others are already far too expensive. 

[VirginiaBob]

Bad for me as well.  Both premiums, copays, and deductibles went up substantially (the trifecta), while actual benefits were reduced (the kicker).  In addition, the tax deduction for health care expenses is more restricted (need to be about 10% instead of 7.5% of income), and the FSA limits went down and became more restricted as well.

[Apples]

Bad for me/my employer (which is a small business).

The plan the business had before "Obamacare" no longer qualified under the  new rules and the "same" plan within ACA guidelines was going to cost 15% more.  And the old plan was already pretty expensive for the business.  So we switched to a different plan (went from Blue Cross to Aetna).

Now, the premiums are lower, but the copays and deductible are higher, and benefits are overall reduced (though I'll take my bc for free, thanks).  But we got some of the burden on our employees whereas before all they would pay for a medical emergency is the $100 ER copay, and nothing else-now they look up how expensive certain things are and pay the first bit of their deductible. 

[MandyM]

I've had no experience so far. But it was a pretty big deal for my sister that has a serious, chronic condition while she was in grad school (and too old for parent's plan). Her premium was cut in half AND her out of pocket expenses dropped dramatically as well.

[Rural]

No effect on us at all. Good coverage through my work-sponsored HDHP both before and after, largely unchanged.

[smalllife]

Good for me - even our crappy work plan now has to cover preventative care, follow up visits aren't attempted to be denied by "pre-existing conditions", got my tubes tied, stayed on my parents' dental plan as long as possible, and I can be hopeful about transparent pricing moving beyond Massachusetts in the coming years.

[jennifers]

Good.
I have health care at work, and I don't know of any changes to it due to Obamacare. 

I have friends who don't have full time jobs and have health insurance for the first time in many years due to Obamacare.  This seems really good to me.  Honestly, I don't mind paying higher taxes if it means everyone has access to health care.  I would definitely prefer a single payer heath care system. 

[5oclockshadow]

For my personal expenses- quite bad.  My insurance company left the state and my premiums have almost quadrupled for a slightly less beneficial policy. 

For my reimbursement (as a physician)- bad compared to private insurance, good compared to no insurance.  A lot of the ACA policies have poor reimbursement.  Not Medicaid bad, but bad.  You will see more physicians refusing to accept these policies (a la medicare and medicaid).

For new patients- very good.  Several who have not addressed medical problems in years are getting them addressed because they can afford to.  Honestly, many of them could have afforded to before, if they had prioritized health ahead of their macbooks, iphones, car leases, cigarettes, etc.  But, a lot of people genuinely could not have.  I see a fair number of non-paying "charity" patients, but now can get more of them the imaging/testing they need.

For established patients- just a little bad.  There's a glut of new patients.  Our hospital has had higher patient numbers since the beginning of the year and is often at capacity, so patients who should be admitted end up sitting in the emergency department for 2-3 days or are diverted to another hospital (where none of their own doctors are). Emergency department wait times are up by hours.  Clinic appointment wait times are up.

For my fulfillment/enjoyment of work- bad.  The EHR/meaningful use/paperwork/logistical requirements of the law are onerous.  They allow me to see fewer patients, which isn't good for me or my patients (who must wait longer for appointments).  Our hospital also has had to employ more people to make sure we are compliant with the law, which financially hurts everyone associated with the hospital and decreases the hospital's ability to offer free care to charity patients.   It's just a pain.  I had previously thought that my FI  would come years before my RE.  But, the projected FI keeps moving back with declining reimbursement and I'm more inclined to RE as soon as I can.

For my FIRE date- it's early to say, but it won't be good.  I suspect it will be either bad or really bad.

*I am not trying to equate my FIRE date with medical care for the previously uninsured in regards to importance.  I am just trying to answer the question completely, as this law affects healthcare workers in more domains than it affects a non-healthcare worker.

[GoldenStache]

+1 5oclockshadow

Thanks for the breakdown and insight.

[MrsPete]

Our insurance premiums (family of four) were going to increase by $700 -- has to be connected to ObamaCare.  We're choosing to switch to a high deductible plan, and I hope it's the right choice. 

[Milizard]

It saved my family over $9000 over COBRA for the 6 months that we needed it this year.
It made my husbands job loss earlier this year not a big deal, and he was able to take his time to find a better job.

[LibrarIan]

It hasn't really had an impact on me in any obvious way. My wife has seen a decrease in costs for feminine-related health visits. Nothing huge though.

