Tornado Alley (PROG)

[arizona1]

I Finally Got Through on HealthCare.gov! UNBELIEVABLE Rates!

Holy smokes!

I've been trying to register since Day 1, only to have it keep erring out over and over again, no matter what time of day I tried. Multiple unsuccessful attempts, a couple user account names "lost in limbo", but the third try was the charm.

Took me well over an hour to answer all the verification questions, but I was finally able to look at and compare plans.

To be on the safe side, I ended up over-estimating my income a bit, as my current part-time job only pays around $10K/year, which isn't enough to qualify for subsidies. (My current home state of Idaho is one of those backwards GOP-controlled states that didn't expand Medicaid. Assholes.) But I expect to be able to take on a work-study job through my community college next semester, which should be just enough to put me over the $11,490 threshold for full subsidies to kick in.

So I checked out the default Silver-level plans which looked very affordable. With the $203/month subsidy, I found two plans that only cost $20/month: one with a $1000 deductible and $5800 max out-of-pocket, and another with a $3500 deductible but $3500 out-of-pocket. While that isn't too bad, just for fun I took a peek at the other level plans. I could get a Bronze plan for free, but they had way higher deductibles and max out-of-pocket expenses, too risky. The Gold plans weren't much better than the Silver it didn't seem, and still had pretty high deductibles and co-pays.

Then I was completely blown away: I could get a fucking PLATINUM plan for only $85/month. NO DEDUCTIBLE, $1500 MAX out-of-pocket expenses, worst-case scenario. Only a $35 primary doctor co-pay, a $50 specialist doctor co-pay, and $10 generic drugs. Even though its over 4 times as expensive as a Silver plan, I'm seriously leaning toward this option. The extra income from a work-study job would more than cover it.

No fucking wonder the GOP wants to shut this down before word gets out! Even without subsidies, that Platinum plan is only $288/month, and from the looks of it far superior to many employer-offered plans. This is really going to give corporate insurance plans a run for their money. Employers won't want to look like cheapskates offering less benefits than what the uninsured can get on the exchanges, so I imagine it will force them to reduce, if not eliminate, their high deductibles as well.

If this is really what we have in store, then 2014 is going to be a blood-bath... for the Republicans.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023819690