Karma, Perhaps?
This is rich (emphasis added).
Democratic officials said top administration aides got a close-up view of the cancellation controversy last week, when Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., said at a closed-door meeting of the party’s rank and file that his son had received notice his coverage was being terminated.
Senator Donnelly’s office reportedly has declined several requests for comment on the matter.
Category: Health Care debate
I’m sitting over here, smiling. Not doing giggle-snorts just yet. 😛 Just smiling. 🙂
Here’s that part that seems to have been cast by the wayside by bodaprez. His words, from his mouth to God’s ear:
Obama’s pledge delivered before the American Medical Association in 2009. “If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period,” he said. “If you like your health-care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health-care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.”
So he lied his ass off? What’s new?
Oh, right – all those people who DID HAVE coverage no longer have it and can’t afford the newer policies with deductibles that are higher than anything you may have on your homeowner’s or auto coverage.
Welcome to the wonderful world of obamacaresnot. I’m just glad I Medicare/VAHCC. I can’t afford anything else. And even if I could afford anything else, I wouldn’t let those assholes in WDC know it.
Anyone up for gunpowder therapy?
Carma is a bitch.
ANd then you marry her.
I’m laughing on the inside, it’s just trying to find a way out.
You think the Progressive Libtards (of both parties) will learn a lesson from this? (the ensuing silence is deafening)
(A little research may be needed to verify)
The word I’m hearing from talk radio, is that you can get away with NOT having health insurance, and NOT pay the fine (tax, whatever).
Just adjust your federal income tax withholdings so that YOU end up owing the Gubbment.
If the Gubbment owes you a refund, then the IRS can deduct the tax (fine, whatever) from your refund.
But if YOU owe Teh Gubbment, the IRS cannot add it on to whatever you owe.
HURRY NOW, BOYS AND GIRLS, THIS OFFER MAY NOT LAST LONG.
BWoodman, you are SO devious! I admire your method.
@4, the challenge is not dipping to far into withholding.
You have to be within a certain percent of withholding/taxes owed or fines come into play. After I got of active duty the income change out its outside the band and we got a warning. They said if it happened again next year we would invite a penalty.
Folks, if you with hold from the IRS they can garnish wages and freeze bank accounts. They do it now for back taxes, don’t think they won’t/can’t do it for their fines…
H1: correct. Here’s the “blurb” from the IRS website on the matter.
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc306.html
Bottom line: if you (1) owe more than $1,000, or (2) paid less than the lesser of 90% of the current year tax/100% of your previous year’s tax, you’re at risk getting hit with a penalty for not paying enough taxes during the year.
And be careful – they fined us a few years ago for withholding TOO much as well.
If it’s about the ‘fine’ coming out of a tax refund, you just take -0- exemptions on your W-4. I always did that, because I knew I’d get a refund and have money for a nice PTO 10 days off.
The W-4 is the form you fill out for your employer’s payroll accountant. The W-2 is what you send to Uncle Sam at tax time.
You then pay more for income tax during the year, but you get a refund (which I always enjoyed).
That’s what BWoodman is talking about, because the ‘fine’ will come out of your refund.
The other option is paying a higher income tax AMOUNT during the year, higher than your normal tax rate. This is a legitimate thing to do, and it’s based on estimated income per quarter. I’ve had to do that, too.
They’re going to rip you off, anyway, so it might as well be as painless as possible. You want THEM to owe YOU, not the other way around.
I think my concern is that, because doctors seem to be leaving that profession to find other work, because they don’t want to be faced with mountains of paperwork for compliance, it may be harder and harder to find a doctor of any kind without going to the emergency room. That means more nurse practitioners and Walgreen’s clinics, instead of MDs.
And I can remember when doctors made house calls. Even veterinarians don’t do that any more.
@10 With all 4 kids out of college now there are less deductions for us so we have paid between $300 and $600 the last couple of years….that seems to be the sweet spot..in all of this. We both have employer health care that should be fine as far as I know at the moment….
Ex-PH2: the financial planners will tell you that you want to owe a small amount each year. Otherwise, you’re giving Uncle Sam an interest-free loan of YOUR money.
Of course, it’s obviously preferable to get a largish refund vice owe a largish bill. (smile)
Rather have the refund, Hondo. The emphasis is on the first three letters of that second syllable.
Besides, financial planners also tell you to not put money into a savings account because interest rates are so low. Well, where are you supposed to keep it? In your sock drawer? Your mattress? OH! Maybe the cookie jar in the pantry.
They also say things like ‘for the long term’, and then you have to remind them that this IS the long term.
I generally do not wish pain or misery on others — but until the progressives feel the pain they manufactured themselves, they will cheerfully continue to allow us to do so.
PintoNag: IMO, stupidity should be painful. That’s doubly true for those who forced their stupidity on others via unethical means.