[Thegoblinchief]

Mixed. Premiums went up and benefits went down, but we got an HSA this year instead of a crappy FSA.

Overall we will save money, however, because the cumulative changes are waking us up to the benefit of HDHP.

[Kingomri]

Bad.

Last year, the cost of insurance for the small business I work for was quoted at going up between 95% and 105% (almost doubling). I believe the business was able to limit the damage somewhat by changing around open enrollment date, but it was still a substantial increase.

Our plan was a HDHP - $3k individual, $6k family deductible. The company I work for contributed an amount monthly to our HSA ($100 for Employee Only, $200 for Employee + Spouse, $250 per month for Family), so it's a pretty good plan IMO. If you don't have a lot of medical costs, you get free money. If you do, the first $3k (for family) was provided for you.

The company had to increase our premiums and decrease the amount they contributed to the HSA, though we're still doing pretty well because the company absorbed the brunt of the increase, at a hit to their own profitability.

However, in December, this plan will no longer be offered because it is considered by the ACA to be a "bad" or "poor" plan, so our costs are expected increase substantially even from their already-having-nearly-doubled levels.

So that's my experience.

[FoundPeace]

As a university student I had been getting only catastrophic coverage (deductible around $20,000), but then I was able to get on my parent's plan and my wife was able to get back on her parent's plan (even though we were married and 24). This coverage stuck around until I was 26. Luckily I got my first post-university job the month I turned 26.

For me it has worked pretty well. Having health problems as a poor student can be pretty bad, because health insurance options are either expensive or not very good.

[merula]

Good for me. My employer's plan had been pretty good and I still have it with no real changes in coverage, except that preventative care (including prenatal care) is covered with no copays.

Plus, prior to the ACA, my premiums had been going up 5-10% per year. Post ACA, all the increases have been around 3%. I've heard that a lot of the bigger increases are happening in states that didn't expand Medicare. My state did; can anyone who has seen high premium increases comment on whether their state did or didn't?

My brother was able to stay on our parents' plan until he turned 26, which is a huge benefit for his income level.

I have seen some of the increased wait times that 5oclockshadow was talking about, but I'm glad that more people have access to care. I would prefer a single-payer system, but I think ACA is better than pre-ACA for society as a whole.

[Luck12]

I have a decent inexpensive plan through work, but it's been really good psychologically:  If/when I FIRE/laid off, I know I'll always have health insurance even if I develop a pre-existing condition, I'll have premiums subsidized, and no longer would I need to worry about lifetime caps on coverage. 

[RootofGood]

So far we aren't on an ACA plan yet.  My wife's employer provided plan didn't go up much at all in 2014, and the premiums went down for 2015 (although ours went up due to her employer setting employee's share of premiums according to their level of pay).  It's a high deductible plan but covers preventative stuff (which is the bulk of our medical needs for the five of us that are relatively healthy).  I pay $40 out of pocket per year for a maintenance med and otherwise we only paid $7 for a  blood test for me (that honestly should have been covered as preventative but it's not worth arguing with the ins. co and dr's office for $7). 

It's looking like Mrs. Root of Good will be retiring at the end of 2014 or sometime in early 2015, so I've started pricing ACA plans.  For our income (which will be intentionally low), a family plan for the five of us will be around $100-120/month and be the super silver variety that has low copays and low or zero deductible (I'm calling it "gold plated silver plan").  The kids get bumped to the state's Children's Health Insurance Program which also includes dental (and our dentist participates).  As a result, our premiums will be slightly higher than what we've been paying for employer provided coverage (which was $500-800/yr for health insurance plus $500/yr for kids' dental) but we'll have almost zero out of pocket costs if a serious medical issue arises (or we decide to have more babies). 

For us as early retirees, the ACA subsidies mean we get guaranteed issue gold plated silver plan coverage for almost free.  But the bigger benefit beyond saving $5000-10000 per year is the predictability and stability of premiums.  I expect increases in premiums, even at rates exceeding CPI and I can plan for that.  But I know I won't get dropped by an insurer and forced to go on a high risk pool plan at 5-7x the rates of a standard underwritten plan (a risk pre-ACA).  I also know that if our ER financial plan doesn't work out, I can keep my family insured while I earn an income (freelance, part time, full time, 1099, whatever it takes) and my insurance will be "affordable". 

