My favorite letter-to-the-editor this week is entitled “Montana elected carpetbaggers to office.”
“All of them hail from elsewhere and came here to take advantage of Montana and its populace.”
The letter was written by someone living in Arizona.
“All of them hail from elsewhere and came here to take advantage of Montana and its populace.”
The letter was written by someone living in Arizona.
The other letter I enjoyed also came out today. It’s called “As COVID-19 cases surge, open enrollment period more important than ever.”
Yeah, I’ll bet it is...but for whom?
“The good news is that despite these attacks, federal and state marketplaces are still open to offer Montanans access to high-quality health coverage they can afford. In fact, for the last two years, over 4 million people were able to find plans with $0 monthly premiums. As COVID-19 cases keep spiking and our country faces a period of transition, the open enrollment period provides a lifeline that’s never been more critical for those of us whose lives have been turned upside down during the pandemic.
As a 22-year-old Montanan, the ACA allowed me to stay on my parents’ plan five years longer than I could have before. Pre-ACA, I’d have been kicked off at 18, right out of high school. This year, our plan became too expensive. To save my family money, I decided to get insurance through the Marketplace. If the ACA didn’t exist, I might not have had insurance for the last five years, and I certainly would not have it now. The ACA is essential for protecting access to affordable insurance, especially while Montana is facing a massive public health crisis.”
At least this person actually lives here, in Billings.
But what the hell does a 22-year-old need health insurance for anyways? Hell, I’m 39, and I haven’t used my health insurance in years.
This young letter writer says he had health insurance at 18. Now he’s 22. Did he ever use it during those years? I doubt it. But the insurance companies made a lot of money having him on their plans for all that time.
Personally, I think getting people onto Obamacare is much more important for the rich and well-off than it is for the poor.
The poor pay nothing as it is, but the rich and well-off do. And if more and more poor people don’t pay into the system, the rich and well-off see their insurance costs go up.
Sometimes these costs are too much for families to afford, and they lose their insurance. This is what happened to the letter writer:
"This year, our plan became too expensive. To save my family money, I decided to get insurance through the Marketplace."
But the poor don’t. So there’s no incentive for them to enroll, not at all.
Let me give you my own example.
I completed my Healthcare.gov application last week. The website told me that my info would then be sent to the state for approval, at which point I’d be able to actually shop on the marketplace for plans.
The marketplace closes on Tuesday, and I’m still not allowed to look at plans.
The reason? The state has decided to put me on Medicaid.
Healthcare.gov won’t allow me to shop for plans, and won’t allow me to keep my current insurance into the new year.
Now I’m just waiting on the state.
I have no other options. I can no longer get private insurance.
The reason?
The government decided to limit the hours and capacity of certain businesses this year. One of them was the place I worked for. I was laid-off for 101 days in the spring, and I’ve been laid-off again for the past 15 days with no end in sight.
This seriously affected my earnings. In fact, my income was wiped-out.
In 2019 I made $9,500 in wages from my job. This year I’ve made $3,700. I’m not going to tell you my tip income, which is immense. It’s been cut by 60%.
So when I filled out my Healthcare.gov marketplace application, I stated my income for this year, which is way down.
And that screwed me and now I have to get on the government dole. They won’t have it any other way.
Unless I say ‘no.’
Because whether I’m on Medicaid or not, I’m not paying my bills. The hospitals know this. They send me a bill, I send them my income forms, they send me a follow-up letter telling my the charges are now $0.
You’ll pay for my care through your premiums, or maybe through your taxes. With millions of Americans in the same boat as me, how can the system sustain this?
Don't ask.
Last year I had tax credits of $760 a month for my plan, but still paid $70 a month in premiums. Tax credits is a fancy way of saying the rich and the well-off pay for my care.
And remember, there’s nothing you can do about this.
Hey, I didn’t want it this way - I had a job that I liked, but the government took it away. I used to make enough to qualify to buy my insurance. But now I don’t. So the government that stole my job is now going to give me free healthcare.
Thanks.
Just remember, you’re paying for it.
There’s nothing you can do about this.
