Might Obama be to blame? (my medical insurance)

[GrumpyBunny]

@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.

No, it is not Obama’s fault that she didn’t see the notification.

No, it is not Obama’s fault that she didn’t do anything to obtain insurance for you (and your staff?) for January.

No, it is not Obama’s fault that the bookkeeper doesn’t know the definition of “taking accountability” at work.

I would suggest that you show her the $285 bill and explain why it’s important to keep on top of health insurance for you (and if applicable, all of your employees). What if you (or one of your employees) had to visit the ER and was then stuck with the bill? What if you (or one of your employees?) needed emergency surgery? Would that be Obama’s fault in her mind?

It’s her fault for not noticing, not notifying you, and not making arrangements to obtain coverage in January. Changes to coverage are communicated November-December, and she should be on the lookout for those every year, no matter what.

This is the kind of error that would get a lot of people fired or placed on written corrective action by a lot of employers.

I would be taking a look at her bookkeeping, too. Just to be sure.

[Drunky_Smurf]

I would fire Obama.

[AncientHumanoid]

@Tom_Tildrum

Does the failure to have insurance at the beginning of the year open the OP up to owing a mandate-related penalty?

I don’t think so. As long as creditable coverage can be shown or signing up for a new, on the exchange, plan by Feb 15, there shouldn’t be the penalty for 2015 tax year.

Not a tax pro, tho

[kayaker]

@GrumpyBunny

I would be taking a look at her bookkeeping, too. Just to be sure.

I’ve looked. Might as well be hieroglyphics. That’s why I pay someone to do it.

My little brother does auditing for a multinational chemical company. My attitude WRT business disgusts him, so we do not speak of it.

[Gatopescado]

You could hire me, but the commute would be a bitch!

[GIGObuster]

@kayaker

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.

Well, I have some experience on this, The current insurer I have did cancel my account, but as my online account showed, the payment was expected for the new one anyhow, a slight increase. (Later I found virtually the same plan with another company and cheap enough to get also very good dental coverage (that I do need now)

It seems that it is standard procedure and yes, it turns that even when I did pay for the bill on January there was a gap, and I was unlucky, I had to go to the emergency room with a severe infection and the insurance at the beginning tried to deny the care because of the gap, but the hospital convinced them to activate the new account.

[control-z]

There are a lot of embezzling cases in small towns. Just sayin’, if she would keep this from you what else is she keeping from you?

And yes it’s entirely reasonable that your plan would have been canceled. Mine was in November, but I was able/forced to transition to another one with little or no uncovered-time. And I think I was changed to another plan in December. Honestly I understand insurance policies about as well as you understand bookkeeping. All I know is what used to cost me $97 a month now costs $213, and I’m not happy about it.

[AncientHumanoid]

I got a letter around open enrollment beginning saying “do nothing and your current plan will continue with these changes” which were all minor. The tax credit changed, too, but that’s because of income changes.

Since open enrollment ends Sunday, I got online and double checked everything, just to be sure.