Ask the Guy who successfully enrolled in Obamacare on the healthcare.gov website

[Fear_Itself]

@Smapti

Assuming she has no dependents, that means she’s making at least $45,960 a year, which means she’s doing better than the overwhelming majority of the rest of the country.

It should be noted that income for the purposes of determining eligibility for the tax credit is not gross income, it is Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI), which can be considerably less than your gross salary. It was in my case.

[Fear_Itself]

@Richard_Parker

OP: Have you had a chance to evaluate the size of the provider network?

Update: There are 545 primary care physicians in network within 20 miles of me.

Find Care & Estimate Costs for Doctors Near You | Anthem.com

[pulykamell]

@Smapti

Assuming she has no dependents, that means she’s making at least $45,960 a year, which means she’s doing better than the overwhelming majority of the rest of the country.

It also means that her monthly net income is in the neighborhood of $3000.

You’ll forgive me if I don’t exactly weep for her.

I’m a supporter of ACA, but I’m actually a bit surprised at those numbers.

I’m 38 and I’m with Blue Cross Blue Shield, and my insurance payments for myself are lower than $270/month and I only have a $3500 deductible. When I was 30, for a similar deductible, my costs were about $120/month.

I’m actually surprised that a $6000 deductible plan for a 30-year old would cost $270/month. Even now, with my BCBS insurance rates going up a little bit because of ACA apparently, it’s not that high, and I’m 8 years older with a lower deductible than that.

ETA: And I have a 100/0 plan.

[Absolute]

@Fear_Itself

When was the last time you had an individual health insurance policy? How old are you? For someone my age (59), $600 is low, even without the subsidy, and has been for at least five years. If you are relatively young, your policy will be much less than $600.

I am 26, I have a policy today, $200 / month for a $4500 annual out of pocket maximum. It looks like I will be paying around the same amount monthly for around a $5000 annual OOPM under Obamacare, or significantly more for a lower OOPM.

There are not even any policies offered on the exchange for me that have a $1,500 AOOPM. They start at over $3,000.

@Shakes

You’re not a victim. If you can’t afford insurance premiums because you’re starting a business, your business model is not up to par.

Your opinion that any business model not immediately, immensely profitable from inception is “not up to par” is fascinating. Perhaps you might share the experience and knowledge from whence you made this proclamation?

[Grrr]

@Red_Barchetta

I don’t think you know how “starting a business” works. They very rarely churn out money right out of the gate. Overwhelmingly, there’s a 2-3 year period where you’re not actively making a profit it all. I know because I also went through this.

Yes, I know this. Starting a business is hard. It’s not for everyone. If you can’t step up to the challenge of paying your insurance premiums while starting up a business, then maybe you’re better off working for someone else rather than yourself.

@Bone

Does this sentiment hold regarding people’s life model for those that need subsidies to acquire insurance?

Yes and no. I believe people should live with in their means. People who work an honest 40hrs a week and are barely able to get by deserve subsidized health care. People who waste their money on cars they can’t afford and deluxe premium cable packages… not so much.

[Johnny_Bravo]

Did you look into the gold plans available? Do you recall any details about what they would have cost for you and how much better the coverage is?

[Terr]

Let’s see. I am guessing you got Anthem Anthem Silver DirectAccess - cbcm NH (at least that was the highest-premium Silver plan in NH on healthcare.gov).

Let’s look at it http://www.valuepenguin.com/health-insurance/NH/anthem-anthem-silver-directaccess-cbcm

Deductible: $3250
Out of Pocket Maximum: $5000
Co-pay for Primary Physician: $40

Doesn’t quite square with what you posted, does it?

[running_coach]

@Terr

Let’s see. I am guessing you got Anthem Anthem Silver DirectAccess - cbcm NH (at least that was the highest-premium Silver plan in NH on healthcare.gov).

Let’s look at it http://www.valuepenguin.com/health-insurance/NH/anthem-anthem-silver-directaccess-cbcm

Deductible: $3250
Out of Pocket Maximum: $5000
Co-pay for Primary Physician: $40

Doesn’t quite square with what you posted, does it?

The OP had three Silver plans to choose from. You chose…poorly.

[Fear_Itself]

@Johnny_Bravo

Did you look into the gold plans available? Do you recall any details about what they would have cost for you and how much better the coverage is?

I did. As I recall, the main difference was they were multi-state plans, with a much larger network. I didn’t look at the details, but they were about twice as expensive, but the deductibles were the same or higher. Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out how to go back and look at them.

[Fear_Itself]

@Terr

Let’s see. I am guessing you got Anthem Anthem Silver DirectAccess - cbcm NH (at least that was the highest-premium Silver plan in NH on healthcare.gov).

Let’s look at it http://www.valuepenguin.com/health-insurance/NH/anthem-anthem-silver-directaccess-cbcm

Deductible: $3250
Out of Pocket Maximum: $5000
Co-pay for Primary Physician: $40

Doesn’t quite square with what you posted, does it?

Nope. It does not. This is what I signed up for.

[MN_Maenad]

@Absolute

That’s delightful. I am starting a business and there is no way I could afford a $600 / month health insurance premium. But I make just a little bit too much money to qualify for any subsidy.

I’m confused as to how you’re simultaneously starting a business and have no money, and are making too much to get a subsidy under ACA. Care to clarify?

[Terr]

@Fear_Itself

Nope. It does not. This is what I signed up for.

http://www.nh.gov/insurance/consumers/documents/silver_da.pdf

Deductible: $3,250 per person for In Network - does not apply to Copayments, and Preventive Care.

Out of Pocket Limit: $5,000 per person for In Network
etc etc.

[Terr]

@runner pat

The OP had three Silver plans to choose from. You chose…poorly.

I actually guessed the exact plan that he chose.

[Fear_Itself]

@Terr

http://www.nh.gov/insurance/consumers/documents/silver_da.pdf

Deductible: $3,250 per person for In Network - does not apply to Copayments, and Preventive Care.

Out of Pocket Limit: $5,000 per person for In Network
etc etc.

So how do you explain the difference between your cites, and what I enrolled in?

[Terr]

@Fear_Itself

So how do you explain the difference between your cites, and what I enrolled in?

The enormous ($10K or so) handout you’re mooching from the government.

[Princhester]

@MN_Maenad

I’m confused as to how you’re simultaneously starting a business and have no money, and are making too much to get a subsidy under ACA. Care to clarify?

I found this one a bit of a puzzler also.

[Fear_Itself]

@Terr

The enormous ($10K or so) handout you’re mooching from the government.

Actually, it a little over $7100. That takes some of the sting out, don’t it?

[Fear_Itself]

@Fear_Itself

Actually, it a little over $7100. That takes some of the sting out, don’t it?

Check that, bad math. 12 x 486 = $5832

[Terr]

@Fear_Itself

Check that, bad math. 12 x 486 = $5832

That’s only counting the premiums. The hugely reduced deductibles and OOP expenses bring it to a round $10K mooch.

[Absolute]

@MN_Maenad

I’m confused as to how you’re simultaneously starting a business and have no money, and are making too much to get a subsidy under ACA. Care to clarify?

I didn’t say I have no money. I’m making a little over $50k gross, which is too much to qualify for a subsidy, but not enough to pay for the sort of expensive, comprehensive, low-deductible plan that Fear Itself is gloating about being gifted. Especially because you cannot deduct business expenses when determining eligibility for the subsidy.

As stated, I currently have a plan with fairly high OOP limits that costs $200 / mo.