# How many new people have health insurance due to obamacare now **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 29, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835 "2014-03-29T16:19:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/81 "2014-11-04T03:10:58Z")
> [@BigLouie](#): > > On a personal note, my wife retired 5 years ago at age 55. I’m 63 and self employed. During the last 5 years before ACA we had a Blue Cross policy with a monthly premium of $408 for the two of us. A high deductible but that was our choice. > > ACA kicks in. We do not qualify for any subsidies and don’t want any. Blue Cross advised us that our old policy did not comply with ACA and they mapped us to an equivalent policy that did. Premium… $1312 per month. > > So we had to dumb down our coverage and now have a “bronze” plan with a higher deductible than before and a premium of $814 per month, double our old premium. > > I want all American citizens covered but there must be another way. I have no problem paying my fair share increase to level out and allow existing medical conditions to be covered for everyone. John McCain wanted to send out a $5000 voucher to every family for health insurance. That was too simple. > > Anyway, thanks Mr. President for screwing up our monthly household budget with the “Affordable” Care Act. That sucks. Some people did get hurt with the advent of the ACA. How do two people who are 60+ get a policy for $408 for both of them? I am in my 30s and I’ve been quoted $300 for an individual policy. Even in my 20s a bare boned policy was almost $100/month. ---
**Author:** ![JesterX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JesterX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JesterX)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/82 "2014-11-04T06:30:00Z")
> [@BigLouie](#): > > ACA kicks in. We do not qualify for any subsidies and don’t want any. \*\*Blue Cross advised us that our old policy did not comply with ACA and they mapped us to an equivalent policy that did.\*\*Premium… $1312 per month. Not to question your sincerity but if your old policy didn’t comply with ACA, neither would an “equivalent” policy. Something had to have been added to your coverage. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/83 "2014-11-04T13:43:23Z")
> [@JesterX](#): > > Not to question your sincerity but if your old policy didn’t comply with ACA, neither would an “equivalent” policy. Something had to have been added to your coverage. Probably maternity care. 🙂 Which again, is arguably better for a society as a whole, but does not help a 63 and 55 year old couple. So can we stop with the whole “Yes, it might cost more, but you are getting more in return.” You may be, or you may not be. Those ten things aren’t automatic benefits to everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/84 "2014-11-05T00:46:40Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Probably maternity care. 🙂 > Which again, is arguably better for a society as a whole, but does not help a 63 and 55 year old couple. So can we stop with the whole “Yes, it might cost more, but you are getting more in return.” You may be, or you may not be. Those ten things aren’t automatic benefits to everyone. I’m sure I can go down a list of things I have to pay for that aren’t benefiting me in the slightest. Just get me a list of whatever our military’s quartermasters (or whatever those pencil jockeys are called now) have requisitioned from _my_ tax-funded armories and I’ll just start naming things. Should I be able to opt out of paying for whatever the latest bucket of prop wash the US Army has demanded this month? No? Why is that? Is it because I live in a society where the common populace decides the common good, and individual intransigence isn’t allowed to create wildly sub-optimal Nash equilibria? Nah. Couldn’t be. Amun-Reagan (pbuh) has decreed “The Government Is The Problem” and so mote it be, for ever and ever, amen. ---
**Author:** ![JesterX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JesterX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JesterX)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/85 "2014-11-05T02:42:06Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Probably maternity care. 🙂 > Which again, is arguably better for a society as a whole, but does not help a 63 and 55 year old couple. So can we stop with the whole “Yes, it might cost more, but you are getting more in return.” You may be, or you may not be. Those ten things aren’t automatic benefits to everyone. Oh come on . . . it’s not for maternity care. Another benefit of ACA is that the minimum standards it sets prevents people having injuries or serious illness, reporting to their doctors or hospitals thinking their policy covers them and only then finding out it didn’t. That was a common currency before. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/86 "2014-11-05T03:15:16Z")
> [@JesterX](#): > > Oh come on . . . it’s not for maternity care. Another benefit of ACA is that the minimum standards it sets prevents people having injuries or serious illness, reporting to their doctors or hospitals thinking their policy covers them and only then finding out it didn’t. That was a common currency before. Then the sales pitch should’ve been _“if you like your plan, you can keep it, unless we decide you’re ignorant. Spoiler alert: we figure ignorance is a common currency.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/87 "2014-11-05T03:59:52Z")
I’m a 30 year old single male with no health problems. I buy my own individual health insurance and go to the doctor once a year for a physical check up. I’m the demographic that is getting thrown under the bus. My 100% ACA compliant individual policy costs $96/month and has a $5,000 yearly deductible with 100% coinsurance coverage. It fits me perfectly. The problem is the letter I got last month stating: “Your Medical Insurance Policy is No Longer Available - Coverage Ending on Dec. 31, 2014…” The cheapest “bronze” policy available on [healthcare.gov](http://healthcare.gov) is 36% more expensive ($136/month) with a 20% higher deductible ($6,000) and only 70% coinsurance coverage. It is worse in every possible way. To get something comparable to my current plan would be north of $300/month. I understand that the supposed goal of the ACA was to spread risk, etc. What pisses me off about it was the way it was insinuated (or explicitly stated) that if I liked my plan, I would be able to keep it. Anyone with a basic understanding of the ACA proposal, for-profit health insurance companies, and basic math should’ve raised an eyebrow at that statement. Is the ACA better for the country? Maybe… probably? Seems too early to tell. Has it made me better off? No way. One thing is clear though; the stock prices of health insurers are sitting pretty. As a group they’ve outperformed the S&P 500 by almost 30% since the passage of the ACA. ---
**Author:** ![JesterX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JesterX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JesterX)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/88 "2014-11-05T05:56:21Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Then the sales pitch should’ve been _“if you like your plan, you can keep it, unless we decide you’re ignorant. Spoiler alert: we figure ignorance is a common currency.”_ If you get into a serious accident, go to the hospital and find out you’re not covered and you thought you were, nobody has to decide you’re ignorant, you just are. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/89 "2014-11-05T11:14:16Z")
> [@JesterX](#): > > If you get into a serious accident, go to the hospital and find out you’re not covered and you thought you were, nobody has to decide you’re ignorant, you just are. Yes, that’s the exact sort of phrase that should have been used in the sales pitch. ---
