#Obamacare Insurance

[mysharona1987]

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

President Joe Biden will call for expanding a new cap on insulin prices to all Americans as part of his State of the Union address, the White House said Monday.

During the Tuesday speech, Biden plans to tout his administration’s efforts to make health care more affordable, which included imposing a $35-per-month limit on insulin that took effect in January.

But that price cap, which was passed as part of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, only applied to those beneficiaries covered by Medicare. Biden is now expected to renew his push for the policy to be applied to anyone with an insulin prescription, the White House said in a fact sheet.

“The President will call on Congress to extend this commonsense, life-saving protection to all Americans,” the fact sheet said.

Democrats had originally planned to pass a universal insulin price cap last year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed along party lines last August. But the policy was scaled back after Republicans successfully challenged its inclusion. Democrats since then have vowed to continue to push for its passage, arguing that it’s broadly popular and crucial to ensuring that people can afford essential medicines.

Still, Biden’s fresh support for expanding the price cap is unlikely to result in much concrete progress. Republicans remain opposed to the measure, and are unlikely to even allow a vote on it in the House now that they control the chamber.

Biden during his State of the Union speech is also expected to highlight a handful of other health care accomplishments, including landmark legislation granting Medicare the right to negotiate drug prices and cap certain out-of-pocket pharmacy costs. He will celebrate the three latest states to expand their Medicaid programs, while urging Congress to pass legislation that would close coverage gaps in the 11 holdout states that have yet to expand Medicaid.

The President also plans to call for continuing to lower health insurance costs, pointing to expanded Obamacare subsidies that the administration estimates lowered customers’ premiums by an average of $800 per year and pushed the nation’s uninsured rate to an all-time low.

[bitchesgetriches]

Your Super Simple Guide to COBRA Health Insurance

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[intelligentchristianlady]

Translation: there is no plan.

[adaginy]

As terrible as the US healthcare system still is, a flashback to how it used to be worse:

I have to fight against an instinct to *not* be honest in filling out a health history -- not just the sex and cannabis or whatever, but simple things like "I had asthma as a kid" or "I have a family member with a substance use disorder".

Firstly because if they're in your files, and then if you temporarily didn't have insurance -- because you lost your job, for example -- and you got new insurance, those are pre-existing now, and your insurance would say "okay well we aren't going to cover anything asthma related until you've been paying premiums for a while."

But also because of rescission. Where you'd find out you had cancer or something else the insurance company didn't want to pay for, and the insurance companies would comb through your files and go "oh, hey, this doctor said you mentioned in a visit that you had strep a lot as a kid, and you didn't put that on your forms when you signed up for insurance, so your sign-up was fraudulent and we'll no longer cover you." Didn't matter that it was unrelated. You could sign up for a policy again, but now your cancer is a pre-existing condition.

And so the part of my brain that grew up before Obamacare does not want to tell the doc i have a crackhead aunt, because what if i forgot to put that on my health insurance paperwork, and I get rescissioned over it when I need my insurance?

When ACA was being debated and whatnot, btw, they asked insurance companies if they would stop this practice and they said no! If they'd said yes, it would have hamstrung a major argument for why the ACA is needed, but they decided to bet that the ACA would fail without them promising to stop this extremely profitable practice.

Under the ACA, rescission is illegal unless it's intentional fraud. They can't hold this unrelated thing you forgot to mention against you.

[loveerran]

Medical Bill Assistance - For Real

I think you will all like this one :)

https://dollarfor.org/

I think most of you are aware that more than half of all U.S. hospitals are nonprofits. Nonprofit hospitals must have charity care programs to keep their tax-exempt status. These programs, also called financial assistance, decrease medical bills for low and middle-income patients. The org linked above will qualify you and make it happen. A high percentage of you qualify and (shockingly) the medical providers aren’t advertising the program.

Don’t have the spoons to face this on your own? They will do this with and for you: https://dollarfor.org/debt-forgiveness/.

What you will need:

About 3 minutes

The name of the hospital, the amount billed, and the approximate date of your most recent bill

Your household's size and annual income

Don’t want someone from a nonprofit helping with your personal medical stuff? Want to do it on your own? They have a walk-through for that: https://dollarfor.org/resources/how-to-apply-for-charity-care/step-one-check-your-eligibility/

You do deserve this!

[tomorrowusa]

Yesterday (March 23rd) was the 14th anniversary of President Obama signing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law. It enabled tens of millions of Americans to get previously unobtainable medical insurance – especially those with pre-existing conditions.

Republicans derisively dubbed the ACA "Obamacare" in order to disparage it. But rather than making the law look bad, their nickname gave Barack Obama permanent credit for something enormously popular. As then Vice President Joe Biden told President Obama at the 2010 signing, "This is a big fucking deal!" – and it still is.

Republicans have tried countless times to repeal Obamacare. Donald Trump campaigned in 2016 on killing it and and replacing it with something "better". Of course he had no other healthcare plan to replace it with.

