Mama Carol

I wouldn't say that this person has had a better outcome. He has organ damage due to delayed treatment. Treatment that can be done at zero cost when and if you can get a doctor to recognize that you have the condition. In that respect, it seems like we are getting better care than many of our friends overseas. At least here, doctors are a bit more familiar with hemochromatosis. Ironically, in the country that is the "birthplace" of hemochromatosis, Ireland, they have a lousy record of diagnosis or treatment of the condition. It seems that they don't know what it is and quite often d

I've had far better luck with insurance companies approving procedures and paying the bills than I have with their billing and especially better luck with insurance companies in general than I have hospitals and their billing. I don't believe that insurance has ever denied a claim on us. They gave a problem one time years ago by saying we were supposed to have a referral, which we did, but once we produced that for them, they were fine and paid the claim. Last year, they approved my knee replacements as a bilateral and did so in just a few days. It hasn't been that long ago that nobod

Under a single payer system, insurance companies don't lose. They simply change focus to selling those supplemental plans. It might be closer to a wash for them for the first couple of years but after that, new revenue stream! I understand that feeling that you can't go to the dentist because you can't afford it. I just spent $295 at the dentist on Thursday and have an appointment with an oral surgeon at the end of June and likely oral surgery after that. After the evaluation by the oral surgeon, if I need surgery, I'm thinking of asking for a referral to an ENT so the oral surgery w

I believe the one in Sweden is paying along the lines of 40 something percent in income tax. Could be higher. Not sure about the sales tax and VAT. My friends are in various provinces in Canada and while they have the same condition--knee arthritis--they get varied treatments Several have mentioned that they are too young to have knee replacement done per provincial regulations. One is in a wheelchair due to disability from a severely arthritic knee. She's late 30s I believe, around 38 if I remember correctly. She has been told she needs to be 50 before she will qualify for surgery.

The fines and penalties are going to the IRS.

A single payer system would be great if implemented correctly. In fact, I know some people overseas who are under such systems and who do have the premium coverage that they pay for themselves. My biggest objection to the ACA, other than the requirement to have insurance, is that there isn't one set price. Your cost should not depend on your age or gender. But since insurance companies can no longer deny coverage for pre-existing condition, I guess they have to use other acceptable criteria. I know people in their 20s who have far worse health problems than I do, who go to the doctor al

You have a great point TP. Things have changed. You're now forced to buy that health insurance or pay a penalty when you file your taxes. And if you underestimate your income when you applied for insurance and you received a subsidy based on that income, you have to pay back any overpayment of a subsidy when you file your taxes. In the past, the IRS was not involved in your health insurance in any way, shape, form or fashion. Now they are. And while you're not required to pay the penalty in certain circumstances, they sure as hell can take it from any refund you might otherwise be due an

People could get health insurance before. Might not have been easy nor was it cheap but it was possible. In that respect, nothing has changed. It's still not easy and it's not cheap. When it's cheap, you truly get what you pay for, if you're lucky. Last year I could have gotten a policy that was about $50 a month cheaper. The deductible was the same except after I met the deductible I would have been paying $50 or more every time I went to the doctor (with arthritis in multiple joints, that can really add up fast). the policy I got had a $6250 deductible but once I met that deductibl

It was about 10 years ago and we had top of the line siding, gutters and gutter guard done so I don't have any idea what the price for the gutter guards themselves would have been. They quoted a single price, I think. I no longer even have the information about it because we no longer have that house. Wish I could help you more. A word of warning: roofing companies tend to be a bit on the shady side. We went with a highly recommended company for the roof and were extremely disappointed in the quality of their installation and their ability to get the leak stopped. Oddly enough

Champion did them when we got siding and gutters done.

The rigid ones should ensure that.

We had them on the house we had in Powder Springs. We got them through Champion when we got the siding. We loved them! With a two story house it was a major undertaking to clean gutters. We had them on the house here. Couldn't tell you what kind they are but I know they are rigid. Basically like we had at the house in Powder Springs in that they are NOT screens. They are more along the lines of gutter covers. When we had that flood last year in April, the gutters had a heck of a time keeping up with the amount of rain we were getting, but the gutter guards didn't make a difference.