Ex-PH2: “long term” is certainly relative. When you’re 30, long term is 20+ years away. When you’re approaching or over 60 – it’s generally right around the corner if not here already. (smile)
Personal preference on tax refunds. I’ve ended up getting a sizable one some years. That’s nice – but having the money throughout the year to use as required would have been nice, too. And I’d have had control of the money as well, vice loaning it to Uncle Sam.
Poetic justice…. but we already know that facts do not sway those who have already made their minds up.
@16 – It’s when you have to pay ahead on your taxes, as I did for a while, that it’s painful. Digging up money for quarterly estimated taxes was more than a pain in the dockside. It was downright disgusting at times. I always got a refund, however, because when I did the quarterly amount I did not take any deductions.
And anyway, I’d rather have Uncle Sam owe me money.
I increased my deductions from Single-0 because I was sick of giving Unca Shuga an interest-free loan for several thousand dollars. Now while I may owe some, isn’t it amazing how they don’t really get their panties in a bunch when it’s THEM getting the “free money”?
And after seeing what has happened in CA for a few years now (IOU tax refunds with no/minimal interest) yet if we owe and are late we get hammered with penalties and 18 percent interest, I’d rather have my money in hand than get a piece of paper going, “Sucks for you, bro.”
AAAAW, poooow thing,…. Hey Senator, if 0bamacare is so great, why don’t YOU and your fellow demo-snots go on it, too?
A Proud Infidel: he probably is, actually. Congresscritters are eligible to enroll in the same insurance plans as any other Federal employee. Those plans are all qualifying plans under the Affordable Care
AbominationAct. If he signed up for insurance, he’s compliant.If not, he may be paying a penalty. Or getting a cancellation notice from his current insurance. (smile)
@21, HOndo, I doubt the senator has gotten insured yet, Near as I can tell, the website is still churning out, maybe, 20-30 enrollments/day. When it works.
Don’t forget, Jay-Jay Carney said that no matter what you do, if you call or walk in to a “Navigation” center, the application still has to go into the computer to get someone signed up.
UpNorth: as far as I know, the “Affordable” Care
AbominationAct does not require individual enrollment through the HHS Web Site. If you’re currently covered by a qualifying plan – either at work, with the VA, with Medicare, or with Tricare – you’re already compliant with the act and no further action is required. The HHS Web Site is supposed to make it “easy” for those without the required insurance to comparison shop and sign up – both for the insurance, and to receive anymoney forcibly taken from taxpayers and redistributed by the governmentgovernment subsidies for which they qualify.If the Senator is already signed up for health insurance available to him as a Federal employee, he already has the requisite insurance under the “Affordable” Care
AbominationAct.The insurance available to Federal employees isn’t particularly cheap, but on balance it’s a good benefit. I’d be rather surprised if he’s not signed up for one of the available plans.
I think it’s great that the Senator’s son is doing his part by having his exsting insurance cancelled so he can enroll in the exchanges. More Obama supporters need to do that if their Dear Leader’s signature legislation is to have any chance at being successful.
Sure, they’ll be paying more for less, but that’s a small price to pay for them to show that they are willing to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.
Any Obama supporter who does NOT cancel his or her insurance in order to get insurance from the exchanges is just a poseur and undeserving of any respect otherwise due a human being.
Oh, and they shouldn’t wait for the security holes to be fixed, either. They need to sign up now.
OK …. NOW HEAR THIS!
My wife recieved a letter yesterday. Her EMPLOYER sponsored health insurance plan is being cancelled.
I say again, her EMPLOYER sponsored health insurance plan is being cancelled.
That is all … carry on!
MCPO: that does not surprise me at all. Many smaller employers have current plans that don’t meet AHCA requirements. They’re not cheap today, and costs will only go WAY up under the AHCA due to increased coverage requirements.
I predict many firms that are small enough to avoid being required to provide coverage for their employees will now simply opt not to provide coverage. Even some firms large enough (more than 50 employees) that get hit with the per-employee penalty may decide the fine is worth it economically, given how much it costs to provide employee health coverage.
Her plan was a premium caddy plan. I am sure it was cancelled so they can apply the uninsured quotion, jack up the price and tell her it will cost much more for the exact same coverage!
I challenge any Federal Judge to step in now and put ACA on hold. The federal judge can even use the words of the Chief Justice … “this is a tax and it is a bad law (wtte).”
MCPO: even if it was a “premium” plan, it may not have met all PPACA requirements – for example, it might have had lifetime limits on coverage or excluded preexisting conditions. Both are forbidden under the new law.
Those are likely the two changes that are driving costs through the roof. People getting health insurance with preexisting conditions requiring immediate, expensive care formerly were SOL, typically for a year. Now, they’re not. And insurance companies have to account for that possibility – which they do by jacking up rates for everyone to account for the anticipated new payouts to a minority of policy holders that they’d previously not have been required to pay.