As for family being helped, my parents can retire in their early sixties instead of waiting until 65 and medicare eligibility.  My dad is being worked to death and I think his health is suffering due to stress and not enough time away from work to eat right and exercise.  I keep mildly suggesting that he can retire (2 SS's, pension, and couple million in the bank) but I'm about to tell somebody else how to live their life.  They still don't fully trust Obamacare.

For my mother in law, she's currently not benefiting at all, but she will if our state ever extends the medicaid to all under 133% FPL. 

Overall, I've seen more benefits for people I know (like friends with low income who now have good affordable insurance) than negatives.  I'll point out that some of the worst off under Obamacare are the typical posters here.  Relatively young and healthy.  Because of the limits on premium differences for young and old, the young help subsidize the old.  And if you are healthy without pre-existing conditions, you've been able to get incredibly cheap health insurance pre-ACA, so of course the premiums go up now for a guaranteed issue plan that ignores pre-existing conditions.

[Gone Fishing]

I'm on an employer provided plan right now and no significant changes.  Should help me out significantly next year when I RE as long as congress doesn't gut it.   

[FireDAD]

It's been bad for me personally, but I am a 30 year old healthy person. When I FIRE it will be a huge benefit as others have stated.
With that being said I support the reform as I have seen many others who greatly benefit. My cousin who just lost her job and would never be able to afford COBRA will be able to look for work with the support of the ACA in the intermediary.

[rubybeth]

Great for me! I was able to leave my employer's high priced HDHP last year by applying via my state's exchange. I've got a lot of experience getting private coverage in the past (and being denied for pre-existing conditions--did you know that teenage acne used to be a good enough reason for an insurer to deny you coverage?) so the application process for the state exchange was a BREEZE (name, address, birthdate, income, tobacco status), even with some of the technology hiccups. But I'm in Minnesota and our exchange, MNSure, had some of the lowest costs in the whole country.

And, the requirement to cover birth control has personally saved me probably $300/year, plus the cost of my annual physical (required to get birth control, which I still think is dumb, so at least now the insurer has to pay for that).

Employer's plan was something like $400+/mo, HDHP, deductible of $3,500. The reason I've been given for the high cost is that we are in a 'group' with lots of older people, so costs are higher.

State exchange plan is $153/mo, HDHP, deductible $2,750. I'm a 33 year old quite healthy person, so I've spent about $150 on one doctor visit this year.

So now I'm able to use my employer's benefit dollars to fund my HSA and 457b. I'm also thinking that it will help us to FIRE in our 40s because our income will likely be low enough to qualify for subsidies, small though they may be.

My husband's employer premiums haven't gone up much because they self-insure, which is weird but good for us.

I also have to add that this has given me a lot of peace of mind for my sister, who has type one diabetes (insulin dependent). She currently has a great job with excellent insurance, but if her health deteriorates to the point that she can't work, she could at least get coverage and not be denied, and still be able to afford her insulin.

[malacca]

Great for me. I was about to get a job I didn't need just for the health coverage. When I moved back to the USA the cheapest "real" plan was $25K for my family. I have used health care systems around the world and find ours by FAR the worst.

Notes: Keep in mind 99% of the population doesn't really know what coverage they had (unless they had nothing). It's not that they are stupid - it is just the industry made it too difficult for even people in the industry to actually know the coverage. Even physicians haven't a clue. Ever ask your Doc how much something costs?

Let's look at ACA goals:

- Cut out "fake" insurance that doesn't actually cover you when you are really sick. SUCCESS.

- Eliminate preexisting coverage exclusions. SUCCESS.

- Establish standard policies so it is easy to compare apples to apples. SUCCESS.

- Limit insurance policy profits to 15% of premium (my friend received a REFUND from his policy). SUCCESS.

- Make it MUCH easier to be self employed, change jobs or be FIRE. SUCCESS.

- Insurance companies can't rescind coverage because you got seriously ill. SUCCESS

- No lifetime limits. SUCCESS.

- Establish insurance exchanges (you don't have to buy from the exchange). SEMI SUCCESS. State governments suck at IT and service.

- Increase coverage for millions. SUCCESS

- Lower health care inflation. Health care is over 20% of our GDP, which is insane. SUCCESS

Most people have or will benefit from the first five. The others will only benefit some.

ACA Failures:

- Keep people who are completely uninformed happy. FAIL.

