# Might Obama be to blame? (my medical insurance) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 10, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304 "2015-02-10T17:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/1 "2015-02-10T17:14:32Z")
I own a small business, but I’m pretty much divorced from the business end of things. I pay someone to do payroll, pay bills, order stuff, hire/fire, and do light bookkeeping. One of her responsibilities is to keep my medical insurance up to date. So, mid January I stop to pick up a prescription refill. I expect to pay my usual $8 copay. Instead, I’m asked for $285. I come to find my insurance ended December 31. The next day I ask my business manager about this. She was hoping I wouldn’t find out I was insurance-less for January, as a new plan kicked in February first. She blamed Obama. I suggested that maybe she fucked up; again, she blamed Obama. Her explanation was that my previous plan no longer exists, so it was cancelled. She claims notification was in with my monthly bill, and that she paid the bill without seeing the notification. I now have insurance again. Same plan as far as I can tell. So . . .who is to blame? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/2 "2015-02-10T17:15:20Z")
Just to be safe, I would blame Obama. The buck stops there. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/3 "2015-02-10T17:28:35Z")
But, but . . . I voted for the dude! I’m just wondering if I should lighten up on my business manager. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/4 "2015-02-10T17:35:23Z")
Assuming she’s telling the truth, I’d forgive her for not noticing the cancellation notice. I wouldn’t quickly forgive her for keeping it secret and hoping you wouldn’t find out. “Hey boss, I missed this cancellation notice, don’t go to the doctor in January unless you really need to.” Seems simple enough. Instead she hung you out in order to cover her own ass. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/5 "2015-02-10T17:47:48Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I own a small business, but I’m pretty much divorced from the business end of things. I pay someone to do payroll, pay bills, order stuff, hire/fire, and do light bookkeeping. One of her responsibilities is to keep my medical insurance up to date. > > So, mid January I stop to pick up a prescription refill. I expect to pay my usual $8 copay. Instead, I’m asked for $285. I come to find my insurance ended December 31. > > The next day I ask my business manager about this. She was hoping I wouldn’t find out I was insurance-less for January, as a new plan kicked in February first. She blamed Obama. I suggested that maybe she fucked up; again, she blamed Obama. > > Her explanation was that my previous plan no longer exists, so it was cancelled. She claims notification was in with my monthly bill, and that she paid the bill without seeing the notification. I now have insurance again. Same plan as far as I can tell. > > So . . .who is to blame? The business manager. She paid the bill “without seeing the notification”? WTF are you paying her for? You could get that level of “service” from setting up bill auto-pay with the bank, and for a lot less money. Ideally, you shouldn’t have had a gap in coverage. Less ideally, but still satisfactory, would be “boss, you’re going to have a one-month gap in coverage. I’m sorry. But you’ll be covered again as of Feb 1”. Failing to notify of a change in coverage and that you would be “bare” in January is not good job performance. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/6 "2015-02-10T17:50:00Z")
Even if Obama is to blame for…something…It’s still her fault that she missed whatever and failed to tell you about it. Could Obama be to blame for your plan being obliterated? Maybe. But insurance companies have been cancelling and changing plans (and raising rates!!!) since insurance companies have been invented, so there’s no telling whether it was their doing or completely unavoidable due to ACA. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/7 "2015-02-10T18:00:53Z")
OK, I was hoping to have a reason to be a little less pissed off, but I guess that’s not gonna happen. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/8 "2015-02-10T18:04:28Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Assuming she’s telling the truth, I’d forgive her for not noticing the cancellation notice. It can happen if she was going through a lot of bills quickly. Its forgivable assuming she owned up to it. But… > [@steronz](#): > > I wouldn’t quickly forgive her for keeping it secret and hoping you wouldn’t find out. …which is irresponsible and a total dick-move. What if it was a license that you couldn’t re-apply for until 6 months from now? A certification where you’d have to re-take 18 credits before being eligible to be certified again? What if missing the deadline screwed up a bid or lost you a client? What if you’d had a heart attack & had been hospitalized (The cost of that would well be more than what you pay her in a year). She accidentally left you exposed, but she _intentionally_ kept you blind to the exposure. She tried to fix the problem, true, but behind your back? How can you trust her with your money going forward? Also, hiding behind Obama? She said that to you with a straight face? Did you give her a week off w/o pay for that alone? “When come back, bring Honesty. Or bags for the stuff in your desk.” > [@Broomstick](#): > > Failing to notify of a change in coverage and that you would be “bare” in January is not good job performance. Some people might call the employee’s actions ‘negligent’ and dishonest, but you’re more diplomatic than I am. ---