This was precisely why the 1990s-era Income Insurance Program for military reservists died a rather quick death. Under that program, you could sign up for insurance (up to $5k/month, if I recall correctly) of income protection if mobilized. Premiums were pretty steep, so not too many did.
Unfortunately, a few units got word of an impending mob a few months in advance. Just before being mobilized, virtually everyone in those units signed up for the max benefit, and mailed in their checks. Shortly afterwards, they got mobilized – which they all knew was coming – and started collecting. That happened often enough that it bankrupted the system, and DoD discontinued the program.
Essentially, there was no exclusion for mobilizations known to the individual before signing up. If you were signed up, you could cash in – even if you signed up the day before you got orders you knew were coming. Once people figured that out, it was “free money” time.
Anyone in the insurance industry will tell you that the lack of some kind of exclusion for pre-exsisting conditions does one of 3 things. It either (a) jacks rates way up, (b) invites fraud, or (c) kills the company issuing the insurance. Uncle Sam didn’t listen then, and he didn’t learn either.
Hondo … do you ALWAYS have to so right about EVERYTHING (smirk)?
This whole thing is maddening.
Obama said yesterday, ” what we said was, if you like your plan and your doctor and it is full compliance with AHCA according to any and all changes made with or without approval of any governing body and or behind closed doors with or without representatives of the healthcare industry and after reading the entire law after it was passed … you can keep them … period.”
Of course he did not say this exactly … but it is what he meant to say!
MCPO: no, and I’m not always right. But here, I’ve just seen this sh!t before under a different name.
Didn’t work worth a damn then, and almost certainly won’t now. And the outcome is eminently predictable.
Chris Christie for PRESIDENT 2016!
Hondo’s right. It’s the same reason that you can’t get flood insurance from your homeowners carrier. You have to pay for a separate policy from the national flood insurance provider – the federal government. And you can get cheap earthquake coverage on a rider if you don’t live in a quake-prone zone, but if you live some place like SanFrancisco, earthquake coverage, even on a rider, is an expensive, costly thing. That probably applies to fire coverage in the L.A. area, too.
And if you don’t read your health insurance policy, word for word, you may think you’re covered for something required by obamacare but you aren’t. However, there is nothing to say that you can’t add a rider to your policy, is there?
Here’s a couple of quotes re: obamacare for you.
“If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan. Period.” – President Barack Obama, 2009, and several times in 2010, Wall Street Journal, “Canceled Policies Heat Up Health Fight,” Louise Radnofsky and Timothy W. Martin, October 30, 2013.
“Obama promised the ACA would save families $2,500 a year. That was flimflam bait… Conservative pundits warned throughout the ACA debate many Americans would lose their health plans, adding 50 million to rolls would push up prices, and this journey into socialism would be much more expensive than advertised. Some things never change. There is no such thing as a free lunch, but voters wanted to believe differently. And the president exploited that.” —By Peter Morici, CNBC, October 30, 2013. Peter Morici is an economist and professor at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business, and a widely published columnist.
I’m not going to sit around whining, nor am I going to do the ‘toldja so’ thing, but I do think it will get worse from here.
Ex-PH2: yeah, it’s gonna get worse. Check here tomorrow and Friday AM – I’ve got a couple of more PPACA articles queued up and scheduled.
This came up just now on my front page.
http://money.msn.com/health-and-life-insurance/article.aspx?post=871fd2a0-d32c-4b3f-b32a-a081d4ab20a8
Note that bodaprez blames ‘bad apple’ insurers** for cancellations. Let’s play the ‘blame game’ again, boys and girls. It is entirely possible, however unlikely, that a carrier like BC/BS can simply shut up shop and sell nothing but riders to your homeowners and auto policies. Oh, yes, that can be done.
**I take the term ‘bad apple’ insurers to mean any carrier that offers major medical for a reasonable monthly premium, if that is all the insured can afford. It doesn’t cover doctors’ visits or flu shots, but some of that can be done at clinics like Walgreen’s where a nurse practitioner can do everything from ob-gyn visits to school immunizations and flu shots for a reasonable amount.
There’s something else, Hondo. I worked as a licensed broker in property/casualty coverage for 5 years. I can tell you all about how your premiums are directly related to your demographic in a risk pool.
No one with an ounce of common sense would take an industry apart at the seams like this, but it’s happening because someone who doesn’t know a damned thing about insurance or preventive health care or anything else related to this stuff has decided that he knows more about what is needed than we do. This whole thing is, and will continue to be, a recipe for disaster. Wait and see.
Ex-PH2: anyone with common sense can figure that out at a coarse level. Just like anyone with common sense can figure out that Social Security is an unsustainable Ponzi scam foisted on the population by fiat due to boneheaded Federal law that ignores US demographics.
The problem is that figuring that out means admitting you’ve been fooled and have bought into a baldfaced lie. Few people aren’t willing to admit that publicly. And many aren’t willing to admit it even to themselves.
NO! Really?