Re: Health care law(PPACA) may help Baby Boomers
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Considering the high cost of the IBM insurance the private exchanges will probably be cheaper.? Within?9 years our costs went from $60 to $1400/month for just the 2 of us.? ACA makes them give free preventive care so over time this should lower costs as people take care of things before conditions worsen and become more expensive to treat.? If right wingers hadn't made?such a fuss inaccurately claiming "death panels" there would be doctor sessions where the doctor could explain about palliative care as opposed to extreme measures for those who are terminal.? There was a good article in Money magazine saying that palliative care was not only cheaper but actually extended the patient's life.? The ACA also requires that the insurance companies spend more money on actual patient care and less on overhead like the millions to
the CEO.? Those companies that?spent too much money on overhead?had to give money back to the people or in the case of company provided coverage, to the company.?In August $1.1 billion in all was suppose to be returned.?I wonder if IBM used any of the money to lower premiums or just used it to increase their profit?
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--- On Fri, 12/28/12, Don Mininger wrote:
From: Don Mininger
Subject: Re: [ibmpensionissues] Re: Health care law(PPACA) may help Baby Boomers
To: "ibmpensionissues@..."
Date: Friday, December 28, 2012, 1:42 PM
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Anyone who thinks the ACA is going to reduce medical care costs is living in a dream world. ?There is a Reason why many of the provisions are being phased in over a period of several years. ?If all the rules in this legislation kicked in at once, the nation would go into Sticker Shock. ?Any fees, etc., added to the health care providers will Surely be passed along to the consumers and patients. ?The Private Insurance companies have their needs well protected under this legislation, and any costs they incur will be passed along to their subscribers in the form of higher premiums and co-pays. ?For Seniors, this combination of Medicare, and the IBM Supplemental plans, are probably one of the best deals out there....let's hope the government doesn't screw with them too much. ?
Ultimately, the medical costs are going to keep rising at a pace that makes care unaffordable for much of the nation....and we will be forced to adopt some form of a SP-UHC system similar to what most of the other nations have been using for years. ?I see that happening before this decade is out. ?We cannot keep paying twice as much for care, as most other nations...and continue to be ranked way down the list in terms of value received for that money. ?The data at the CDC indicates that over 80% ?of this nations medical costs are expended upon less than 15% of our population. ?Much of that is spent on the elderly in the last weeks of their lives, as our Health Care Industry uses them as Lab Rats to sustain life with
every possible heroic measure. ?Then, we have to overcome the practice of Defensive Medicine...where doctors are having to order multiple, expensive tests...so as to protect themselves from the army of ambulance chasing lawyers that are just looking for an excuse to bring a multi-million dollar lawsuit for every perceived error in treatment. ?Many doctors pay well over $100K a year for Malpractice Insurance, so as to be protected from these Legal Buzzards....and you KNOW who pays for that. ? ?
Our current health care system is destined to implode under its own weight...and the ACA is going to only hasten the day when that happens. ? ? ? ? ??
From: "zimowski@..."
To: ibmpensionissues@...
Sent: Friday, December 28, 2012 11:35 AM
Subject: [ibmpensionissues] Re: Health care law(PPACA) may help Baby Boomers
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The more interesting snip is the following: "Health insurance will not necessarily be less costly. It will be operated by state health insurance exchanges, which will offer a competitive private health insurance market that should provide one-stop shopping."
Can anyone explain how the ACA benefits those IBM retirees that are lucky enough to have IBM subsidized health care coverage? I don't see it.
--- In , "teamb562" wrote:
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> The ACA is likely to spark many more changes. Employers that still offer retiree health benefits may decide to provide something different. For example, instead of a health insurance plan, they may give Boomer retirees a fixed amount of money, called a premium reimbursement, Fontanetta says. Retirees could use that money to select insurance at their state exchange marketplace.
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