Friday, October 11, 2013

Obama Care or Obama Dare?

  • A note for those concerned about health care. I have heard that there are some serious concerns and horror stories out there in light of the changes from our government health care. I don't believe people are exaggerating and that I worry about some of the struggles people will face with this system. I can only speak for my family but here is a personal experience we are facing.

    As a minister I have had to pay for my own insurance, even though it comes off my salary. I have had Regence Blue Cross for 25+ years. I have been happy with them and felt that they were financially comparable to other companies. Every year since I turned 45, the premiums have increased. I have had to read a difficult packet of info and navigate a web of numbers, percentages, and what they don't cover to find what works best for us.When I finally call for help, I have been given help--although I am not sure what is being covered. Yes, I am frustrated that they would pay for my rehab, if I started using narcotics, but not for my and my family's dental care--even though I brush my teeth twice per day. All in all I have been happy. Funny thing is that we have always been a healthy family and had few visits to the doctor every year. I did feel we were paying a lot of money, "Just in case."

    This past month we were notified that our premium's would again rise, and this time much more than the past.

    Nathan Rix, one of our Agape folks who works for the State Government explained how Cover Oregon will work. I looked at the site and within a half an hour was able to navigate the site, ask questions, and find out about the providers that will be offering care. When all is said and done our insurance premium will be 55% less than we are paying now, and our boys will be on the Healthy Kids (OHP) program. We qualify that much for government reimbursement. Lori and I will probably have better insurance than we have had in the past and also may have dental care. The boys will also have quality care. 

    I know that things are not finalized and there are a few things we will have to wait for, in order to have this completed, but I feel very optimistic about what changes are being made by the health care system. I can't speak for everyone, and know that there are some stories that are not as positive--but for this Oregon resident who has worked hard, paid taxes, and tried to help those who are in need--I would say Long Live Oregonians!
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    • You and 18 others like this.
    • Rachel Forehand Hanson I am glad to hear that it is working out for you. I have a question: Did they waive the "two months with no insurance before your kids qualify for Healthy Kids" thing? The last time I tried to put my kids on OHK (because our insurance was going up and we couldn't afford it), they told me that the kids had to have been without insurance for 2 months before I could even apply for it.
      October 10 at 6:34am · Like
    • Ron Clark I understand from them that they would have to take them without a wait. Supposedly if you qualify for their assistance your kids automatically qualify for OHP. Fortunately, those of us in ministry should have no problem qualifying for any help.
      October 10 at 6:38am · Like
    • Rachel Forehand Hanson That's good to know. It was a big worry for me. Are you going to get to keep your current doctors? We've had Regence Blue Cross since we moved here 10 years ago, and really love our OHSU doctors.
      October 10 at 6:39am · Like
    • Ron Clark Don't know, all the insurance companies haven't chimed in to the system. We will talk to our doctors if they are in the system but the hardest part may be finding a different physician.Nathan Rix tells us that once this takes affect the other insuran...See More
      October 10 at 6:46am · Like · 2
    • Jaynee Cathey I have hesitated to say anything because I do not want the backlash, before Oct 1, I was uninsurable because of my Lupus and other conditions. I was notified that because of the new laws, I will qualify for an insurance plan that includes dental...just like you and Lori, and my premiums are very doable.
      October 10 at 6:56am via mobile · Like · 4
    • Laura Campbell It is good to hear the positive stories... too many of my FB friends are into reposting things that turn out to be out and out lies. Like you, I am sure there are people out there who are being affected negatively by this, but all the fear-mongering is really a turn-off to me!
      October 10 at 7:00am · Like · 2
    • Ron Clark Thanks Kelsey T-c, former Agape member with her husband Russell, and med student in Orlando for this simplified version that they use to educate people about the new system.
      October 10 at 7:42am · Like · 1
    • Ron Clark http://www.upworthy.com/...