- Keep people who hate Obama happy.  FAIL.

- Keep people who don't like any government intrusion happy. I feel for these people. We ARE a socialist country - we just lie to ourselves. Our socialism is just very inefficient compared to other countries. We think we are free but in reality we are not.  FAIL.

- Poor P.R. & communication.  FAIL.

- Poor implementation in many states.  BIG FAIL.

- Generally half assed, lobby driven legislation that turned a decent intention into a typical big government pit of shit with the health care industry getting even more of our GDP.  FAIL.

- Make people who didn't want insurance buy it. FAIL. You lost your right to be healthy and not participate in our hideous medical system.


What ACA did NOT DO:

- Restrict prices insurance companies can charge you.

- Restrict reimbursements to physicians or hospitals. That is between the hospital and the insurance company. It is insane, but it is NOT part of ACA. These are private insurance plans.

NOTE: Medicare / Medicaid are GOVERNMENT programs. They were before ACA and after. They are what doctors are complaining about. Always have. Always will. Not only are reimbursements low but regulations stupid.

- Raise the price of insurance (lowered for most people who had real policies). You just can't buy "fake" policies anymore. So it did limit your choice, true.

What ACA unintentionally did DO:

- Raise premiums for people who had "fake" Swiss cheese (aka McDonalds') policies.

- Make it harder to see a Doctor as there are more patients with insurance now.

- Confuse the hell out of people. Increase anxiety. Probably was detrimental to people's mental health.

At the end of the day, most people will benefit from ACA at some point. It might not be today. And some have lost their freedom to choose (unfortunately a trend in this country). 

[Patrick A]

Hasn't changed anything for me.  I do have a number of young friends who complained heavily about getting kicked off of their old crappy insurance -- however they are now fully subsidized on a better plan, which is most definitely a good thing.

My father is a physician with a small private practice.  He will be retiring soon and some of his advice to me at a younger age was to not go into medicine due to the direction the industry is headed.  He's already seeing lower reimbursements, more paperwork, and more hoops to jump through.   Not a good thing. 

The state of the health care industry, and how much we spend on it, is a sad sad thing in the USA.  I wish everyone could get past the partisan bullshit about it and realize that it is hurting us as a country. 

[tofuchampion]

It's been good for us.  Husband has type 1 diabetes, and pre-ACA, we had a time of paying out of pocket for all diabetes-related expenses, since insurance wouldn't cover pre-existing conditions for the first year of coverage.  That shit got real expensive, real fast.  I also have some pre-existing stuff, though it didn't affect us as much.  It's a huge relief to know that these things will be covered, and neither of us has to stay in a job we hate just for the insurance, which we've done before.

Despite the decline in reimbursements and other issues that 5oclockshadow talks about, the hospital I work at is doing well.  No layoffs, we're under budget, etc.

I really think that the ACA is going to be good for everyone in the long run, once the bugs get worked out and people have adjusted.

[zinnie]

My premium for my employer plan went up 40% after ACA. My state (California) did expand Medicare.

My company is going through tough times right now so I feel like it was a convenient excuse to blame it on Obamacare. When I look at their share of the premium, they are covering $100 less per month for my policy than they did previously, while the actual policy went up by only $20 a month. They say they are covering less due to increased tax rates. I haven't read up on this enough to know if that warrants such a big increase.

I am relying on it for early retirement, though, so I am more than willing to pay more now to be able to use it later.

[jzb11]

BAD

Single man late twenties, my previous BCBS PPO BCBS plan with 2500/6000 out of pocket limits and IMMEDIATE coinsurance was 100/mo.

Bronze HMO plan which offered 60% coinsurance after first spending thousands of dollars: $150/mo

Silver PPO plan which offers similar benefits to my pre ACA plan - $278/mo....

[surfhb]

Maybe someday we / they will pull their heads out of their asses and go with a single paying system.

Here's hoping....

[geekette]

+1 to most that malacca said.

It's definitely been good for us.  No way we could have ER'd prior to the ACA.  The premiums are lower than our COBRA premiums were, even before the promised subsidies.  So far we've come out ahead.

I believe it's "take this low reimbursement or buh bye" for doctors to participate in Medicare and Medicaid, but for regular ACA policies, don't insurance companies negotiate with doctors?  If the insurance company wants to tout a big network, they have to come to an agreement with doctors.  It's not a one way street.  Insurance companies have always pressured for lower reimbursement.  Boy do we as consumers benefit, though.  My labs are routinely lowered 50-90% of the "cash" billed amount.