Yeah, whatever. I'm pretty sure none of that was relevant.

I had BC/BS last year. They were great. I'd have them again this year if they had a policy comparable to the one I have, but they don't. Last year I had the choice of about four policies, five if you count the one that had absolutely zero doctors in my area who accepted it. Prior to my husband taking a job in 2006 or so that had insurance, we were paying $700 combined for us. He was 55 and I was 52.

When I broke my foot the first time I was self employed so yeah, probably meanest boss I ever had. Demanded a lot of me. Working all kinds of hours, sometimes 16 or 18 hours a day. Damn slave driver. When I broke it the second time, I was employed and went to work instead of going to the doctor because I had responsibilities at work. Sure, someone else could have done them but they were MY responsibility to get done. So I did. And then I went home, got a ride to the doctor and had a cast. That was a Thursday. I was back at work on Monday because that's where I wanted to be.

No, my employer cares about my foot and my knee and all of the rest of me. Wait. I'm not employed!!!!!!!!

That's what I did in the early 1990s when I broke my foot. I couldn't afford to go the doctor OR the hospital. Plus, I didn't know the foot was broken. Had I even had an inkling that had happened, I would have worked out a deal with my former employer to make monthly payments. It might have taken me a couple of years to pay it, but I would have found a way. I can't allow my bills to go unpaid. It's just not me or how we do things around here. Had it not been for the insurance I had in 2014, I would not have been able to have the knees replaced. I'd already discussed the cost of payi

I just love it when someone posts something that another doesn't agree with. They attack the information, if not the person who posted it. Polls are excellent gauges of how the voters feel about an issue. I guess just because the majority of the voters don't want an airport built, that doesn't mean the government doesn't have the right to shove it down their throats. At least with something that offers insurance coverage, you should have the right to say yea or nay and the government not have any right to tell you what you must do. But if you decide you don't want that insurance c

I didn't get the subsidy in 2014 because our income wasn't high enough, i.e., we had no TAXABLE income. BTW, those are the words of the rep I spoke with at the Healthcare Marketplace about why I didn't get a subsidy, er, excuse me, advanced tax credit. We're supposed to get some back in the form of a tax refund IF the IRS ever finishes processing the return. I filed in early February right after I went back to work. Took me two minutes to report our income (my small W2 and my husband's non-taxable but still reportable Social Security. Took me twenty minutes to complete the form regarding

From Rasmussen Reports this past Monday: Opposition to Obamacare’s requirement that every American have health insurance is over 50% for the first time in months, even as more voters report that someone in their family has purchased health insurance through one of the exchanges established under the new law. Just 37% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the government should require every American to buy or obtain health insurance, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. That’s down four points from February and the lowest level of support since December 2013. Fif

We all know you have no MO.

That (putting a political spin on something) or attacking is your MO. ABR is a stand up guy. He sees what others refuse to see and that is how political the ACA is. I do have to wonder if all those lobbyists for the insurance companies are Republicans or Democrats or if they just don't care who pays them. As usual, you are dead on!

Give them a break ABR. They had to pass the bill before they could have a clue what was in it. I hope they had a better written interpretation than the mumbo jumbo I read when I was taking the tax course on it and a better written interpretation of it than when I was doing tax returns reporting ACA insurance. I'm pretty sure with a couple of dead chickens, some eye of newt and bat gizzards, you could use those instructions and put a curse on someone. Wait, someone did!! Congress put the curse on someone. Tax preparers and taxpayers! Sounds like she has it figured out. Lean to th

Pretty sure MY party didn't do it. Of course, pretty sure MY party didn't pass the ACA either. It's just a shame that everyone can't work together like the Democrats would like us to do.

In late 2013/early 2014 when I signed up for insurance, I cried. Really, knowing 12 grand was what I was REQUIRED to pay between premiums and deductible. If it had been earlier in 2013, I would have had to pass because we simply would not have had the money. We only had the money because of my husband's retirement buyout. So much for money for retirement. A word of advice to everyone who may in the future apply for insurance through the Exchange. Be extremely careful when you estimate your income. If you underestimate, it can come back to bit you in the butt big time. We had