**Author:** ![desertmonk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@desertmonk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/desertmonk)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/9 "2015-02-10T18:11:26Z")
If they cancelled your policy then what did she send them a check for? She’s lying. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/10 "2015-02-10T18:24:42Z")
I’d say Obama’s to blame for your old policy being discontinued, but your business manager is definitely at fault for not noticing the notice, letting you know that your plan was being discontinued, and letting you make a decision about it at that point. Typically they inform you multiple times well ahead of time. I’d guess they probably started around September, if your policy ended on 12/31. So you would have had time to figure something out. The part where I’m really hazy is how you have insurance now. Did you go and sign up on a different plan? Was there some kind of provision where if your old plan ended on 12/31 and you hadn’t signed up for a new one by 1/31, you automatically got stuck in some low-end plan? What about COBRA? Something doesn’t smell right. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/11 "2015-02-10T18:38:25Z")
No matter the reason for the cancellation of your old plan she is 100% responsible for not telling you that you needed insurance in January. You would have been notified multiple times that your insurance would not be renewing so she should have known it was being cancelled. More than that she should have come to speak to you immediately to show you your new insurance options and let you pick a plan the second she knew you needed another one. If she just picked one at random then you have no idea about your copays, deductibles, coverages, etc. More than that, one if she picked one from a different network and now you have to switch doctors or aren’t covered for the same prescriptions or something? This is unacceptable and for me this would be a firing offense. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/12 "2015-02-10T18:55:38Z")
Having a gap in your health insurance coverage could potentially cause you headaches down the road. Your business manager is incompetent. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/13 "2015-02-10T19:05:24Z")
Was Obama in office the day you hired this “business manager”? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/14 "2015-02-11T00:21:28Z")
There seem to be some holes in your business manager’s story. Might be time for an audit. ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/15 "2015-02-11T02:55:01Z")
> [@desertmonk](#): > > If they cancelled your policy then what did she send them a check for? She’s lying. The cancellation notice was in with the bill for December? ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/16 "2015-02-11T03:03:06Z")
She probably enrolled in the Obamacare exchange after January 1, and had to wait a month. Or she just overlooked it and had to get some shit insurance off the exchange and had to wait a month for it to kick in. Either way, look at the fine details on this and you’ll get your answer… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/17 "2015-02-11T12:12:02Z")
> [@Baracus](#): > > The cancellation notice was in with the bill for December? That was her explanation. ☹ Oh well. She knows I was/am pissed. She has worked for me for 15ish years, and while she sometimes fucks up she is usually honest about it. She once cost me a $200 dollar tax penalty and she told me about it _after_ she paid it out of her own pocket. If I fire her I’d have to do her job until I hired a replacement. I wouldn’t wanna do that. I currently work 5 hours a day and doing an eight hour day would suck. My heart attack/hospitalization/stent was right around one year ago. Dumb luck. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/18 "2015-02-11T16:51:01Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > If I fire her I’d have to do her job until I hired a replacement. I wouldn’t wanna do that. I currently work 5 hours a day and doing an eight hour day would suck. > > My heart attack/hospitalization/stent was right around one year ago. Dumb luck. If you had a heart attack two weeks ago, you would be $50,000 out of pocket. Same for your employees. That this did not happen doesn’t make it a little deal. This was MAJOR. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/19 "2015-02-11T17:16:18Z")
Yeah. I’m not saying that you should fire her (or that you shouldn’t), but this is a HUGE deal, and falls squarely on her shoulders. You need to let her know this, and disabuse her from the notion that it’s anyone’s fault but hers. If she can’t acknowledge her major errors and decides to foist responsibility onto the Black Devil, then I don’t know that I would trust her with the responsibilities that she has. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304/20 "2015-02-11T17:39:01Z")
Does the failure to have insurance at the beginning of the year open the OP up to owing a mandate-related penalty? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/might-obama-be-to-blame-my-medical-insurance/712304.md?page=2)