I know I'll be the odd man out here, but I wouldn't have a problem with subsidies phasing out for those with high net worth. 

[nawhite]

Great for me. I was about to get a job I didn't need just for the health coverage. When I moved back to the USA the cheapest "real" plan was $25K for my family. I have used health care systems around the world and find ours by FAR the worst.

Notes: Keep in mind 99% of the population doesn't really know what coverage they had (unless they had nothing). It's not that they are stupid - it is just the industry made it too difficult for even people in the industry to actually know the coverage. Even physicians haven't a clue. Ever ask your Doc how much something costs?

Let's look at ACA goals:

- Cut out "fake" insurance that doesn't actually cover you when you are really sick. SUCCESS.

- Eliminate preexisting coverage exclusions. SUCCESS.

- Establish standard policies so it is easy to compare apples to apples. SUCCESS.

- Limit insurance policy profits to 15% of premium (my friend received a REFUND from his policy). SUCCESS.

- Make it MUCH easier to be self employed, change jobs or be FIRE. SUCCESS.

- Insurance companies can't rescind coverage because you got seriously ill. SUCCESS

- No lifetime limits. SUCCESS.

- Establish insurance exchanges (you don't have to buy from the exchange). SEMI SUCCESS. State governments suck at IT and service.

- Increase coverage for millions. SUCCESS

- Lower health care inflation. Health care is over 20% of our GDP, which is insane. SUCCESS

Most people have or will benefit from the first five. The others will only benefit some.

ACA Failures:

- Keep people who are completely uninformed happy. FAIL.

- Keep people who hate Obama happy.  FAIL.

- Keep people who don't like any government intrusion happy. I feel for these people. We ARE a socialist country - we just lie to ourselves. Our socialism is just very inefficient compared to other countries. We think we are free but in reality we are not.  FAIL.

- Poor P.R. & communication.  FAIL.

- Poor implementation in many states.  BIG FAIL.

- Generally half assed, lobby driven legislation that turned a decent intention into a typical big government pit of shit with the health care industry getting even more of our GDP.  FAIL.

- Make people who didn't want insurance buy it. FAIL. You lost your right to be healthy and not participate in our hideous medical system.


What ACA did NOT DO:

- Restrict prices insurance companies can charge you.

- Restrict reimbursements to physicians or hospitals. That is between the hospital and the insurance company. It is insane, but it is NOT part of ACA. These are private insurance plans.

NOTE: Medicare / Medicaid are GOVERNMENT programs. They were before ACA and after. They are what doctors are complaining about. Always have. Always will. Not only are reimbursements low but regulations stupid.

- Raise the price of insurance (lowered for most people who had real policies). You just can't buy "fake" policies anymore. So it did limit your choice, true.

What ACA unintentionally did DO:

- Raise premiums for people who had "fake" Swiss cheese (aka McDonalds') policies.

- Make it harder to see a Doctor as there are more patients with insurance now.

- Confuse the hell out of people. Increase anxiety. Probably was detrimental to people's mental health.

At the end of the day, most people will benefit from ACA at some point. It might not be today. And some have lost their freedom to choose (unfortunately a trend in this country).

I like your summary.

For me, no change. I pay $14 per month for an employer HDHP plan (that isn't a typo, it really is awesome). My wife on the other hand, late 20's with a pre-existing condition. Her employer offers crap for insurance and mine costs an arm and a leg to add a spouse to. So we have been on the private market for her for a while.

Before ACA: $265/month for a Cadillac HMO plan that actually would cover most of her meds (pricey meds that didn't have a good generic). But a pretty steep ramp up on price as she got older.

After ACA: $245/month for a Gold HMO plan that wasn't quite as good coverage (much higher co-pays) and didn't cover much of her meds. Overall our costs went up about $100/month. (Honestly though, this convinced us to suck it up and deal with 3 months of issues involved with switching to a different medication that did have a generic that is 90% as good). But, as she gets older the plan has a much more reasonable cost ramp up. We also have a plan for insurance for me after we FIRE.

Overall I'm thrilled with ACA mostly because now I actually believe in insurance as catastrophic coverage because there are no lifetime maximum benefits. I couldn't afford plans before that didn't have lifetime maximums but now I can and so can everyone else. That is a huge worry lifted off of my head now.

