The Cynical Slave — Self Selected Slavery into Obamacare – Final Thoughts on the Affordable Care Act

I feel dirty. I do not feel like a patriot. I feel like I need a Boric acid shower. On one level I am totally ashamed. On another level I did the best I could financially under difficult circumstances.

I worry as an average middle class American, I have just stepped into the death spiral of government dependency. I know I am a burden on my neighbors, even if temporarily.  I am very uncomfortable.

Today, I am unemployed and in “transition” as the outplacement folks like to call it. Today, I pushed the button on healthcare.gov and enrolled into the Humana National Preferred Bronze 6300/6300 HSA eligible insurance plan. My coverage begins in three days.

But here’s the rub. In December of 2012 I paid the last premium payment on my Humana One individual insurance plan prior to stepping back into corporate America and into a group plan provided by my employer. The plan I left 17 months ago is eerily similar to the one I just enrolled in some major exceptions. I have outlined the highlights below

Old Plan	New Plan
Family Deductible: $10,500	Family Deductible: $12,600
Monthly Premium: $310	Monthly Premium: $778
Maternity/Childbirth: NO	Maternity/Childbirth: YES
Meds count to deductible: NO	Meds count to deductible: YES
Lifetime Max Payout: (?) $3-$5MM est.	Lifetime Max Payout: Unlimited
Government Subsidy: None	Government Subsidy: $557 per

So, for a 151% increase in premium from less than two years ago I also get a 17% higher deductible. I get some benefits, I don’t want or need (like maternity). I do get the benefit of no coinsurance lifetime maximum and my meds drugs count toward my deductible, but I would trade those for a lower premium and lower deductible.

You may be reading this and wondering, “Why is this guy complaining, with the government credit, he just lowered his premium by more than a third of what it was in 2012?” Well, first off, I hope to become employed, in which case I have to pay the difference back. Secondly, for as long as I am receiving this credit, I am a symbolic slave to my government plantation master and burden to my neighbors. Lastly, because insurance is so unaffordable, and healthcare is so expensive, I have had to take the low road. And that bothers me.  It humiliates me.

I need a job….fast.

The Chronicles of Obamacare Enrollment – Lessons Learned

A few random lessons learned from my six (I think) attempts to enroll for insurance eligibility on Healthcare.gov (see previous postings for colorful details):