Now Trump is running again and still wants to abolish Obamacare. If you have been helped by Obamacare or know someone who has, let people know that keeping the orange pus ball with bad hair out of the White House is the best way to ensure your health for years to come.

Fact Sheet: Celebrating the Affordable Care Act

[savvyebtqueen]

Please join me THIS SUNDAY 1/22/23 @ 3pm PST, 4PM CST, 6pm EST for a Healthcare ACA "Obamacare" Live Stream. Learn how to apply, understand, how the program works and if you might qualify. Do you need Healthcare? Join me and ask your questions!

[ratscabies]

the american health insurance system can suck my nuts tbh

[halfwaybyaccident]

Hey guys!

Friendly reminder that the Affordable Care Act marketplace assistance isn't actually very helpful.

The "subsidy" is just an advance on your tax refund. That means that if you make less than expected, you have to pay the difference.

The less you make, the more you pay. The more you need help, the less you get.

It's actually just another program that says fuck poor people.

Thanks for coming to my bed talk.

[sasssydaddy123]

Working for a small business is always better than working for a large corporation. I don't give a shit about a full benefit package anymore, I want to be treated like a human being instead of a disposable worker

[totalbenefits]

Broker Change Leads to Better Results

Broker Change Leads to Better Results Sometimes a benefits consultant may become a bit complacent and fail to aggressively pursue available cost containment strategies for a client. When that happens, it may be time to consider a change. Read for a case study on how we handled a situation like this for one of our clients. The Issue A mid-sized group prospect was unhappy with their current…

[bitchesgetriches]

This story is WILD. And so infuriating.

[reasonsforhope]

“Communities of color recorded huge health insurance coverage gains from 2020 to 2022 due in large part to improved affordability and increased outreach efforts to get people enrolled, according to a report this week from the Department of Health and Human Services.

During that time, Hispanic people saw a 53 percent jump in enrollment rates through the Affordable Care Act insurance marketplace, Black people 49 percent and Native Americans 32 percent.

The report, which was produced by researchers in HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, analyzed trends in marketplace enrollment by race and ethnicity from 2015 to 2022 and showed that health insurance coverage rates improved across the board over the last two years. Growth in Black and Latino communities, where uninsured rates historically have been highest, exceeded other groups, growing by nearly 40 percent for both groups between 2021 and 2022, the report says.” -via Washington Post (but this is through an archive so the article isn’t paywalled) via Future Crunch

[boreal-sea]

Look.

I have made you a chart. A very simple chart.

People say "You have to draw the line somewhere, and Biden has crossed it-" and my response is "Trump has crossed way more lines than Biden".

These categories are based off of actual policy enacted by both of these men while they were in office.

If the ONLY LINE YOU CARE ABOUT is line 12, you have an incredible amount of privilege, AND YOU DO NOT CARE ABOUT PALESTINIANS. You obviously have nothing to fear from a Trump presidency, and you do not give a fuck if a ceasefire actually occurs. You are obviously fine if your queer, disabled, and marginalized loved ones are hurt. You clearly don't care about the status of American democracy, which Trump has openly stated he plans to destroy on day 1 he is in office.

EDIT:

Ok fine, I spent 3 hours compiling sources for all of these, you can find that below the cut.

I'll give at least one link per subject area. There are of course many more sources to be read on these subject areas and no post could possibly give someone a full education on these subjects.

Biden and trans rights: https://www.hrc.org/resources/president-bidens-pro-lgbtq-timeline

Trump and trans rights: https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/trump-on-lgbtq-rights-rolling-back-protections-and-criminalizing-gender-nonconformity

The two sources above show how Biden has done a lot of work to promote trans rights, and how Trump did a lot of work to hurt trans rights.

Biden on abortion access: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/08/politics/what-is-in-biden-abortion-executive-order/index.html

Trump on abortion access: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-trump-republican-presidential-election-2024-585faf025a1416d13d2fbc23da8d8637

Biden openly supports access to abortion and has taken steps to protect those rights at a federal level even after Roe v Wade was overturned. Trump, on the other hand, was the man who appointed the judges who helped overturn Roe v Wade and he openly brags about how proud he is of that decision. He also states that he believes individual states should have the final say in whether or not abortion is legal, and that he trusts them to "do the right thing", meaning he supports stronger abortion bans.

Biden on environmental reform: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/10/07/fact-sheet-president-biden-restores-protections-for-three-national-monuments-and-renews-american-leadership-to-steward-lands-waters-and-cultural-resources/

Trump on environmental reform: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html

Biden has made major steps forward for environmental reform. He has restored protections that Trump rolled back. He has enacted many executive orders and more to promote environmental protections, including rejoining the Paris Accords, which Trump withdrew the USA from. Trump is also well known for spreading conspiracy theories and lies about global climate change, calling it a "Chinese hoax".