[ncornilsen]

My healthcare situation has improved INSPITE of the ACA.

For my entire career, I've opted out of the company plan, taken the opt-out $$, and done my own thing.
-2013: 1000 deductible plan, 25 years old, Dental, $156 a month. Found my own private insurance. immediate co-insurance.
-2014: 6300 deductible plan, 26 years old, dental included - $160 a month. Private. With opt out money, it was break-even on going to the company plan.
-2015: After a campaign by myself and a few other people, my employer is offering an HSA plan through Kaiser. $71 a month w/dental, 2500 deductible/5K OOP max. So, my health care situation improved due to a company that listened to it's workers and negotiated a good deal for us. Unfortunately the base plan got worse, so I'm sure if this plan was available last year, it would have gone up too. The tax benefits mean the HSA plan saves me money over last year. I'd have saved more pre-ACA.

all in all, the ACA has cost me more money than the baseline case.

[The Architect]

Bad.

$2400/year increase in costs for just me on my employer-sponsored plan. 100% healthy straight-edge 20's male.

Also heard one of my elderly relatives was being kicked out of a hospital while being treated (!) because of new Medicare/aid (not sure which?) regulations, presumably due at least in part to Obamacare changes.

[Schaefer Light]

Bad, but not as bad as for some other folks.  For the first time in my career, I'm having money deducted from my paycheck to cover the increased cost of our company's plan.

I just want more of a market-based system where people will actually know how much it costs to go see a doctor.  People only know what their co-pay is, and that's going to be the same whether you see the best doctor in town or the worst.  Where's the incentive to shop around for the best deal?

[The Architect]

I just want more of a market-based system where people will actually know how much it costs to go see a doctor.  People only know what their co-pay is, and that's going to be the same whether you see the best doctor in town or the worst.  Where's the incentive to shop around for the best deal?

This and allowing plans to commute - I know insurance has always been really high where I live because we shut out interstate competition (pre-Obamacare) and now insurance providers basically have a monopoly.

[seattlecyclone]

I agree with the previous two posters that we need more transparent pricing for services, and the flat co-pays should go because they provide no incentive to shop around for non-urgent care.

Obamacare hasn't affected me much so far. I have worked for employers that already provided pretty nice health insurance, and the changes in these plans due to Obamacare have usually been pretty minor tweaks to comply with certain requirements that the law put in place.

Going forward, I see Obamacare as a pretty huge benefit for an early retiree because nobody is uninsurable anymore and the costs are pretty predictable. Before Obamacare, I would say the cost of health care over the years would be the one biggest unknown that an early retiree would face, and that unknown has become much more predictable. Certain healthy people complain that they have to pay more for a private plan after Obamacare than before. These are valid complaints, but they have to be weighed against the fact that health care is now much less likely to bankrupt you in the middle age than before.

[daveydinner]

Bad for me. Company's costs went up so I no longer get the sweet high deductible HSA plan and they cut the company contribution by $500 a year to cover the expense.

[Sid Hoffman]

Well I suppose it depends on context.  So far it's been bad for me and my family because the "Affordable Care Act" has made healthcare much less affordable.  Both my sister and my ex-wife currently have no health coverage because they make too much to qualify for any subsidies, but don't make enough to spend another 15% of their income on health insurance that doesn't actually kick in until you've spent thousands and thousands of dollars between deductibles and the out of pocket maximum.

In the long run, I think ACA has broken our healthcare system much worse and will actually help by pushing our nation towards true healthcare reform much more quickly than we otherwise would have.  Basically we were in a train going 50mph headed towards a cliff.  ACA simply sped the train up to 100mph so we have to fix the problem twice as quickly now.  I would guess that we have no more than 10 years before ACA is scrapped and replaced with something that actually makes healthcare affordable again.

[Seņora Savings]

It's been a wash for me personally.  My work plan went down in both cost and coverage (which made me happy).  It's been great for my friends in school/working no benefit jobs.  I'm sure it hurts people making over $46k, but it benefits the people who most need it.

Before the bill was passed, I had a friend get a double mastectomy when she found some benign breast cancer.  She did this because she was going to retire soon and wouldn't be able to get coverage for her pre existing condition, so she figured she'd best get the job done instead of risk having to pay for it herself.  I think that with the current laws she would have waiting until it became malignant.  It ended up okay, but it's scary to see someone get a possibly unneeded surgery because of insurance laws.