      The Simplest Explanation Of Obamacare. Ever.
      www.upworthy.com
      Need Obamacare explained to you? There's an Obamacartoon that does just that.
      October 10 at 7:42am · Like · 2
    • Nathan Rix I'll see if I can dig up some sources for y'all when I get home. Obamacare is good, but there needs to be additional regulation to address the rising cost of healthcare and patent monopolies which undergird a big part of the problem (this is why projections of the national debt are high). Much love to y'all.
      October 10 at 8:46am via mobile · Like · 2
    • Joey Arnold People should have the freedom to choose what kind of health care they get. People should never be forced into doing certain things. People should not be punished for not doing certain things. We should not be punished for making more money than others...See More
      October 10 at 2:45pm · Like
    • Kristi Weber The problem I have with Obamacare is that this is government redistribution of wealth. Someone else is paying a huge increase in their premiums to pay for your increased, lower cost health care benefits. Is that fair?
      4 hours ago · Like
    • Ron Clark From what the video and website suggests, the hospitals and insurance companies are paying the higher tax rates or fees
      3 hours ago · Like
    • Kristi Weber They do not have a pool of money hidden away just for that... the money has to come from somewhere and that somewhere is the pockets of other consumers of health care.
      3 hours ago · Like
    • Ron Clark Nathan Rix--any thoughts on this previous question?
      3 hours ago · Like
    • Kelsey T-c In response to the freedom comment: very few people in this country have the 'freedom' to get the health care they want. Without health insurance, patients do not have adequate access to the health system. Utilizing the ED for primary care is inadequate. There is no continuity, and unless you are actively dying, it is not an avenue of access for other specialties. 

      Even with insurance, you cannot always choose what provider you want to have if you want to keep costs low (in-network). With large companies, like BCBS, this is less of an issue. 

      Also, please note that people w/o insurance in this country often wait until they are extremely ill and thus that much more expensive to care for.
      3 hours ago · Like · 1
    • Ron Clark Thanks Dr. Kelsey
      3 hours ago · Like
    • Kelsey T-c The ethos of individuality in the US is a contrast to other countries as well. For example, in Germany before an official health system was established, villages created funds based on contributions from all citizens for funerals and medical care. The ...See More
      3 hours ago · Like
    • Patty Warford Ron, we have not heard from our insurance person yet but being in private practice and the level of my income I will probably be in that group whose rates will be raised. We already pay over $1200 a month. If life was just about me (which surprises me sometimes that the universe isn't just about me), I would probably be quite disturbed. But, from what I read in my Bible, it is not all about me. I live in a community. I live in a society and nation. This has allowed me access to clean water, food, transportation, freedoms many other parts of the world do not have. I have been incredibly blessed by this society to have received an education and work in a field that I love. I am able to have a sense of purpose before God. And with that I have an obligation to my fellow humans. The reality is if my higher rates allows more people to have access to health care, then I believe I have followed the Biblical mandate to care for the sick and "least of these" which I believe I am required to do on an individual, situational, and systemic level. Sadly, this attitude doesn't seem to meet the current cultural definition of Christian, but I think it does meet my mandate before YHWH to Whom I will have to give account some day.
      about an hour ago · Like · 3
    • Nathan Rix Kristi, right now when a person without health care goes to the emergency room and gets treatment, the hospital eats the cost and then passes it on to users of the hospital that have insurance. The cost is "redistributed" to you and me...that isn't fair. Healthcare costs are going to be redistributed to those with insurance as long as we as a society believe we should give medical care to everyone--including those without insurance. Make sense?