• One can input essentially the same information into the healthcare.gov forms repeatedly, expect and receive different results (goes against the laws of nature I know).
• If one wishes to re-open for revisions an existing enrollment form, one should expect to re-answer some of the previously answered questions because some previous answers appear to be arbitrarily deleted.
• There is no identifiable logic to which answers are saved, and different ones may be saved between enrollment or revision sessions.
• If one is speaking with either a Representative or Specialist, just know, they are working off the same form in seemingly the same web application you have access to.  Therefore, they will experience the same problems you are.  For example, in filling out the form, they are as likely to get kicked off the site as you are. In otherwords, their tools to help you are NO BETTER than what you have.
• The only difference I could tell between a Representative and a Specialist, is that a Specialist has the ability to go back into your enrollment application after it has been submitted to revise information. BUT REMEMBER, even if one wants to change one field in the form, the act of going back in at all will arbitrarily wipe out info previously input.  Therefore, do not expect the Specialist to be able to work through the revisions faster than you can on your own.
• If you put in your estimated annual income,  but you have no income at this moment and  enter $0 monthly income into the form, expect to be kicked into the Medicaid bucket.
• If you are kicked over to state Medicaid, Healthcare.gov and its representatives will tell you must get proof from the state that you are not qualified. In my case they suggested a three way call or a letter from the state.
• In Georgia, to qualify for Medicaid one basically has to be disabled, have no income, or be a child of a parent with no income to qualify. Even though the information I provided Healthcare.gov and its representatives clearly suggests I could not qualify for Medicaid; if the enrollment notification says you may be qualified for Medicaid, the Representative and Specialists not lead you around this issue—basically they will shut you down.
• For one of my enrollment attempts I agreed to have my application “reviewed” (kicked up the ladder). However, the specialist could not and would not even guess, either how quickly my file would be reviewed or even how I would be advised. To this date and it has been close to a month at this posting, I have had no communication from healthcare.gov. (beware of black holes)
• Due to some sort of internet security threat I was asked to re-set my password with a new one. I reset it with the old one and it worked just fine.
• In all my conversations with the Healthcare.gov representatives and specialists, not one time have they ever suggested that they do not really have the tools, training or knowledge to effectively do their jobs, nor have they ever registered any frustration with their lack of tools.   They will however,  admit at times their customers do get frustrated from time to time and I was thanked multiple times for being nice. These folks seem obliviously bulletproof.
• Do not expect empathy, any sense of humor, or too much guidance from representatives.   Once I realized this, it made my interactions far more tolerable.
• There should be some quick pre-screening tools to determine eligibility and even subsidies, however, these are limited. When calling healthcare.gov, they will not pre-screen you. You will have to go through the entire enrollment process to see if you qualify to purchase off the exchange.
• Each time you call Healthcare.gov, plan to have an hour to spend with your new friends.
• Some (if not many) of the questions I answered in the enrollment process, online, were not asked when I enrolled by phone (for example, COBRA is a specific one not asked by phone).
• Do not expect a representative or specialist to advise you with regard to how you answer the questions; especially related to income. I made it very clear over multiple calls, that I was unemployed and my goal was to get as large a subsidy as legally possible. In order to do so, one must answer the questions in a certain way. However, the representatives and specialists either do not know, are unwilling or are not allowed to really help you obtain the correct subsidy.
• If you know approximately what your subsidy should be, there is a chance, if you are patient (and I mean REALLY patient) that you can keep re-working your enrollment application until you get results that align with your expectations. In my case, because I knew about what my subsidy should be based on my situation and qualifications, I just kept re-working the enrollment form until it got into the ballpark of reality (this was accomplished over many hours and weeks).
• Remember in the end, your subsidy is pegged to an estimate, so if you under or over estimate it, you will be obligated to true up come tax time, but as best as I can tell, there is no penalty for being unable to predict the future.
• When attempting to enroll for insurance through Healthcare.gov expect (a) TMD experience 🙂  (Google it).

Step Through The Wardrobe Of Obamacare and IntoThe Magical Land of Narniaozlamabad.

After a three plus week recovery, regrouping and re-strategizing period, I decided to start over on my healthcare.gov enrollment; this time with a representative vs. an attempt to go it alone.

After an hour and forty five minutes on the phone with first a representative and then a specialist, it appears I can take advantage of a $557 per month subsidy to help pay for my insurance. My goal from the beginning was to find affordable insurance, which, with the subsidy, is a bit closer to reality.

I am going to spare a long rant this time, because, in my next posting, I will try to summarize my learning. Hopefully that might help you, should you find yourself in my shoes. Suffice it to say the process was a painful schlep through the muddy and foul stinking trenches of Obamacare.

CONGRATULATIONS. You qualify for a $3 Obamacare Tax Credit.

 

So this past Monday (that would be April 28, 2014 for future readers), I decided not to put my trust in the supposed case worker assigned to review my Obamacare enrollment application. As of this posting, it has been over a week since I was supposedly assigned to my case worker, but have received no acknowledgement and have no clue if I have a case worker or if Priscilla was blowing smoke.

Anyway, I girded by loins, went back into my application, under the premise of updating my income and re-enrolled. Once again, some of my information was saved and some not. I am guessing the data input took a half an hour or so. Anyway, after putting all the same information back into the system…. again…. for the fourth time…., I nearly fell out of my chair when it actually said I was qualified to enroll. Furthermore, my unemployed family is entitled to a $3 per month subsidy which would lower the monthly premium on the cheapest plan to $738 per month BUT…. it only has a $12,600 deductible/out of pocket max.

So annualized if you add my premiums to my maximum out of pocket, I will have to spend $21,456 before I get real relief. Is this affordable healthcare? In fairness, one does get the benefit of the insurance companies’ negotiated rates with healthcare providers, but one must become very sick and in my case very broke, before getting any relief.