[nawhite]

Bad for me. Company's costs went up so I no longer get the sweet high deductible HSA plan and they cut the company contribution by $500 a year to cover the expense.

This sounds like your company used the law as an excuse to shaft employees, not an issue with the law. I'm curious for more specifics.

[nawhite]

Bad.

$2400/year increase in costs for just me on my employer-sponsored plan. 100% healthy straight-edge 20's male.

Also heard one of my elderly relatives was being kicked out of a hospital while being treated (!) because of new Medicare/aid (not sure which?) regulations, presumably due at least in part to Obamacare changes.

So why don't you say FU to your employer and do a private plan? In most states, a "healthy straight-edge 20's male" would have a total premium around $200/month let alone an increase.

As for the hospital, can you get more specifics? Was she in a state that chose not to expand Medicare? My understanding is that Medicare didn't have new regulations with this law?

[nawhite]

Bad, but not as bad as for some other folks.  For the first time in my career, I'm having money deducted from my paycheck to cover the increased cost of our company's plan.

Is this because your employer's costs went up or they decided to change the benefit?

[EastCoastMike]

My policy has remained constant.  It's great until I actually need it.  I have a $1k deductible, but somehow my last hospital (I had a MRSA infection on the back of my neck) visit ended up costing me $4.5k.  I decided after I paid that bill that I would rather take my chances than seek care.  At least my life insurance will fully cover the cost of a funeral.

[Schaefer Light]

Bad, but not as bad as for some other folks.  For the first time in my career, I'm having money deducted from my paycheck to cover the increased cost of our company's plan.

Is this because your employer's costs went up or they decided to change the benefit?

Their costs went up, and we're paying for that.  I don't blame them, though.  They have a business to run and shareholders they need to keep happy.

[Chranstronaut]

No effect on me whatsoever.  My premiums and deductible are unchanged and will be unchanged next year.  I have a very nice Cadillac plan through my employer and union.

This is has been life changing for my parents.  My dad was previously uninsurable due to past conditions and chronic conditions.  He lost all health coverage when my mom graduated from college and could no longer insure him through her student status.  He is an independent contractor and was able to buy insurance on the exchange for the first time in years.  It's still pricey but he and my mom as so grateful.

My sister is healthy, late 20's with low income and chronic conditions.  She now qualifies for expanded medicaid, but found it difficult to set up and get the paperwork done last year.  It's been AMAZING for her Rx costs.  She used to pay hundreds every month for meds and now pays about half what she used to (still a lot, but damn what a huge difference).  It allowed her to quit a shitty job that she was keeping for insurance coverage.

Overall it's been a win in my family.

[Jessa]

I get private insurance through my employer, so the only thing that changed for me is that my birth control is now free instead of a $10 copay. So it was pretty good for me.

[golden1]

A slight improvement - for the first time I can remember, our company's health insurance plan covers more and is slightly cheaper than the plan we had last year.  The plan we were on raised rates, but several other plans came in with very competitive rates. 

[Heywood57]

The insurance premium is the tip of the iceberg.

You have to account for the deductible and CoPay amounts should you
actually have to use the health care.

For my employer subsidized plan it costs me $300/month in pre-tax money
with $0 deductible and $3600 max CoPay.

The roughly equivalent ACA plan would be $1407/month in post-tax money
with a $5000 deductible and max $12600 CoPay.

[gatorNic]

Hasn't effected me...yet.  Have had company insurance for awhile.  Which hasn't jumped up, yet.   However due to the upcoming possibility of being done with my current contract and to get on my wife's insurance being crazy expensive I'll probably have to go to the California exchange. 

What I found was insurance had doubled AND was worse from what I use to be able to get.  I am in the middle area where you make enough money to not be in the subsidies, but not enough where the high cost isn't detrimental.   I use to be able to get something general around the $1500-2000 deductible, for $150-$175/month still being relatively young.  Since the ACA passed, a somewhat comparable plan is about $330-360 which is silver level.  Could go Bronze, for $265, but they are skin and bones plans with 5K deductibles. 

I obviously like some of the things passed with the law that has been mentioned previously, but unfortunately the middle class area is getting the shaft. 

[Nothlit]

No visible impact on my employer-provided high-deductible plan. My premiums have held steady for the last 3 or 4 years after several years of increases, but I can't draw any clear connections between that and the healthcare law.