Biden on healthcare and prescription reform: https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/06/09/biden-administration-announces-savings-43-prescription-drugs-part-cost-saving-measures-president-bidens-inflation-reduction-act.html

Trump on healthcare reform: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/07/politics/obamacare-health-insurance-ending-trump/index.html

I'm rolling healthcare and prescriptions and vaccines and public health all into one category here since they are related. Biden has lowered drug costs, expanded access to medicaid, and ACA enrollment has risen during his presidency. He has also made it so medical debt no longer applies to a person's credit score. He signed many executive orders during his first few weeks in office in order to get a handle on Trump's grievous mishandling of the COVID pandemic. Trump also wants to end the ACA. Trump is well known for refusing to wear a mask during the pandemic, encouraging the use of hydroxylchloroquine to "treat" COVID, and being openly anti-vaxx.

Biden on student loan forgiveness: https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-additional-77-billion-approved-student-debt-relief-160000-borrowers

Trump on student loan forgiveness: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamminsky/2024/06/20/trump-knocks-bidens-vile-student-loan-forgiveness-plans-suggests-reversal/

Trump wants to reverse the student loan forgiveness plans Biden has enacted. Biden has already forgiven billions of dollars in loans and continues to work towards forgiving more.

Infrastructure funding:

I'm putting these links next together because they are all about infrastructure.

In general, Trump's "achievements" for infrastructure were to destroy environmental protections to speed up projects. Many of his plans were ineffective due to the fact that he did not clearly outline where the money was going to come from, and he was unwilling to raise taxes to pay for the projects. He was unable (and unwilling) to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill during his 4 years in office. He did sign a few disaster relief bills. He did not enthusiastically promote renewable energy infrastructure. He created "Infrastructure Weeks" that the federal government then failed to fund. Trump did not do nothing for infrastructure, but his no-tax stance and his dislike for renewable energy means the contributions he made to American infrastructure were not as much as he claimed they were, nor as much as they could have been. Basically, he made a lot of promises, and delivered on very few of them. He is not "against" infrastructure, but he's certainly against funding it.

Biden was able to pass that bipartisan bill after taking office. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan that Trump tried to prevent from passing during Biden's term contains concrete funding sources and step by step plans to rebuild America's infrastructure. If you want to read the plan, you can find it here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/build/guidebook/. Biden has done far more for American infrastructure than Trump did, most notably by actually getting the bipartisan bill through congress.

Biden on Racial Equity: https://www.npr.org/sections/president-biden-takes-office/2021/01/26/960725707/biden-aims-to-advance-racial-equity-with-executive-actions

Trump on Racial Equity: https://www.axios.com/2024/04/01/trump-reverse-racism-civil-rights https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-37230916

Trump's racist policies are loud and clear for everyone to hear. We all heard him call Mexicans "Drug dealers, criminals, rapists". We all watched as he enacted travel bans on people from majority-Muslim nations. Biden, on the other hand, has done quite a lot during his term to attempt to reconcile racism in this country, including reversing Trump's "Muslim ban" the first day he was in office.

Biden on DEI: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/25/executive-order-on-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-accessibility-in-the-federal-workforce/

Trump on DEI: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-tried-to-crush-the-dei-revolution-heres-how-he-might-finish-the-job/ar-BB1jg3gz

Biden supports DEI and has signed executive orders and passed laws that support DEI on the federal level. Trump absolutely hates DEI and wants to eradicate it.

Biden on criminal justice reform: https://time.com/6155084/biden-criminal-justice-reform/

Trump on criminal justice reform: https://www.vox.com/2020-presidential-election/21418911/donald-trump-crime-criminal-justice-policy-record https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/05/trumps-extreme-plans-crime/678502/

From pardons for non-violent marijuana convictions to reducing the federal government's reliance on private prisons, Biden has done a lot in four years to reform our criminal justice system on the federal level. Meanwhile, Trump has described himself as "tough on crime". He advocates for more policing, including "stop and frisk" activities. Ironically it's actually quite difficult to find sources about what Trump thinks about crime, because almost all of the search results are about his own crimes.

Biden on military support for Israel: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/biden-obama-divide-closely-support-israel-rcna127107

Trump on military support for Israel: https://www.vox.com/politics/353037/trump-gaza-israel-protests-biden-election-2024

Biden supports Israel financially and militarily and promotes holding Israel close. So did Trump. Trump was also very pro-Israel during his time in office and even moved the embassy to Jerusalem and declared Jerusalem the capitol of Israel, a move that inflamed attitudes in the region.

Biden on a ceasefire: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2024/06/05/gaza-israel-hamas-cease-fire-plan-biden/73967659007/

Trump on a ceasefire: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-israel-gaza-finish-problem-rcna141905

Trump has tried to be quiet on the issue but recently said he wants Israel to "finish the problem". He of course claims he could have prevented the whole problem. Trump also openly stated after Oct 7th that he would bar immigrants who support Hamas from the country and send in officers to American protests to arrest anyone supporting Hamas.

Biden meanwhile has been quietly urging Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal for months, including the most recent announcement earlier in June, though it seems as though that deal has finally fallen through as well.

[promtad]

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