      I sense your problem, and the problem of many others, isn't that you don't want everyone to have health care, but that you don't want to be forced to do anything. I mean, I don't want to be forced to do anything either. The problem with health care is the concept of adverse selection. You can Wikipedia it. It's where individual rational actions don't add up to an outcome that's good for everyone. Young people have less of an incentive to buy insurance than older people--why should someone young and healthy pay an extraordinary sum for something they won't use? Meanwhile older folks are going to use a lot of health insurance. With no regulation at all, medical care would only be afforded to those with a lot of money who want to live a long time. But we have a very complex systems of regulation--one which obamacare extends--that says everyone needs to participate in insurance schemes because at the end of the day, we are going to bandage your wounds whether you have insurance or not. So that's why we're forced to by insurance--we've already made up our mind we're going to help ppl but we need to reduce the burden on those WITH insurance by making everyone have it. In the big picture, the ups and downs of premiums for individuals are necessary fluctuations that happen when people try to figure out what's cheaper for them. State health exchanges force insurance companies to adjust prices...this will continue for months. People will switch from blue cross to state programs and back and forth depending on the price--this may be annoying but it's actually very controlled and predictable using statistics and economics--econometrics we call it.
      48 minutes ago via mobile · Like · 1
    • Ron Clark Thanks Patty, I can think of three ministers who I have worked with who have been denied health care because they are deemed "overwieght," which in my opinion was ridiculous. They weren't overweight. One common thread to this new system is that no one is denied, which I appreciate.
      39 minutes ago · Like
    • Joey Arnold I have heard that the universal health care in Canada have long waiting-lists at times. I would like to compare the different programs that exist, and have existed, and may someday exist, from all around the world. I believe in shrinking governmental control because churches should be doing what the government sometimes do to some extents. I am not completely against Obama Care. However, I am against "NOT" being there for each other.

      If I was an employer, I would not want my government to tax me more because I am making more money as a company. I may have to pay my employees less money. I may have to fire some people at times. The less I give to the government, as an employer, the more I can give to my employees in money, in provided health care, in paid vacations, prizes, presents, discounts, incentives, raises, flexibility, more sick-days for employees, more Friday-parties for employees each week, and other possible compensations.

      Look at some of the things that seem to be provided to the employees who work for UPS. Certain jobs seem to have better benefits than others. There may be certain reasons and factors for how all of this works in the different scenarios.

      I was born and raised in Oregon, USA. I have been in Vietnam for the past 10 months since 2012 November. I am not sure how health care works exactly in Vietnam, but it does costs less money here for the most part. 

      In July 2013, after getting bit by a mosquito or something, I became infected with this deadly fever virus and ended up staying in a hospital in Saigon, Vietnam for 6 days.

      That cost me about $50 USD.

      How much money does 6 days in a hospital cost in other countries? In Vietnam, it seem to only count $50 for everything for those 6 days, as far as I know. Some things do cost less in Vietnam than it does in other countries like the USA.
      17 minutes ago · Edited · Like
    • Ron Clark Joey, I worked for UPS. We had great health care. Basically because the union fought for workers to be provided for.I don't know if UPS would have naturally offered insurance but I find it interesting that someone has to tell employers to provide insurance, whether it is the government or unions. Maybe our government is advocating for the little people, the worker, the vulnerable ones.
      17 minutes ago · Like
    • Joey Arnold Are there unions in other countries as well? I didn't know that unions play a role in regards to UPS. I know there are like teacher-unions and actor-unions, and there are probably all kinds of unions, and yet there may not be any like pastors-unions. I am against bigger governments because absolute power can become corrupted at times. If larger governments can stay transparent and morally sound, then that may help me sleep better at night.

      At times, governments steps in and does what others are not doing. Apart from The Salvation Army, this Agape church as well, and others, governments are sometimes doing what churches and people are not always doing. 

      When the government taxes companies, that can be a good thing at times, because the government is acting like Robin Hood.

      Take from the rich companies.

      Redistribute the wealth to the poor.

      .

      .

      Companies are sometimes too focused on making profits for the CEO and the others at the top while neglecting their other employees at the bottom. So, it is too bad that companies are not always choosing to provide health coverage, and other benefits, incentives, compensations, etc.

      I am not totally against redistribution.

      Yet, redistribution reminds me of communism, socialism.
      a few seconds ago · Edited · Like
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