**Author:** ![JesterX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JesterX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JesterX)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/90 "2014-11-05T21:11:45Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Yes, that’s the exact sort of phrase that should have been used in the sales pitch. Or better to say “don’t worry about that anymore. Whatever policy you buy, you’re covered”. Which is essentially what ACA did. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/91 "2014-11-05T23:29:22Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > In between the Medicaid expansion, the exchanges and people 18-26 being on their parents plans how many new people are now covered? I’ve heard 15-20 million, is that about right? However some of those aren’t new, they were people who had private insurance that was cancelled due to the aca. Their insurance is better now but I don’t know if I’d call them the newly insured. I’m glad \*their \*insurance is better-I had avoided mine, at work, because the coverage was shit. Now, I have to pay several hundreds a month for shit. Great to be fucking covered. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/92 "2014-11-05T23:43:37Z")
> [@JesterX](#): > > Or better to say “don’t worry about that anymore. Whatever policy you buy, you’re covered”. Which is essentially what ACA did. Yes, there were _many_ alternatives to the If You Like Your Plan You Can Keep It lie. Why false advertising was the order of the day, I’ll never know. ---
**Author:** ![JesterX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JesterX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JesterX)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/93 "2014-11-06T00:04:20Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Yes, there were _many_ alternatives to the If You Like Your Plan You Can Keep It lie. Why false advertising was the order of the day, I’ll never know. I know a lot of conservatives are gonna disagree but it really WASN’T a lie. Obama started that line prior to ACA being signed in 2010. It was true in that policies in effect on THAT date were not subject to ACA standards and could be reissued in perpetuity. The problem was that if those policies changed in any way, and were issued AFTER that date, they were. And there were still three years before ACA went into effect. So policies that were cancelled were issued after March 2010. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/94 "2014-11-06T00:46:35Z")
> [@JesterX](#): > > I know a lot of conservatives are gonna disagree but it really WASN’T a lie. Obama started that line prior to ACA being signed in 2010. It was true in that policies in effect on THAT date were not subject to ACA standards and could be reissued in perpetuity. The problem was that if those policies changed in any way, and were issued AFTER that date, they were. I don’t think that’s quite right; it’s my understanding that you couldn’t grandfather in an unchanged plan that lacked coverage for adult children up to age 26, for example, or one with a lifetime limit. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/95 "2014-11-06T03:18:49Z")
> [@JesterX](#): > > I know a lot of conservatives are gonna disagree but it really WASN’T a lie. Obama started that line prior to ACA being signed in 2010. It was true in that policies in effect on THAT date were not subject to ACA standards and could be reissued in perpetuity. The problem was that if those policies changed in any way, and were issued AFTER that date, they were. And there were still three years before ACA went into effect. So policies that were cancelled were issued after March 2010. The cost of my policy went up substantially. It wasn’t sold based on political affiliation. The person selling it was greatly unimpressed with the promises made of grandfathering or cost reductions. ---
**Author:** ![JesterX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JesterX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JesterX)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/96 "2014-11-06T03:25:34Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > The cost of my policy went up substantially. It wasn’t sold based on political affiliation. The person selling it was greatly unimpressed with the promises made of grandfathering or cost reductions. Find a new seller. You know, free market and such ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/97 "2014-11-06T03:38:00Z")
> [@JesterX](#): > > Find a new seller. You know, free market and such I use independent agents for insurance. But I did take your suggestion to heart yesterday. I found a new politician. ---
**Author:** ![JesterX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JesterX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JesterX)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/98 "2014-11-06T05:42:07Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I use independent agents for insurance. > > But I did take your suggestion to heart yesterday. I found a new politician. Don’t we all use independent agents for insurance? That doesn’t make them the seller. The seller is the insurance company. The agent is just the agent. If you’re like most other Americans, especially employers, your hc premiums had been rising steadily for years prior to ACA. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/99 "2014-11-06T11:50:04Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > The cost of my policy went up substantially. OMG, when in the history of health insurance has this sort of thing happened? Except every single fucking year to millions of people, of course. People have always complained about health insurance. The costs have gone up, my doctor is not in plan, it’s confusing, they stopped covering this or that. In years past, there were a lot of different people to complain about, your insurer, your doctor, your employer, drug companies, the hospital, etc. Today, everyone gets to complain about the same thing, the ACA, as if the ACA is actually the cause of these problems. These problems already existed, and until we have single payer, or true universal coverage they will continue to exist. But, bravo to you for taking a stand, and blaming the party that is trying to make health care better (despite the efforts of the other party to make it impossible) for not fixing every problem immediately. We cannot allow that to stand, maybe the Republicans can repeal the ACA and we can go back to the pre-ACA days when costs never went up. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835/100 "2014-11-07T15:34:42Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Yes, there were _many_ alternatives to the If You Like Your Plan You Can Keep It lie. Why false advertising was the order of the day, I’ll never know. I do wonder if it was truly intentional false advertising, or if the people who implemented ACA really had \*no \*idea how many insurance plans didn’t meet the minimal requirements under the ACA? Neither is a good excuse, BTW. It just crossed my mind. Things do. Carry on. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-new-people-have-health-insurance-due-to-obamacare-now/684835.md?page=6)