I want to mention once again that at the end of 2012 I was on an individual insurance plan with Humana. The premium for my high deductible health plan was $300 per month and my max out of pocket was $10,400. My total annual exposure was $14,000 (total annual premium plus maximum out of pocket).

So what does all this mean? It means I am going to step back and assess my options off the exchange, take a break from this nonsense and then try again.

Perhaps Obamacare Should Be Called Obamadon’tgivarip?

I find it mildly humorous and mildly disturbing that President Obama is doubling down on his rhetoric regarding the 8 million enrollments into Obamadon’tgivarip, aka Obamacare.  This in light of my personal experience so far with the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

So this morning I began round four with the actually nice, hugely apologetic, and functionally impotent folks at healthcare.gov.  My mission was to speak with a real person and try to understand why, despite the fact that I am recently unemployed, I am not actually eligible to enroll in Obamadon’tgivarip.  I am becoming a bit cynical, but not wholly unobjective.  This on the heels of my failed third attempt to enroll.

I did speak with a live human; two in fact.  First with Robert, who looked at my eligibility letter and confirmed that it said…what it said, and who then transferred me to Priscilla.  Priscilla in turn confirmed that the letter said….what it said and ultimately could not help me.  Turns out neither Robert nor Priscilla could actually look at my application.  There neither could not begin to help me troubleshoot my application, which, as previously noted says I am both eligible and ineligible to purchase through the Marketplace.  After Priscilla asked me a bunch of questions, including whether I was recently unemployed and on what date, she said she would refer me to a case worker who would review my file and would be “in touch.”

She could not tell me when my file would be reviewed (wouldn’t even venture an estimate when asked) or if I would be notified by phone or email.

Here’s the rub, the clock is ticking on my 60 day window  (but it is more like 45 if I don’t want a coverage gap in June) to enroll for healthcare on the marketplace which should be possible from the date I lost my job.  I can COBRA if I have too to the tune of $927 per month, which for a guy with no income at the moment is not a sustainable value proposition.

So, for the moment I look for employment and wait for the next chapter of my healthcare.gov story to unfold.

As an aside, if you look at the bottom right hand corner of healthcare.gov there is a logo depicting The White House and a website called USA.gov with the slogan “Government Made Easy” under it.  I have no clue what USA.gov’s role is in the Marketplace, but if it is to make it “Easy” they are getting an F- in my book.

Obamacare – Welcome To The Land Of The Lost

Apparently I am both eligible to purchase health coverage through the Marketplace and I am also ineligible. At least that is what my eligibility letter says…

So last Friday I went through the online enrollment process…online….again. If you want the history of my first two attempts read my previous post. Friday was attempt #3.

I spent 1.5 hours re-applying/re-enrolling, ultimately to be told on my eligibility letter that (and I am paraphrasing here) while I am eligible to purchase health coverage through the Marketplace, I cannot enroll at this time. So in effect, I am NOT eligible (although I actually am) to get coverage. Can you see why this might be confusing and perhaps frustrating?

During the course of attempting to complete my application, I was booted off the site four separate times. Each time I was kicked off, I had to go back and re-enter various bits of information which were not saved prior to me being disconnected. I should mention, because there are four members in my family, I had to answer most every question 4 times….over….and over…..and over again.

I fought the healthcare.gov website for 1.5 hours and was then dismissed. You can pick your own colorful adjectives for the word “dismissed” and you will probably have a sense of how I felt I was being treated. Rejected if you will.

I should note, that during the process a tree fell on a power line down the street, and I completed the application using my mobile hot spot. I was determined to succeed.

WRONG! I think it was divine intervention that the tree fell on the power lines, because the power was knocked out for 5 hours and by 7:00 Friday night, I knew I had until Monday to cool off from my rejection.

In the meantime I am sitting here wondering if anyone is actually benefitting from Obamacare, if the government is counting all 3 of my applications as enrollments, what the heck I put on my application that caused the rejection, if this will ever be resolved, and why exactly am being forced to waste my time mucking around with this when my time would be better spent trying to gain employment with a friggin’ health plan.