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    #31
    Please just awnser the question asked. This is a valid consern not an open invite to express your personal views! In the future, just for this thread, i will be deleting posts that convey personal political views. Thank you.
    hunterd/HuntOP/Dave
    volunteer
    MS World
    hunterd@msworld.org
    PPMS DX 2001

    "ADAPT AND OVERCOME" - MY COUSIN

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      #32
      I just wonder what will happen when the money runs out! Look at Stockton CA having to declare bankruptcy tomorrow. People were counting on certain pension amounts, which will all be now re-negotiated with the bankruptcy. That might be fine for younger ones, but what happen the older/disabled?

      If there is no money, you can't pay! There will be rationing because we can't afford to give premium healthcare to everyone. Instead of those less fortunate rising up, those who had good coverage will now be brought down to a lower level. It is just the way economics works.

      I don't think anyone anywhere does not want to have everyone have good healthcare! It is just that it seems to be impossible to give to everyone. Life is not fair. Life is not equal. We all need to realize this fact and come up with the best solution that is affordable for as many as willing to work together.
      Brenda
      Adversity gives you two choices in life: either let it make you bitter, or let it make you better! I choose the latter.

      Comment


        #33
        Here is what the NMSS says about today's ruling and how it will affect people with MS:

        http://nationalmssociety.org/news/ne....aspx?nid=6568

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          #34
          We all worry enough about the future and what it holds for us -- symptoms, progression, etc. Time will tell whether the ACA is a good thing, or not. One thing that concerns me is an aspect of the law called IPAB. Google it and read carefully.

          These are the folks (answerable to nobody but the President, apparently) who will decide if your medication is effective enough to be covered by the insurance.

          Just like they came out not long ago and said women don't need mammograms and men don't need that PSA test. Government or not, they all look at the bottom line. And we are all expensive users of the system.

          Comment


            #35
            Since I am involved in health care and in health policy (not politics, big difference) I am on a lot of list servs that are analyzing and commenting on today's decision on ACA.

            To answer the question "How will things change?" I think the answer is for most people, including me, it won't change much, though I would have the option to retire early or be an independent consultant, and still be able to get health insurance, which now I cannot do outside of my employer group because of having MS.

            Most large employers plan to continue offering health insurance. The average employer today pays nearly $1,000 per employee per year to cover cost-shifting from the uninsured who can't/won't pay their bills - a potential saving.

            Employers today are already free to stop offering health insurance as a benefit, or to make the plans less generous (you've noticed those increasing co-pays, deductibles and premiums, right?), so that is not a change unique to ACA. Most health plans, including Medicare, already have boards and advisers that decide what treatments will be covered as worthwhile and cost-effective, and most routinely cover all treatments that meet the standard of medical practice - that means the CRABS and Tysabri for MS, not just symptom treatment such as pain meds.

            Most people will still be covered by their employers' plans, and most people added to the rolls of the insured will be in private, not government, plans. Even Medicaid in many states is now administered through private insurance companies. For all these people who continue with their existing insurance, or who enroll in a plan now that they can, there will not be a tax/penalty. That is just for those who can afford insurance but choose not to pay for it.

            Looking at all the commentary in my In-box, doesn't look like there will be big changes except for those who can't get insurance because we have an illness, or who have lifetime caps they are threatening to exceed - those people will soon be able to feel secure they won't be excluded, or be dropped because they get diagnosed.

            Then the US will be like all the other industrialized nations, who cover all their citizens, at much lower cost than the US, often through private insurance companies rather than government bureaucracies, and with better outcomes to boot!

            Comment


              #36
              When I was dx'ed in early 1988, I made a big decision. I quit a perfectly good job and moved 1500 miles away to take another perfectly good job. Why? The dx was only on paper. I was running away from it so that I could maintain insurability. Pre-existing thing... I had MS in Toledo. I didn't have MS in Miami.

              Ya know, it's been over 24 years and having MS has never been an issue with respect to insurability. I've changed jobs 6 times since. The insurace companies only have to ask and they'll know I have MS. But to date it has never been an issue.

              I've always thought I was for this kind of plan (ACA), but now that it's here I don't think it's a good idea. Just my opinion. I don't think it affects me (other than my costs have skyrocketed over the last 2 years) as I am now a federal employee and am exempt (I think).

              One thing I can't get with MS is long term care insurance. Not now, and not when ACA kicks in. The federal long term care insurance policy specifically precludes people with MS.

              Tom
              "Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one."
              - Voltaire

              Comment


                #37
                Originally posted by onlyairfare View Post
                Then the US will be like all the other industrialized nations, who cover all their citizens, at much lower cost than the US, often through private insurance companies rather than government bureaucracies, and with better outcomes to boot!
                This bears repeating!

                Comment


                  #38
                  I think it's wonderful that the healthcare law has been upheld...unfortunately, the implementation is taking 4+ years, and in the meantime people who should be covered, aren't covered, but it will happen.

                  Access to healthcare is a fundamental right, same as clean air and clean water. That people think that it's "AOK" to have fellow-citizens dying from lack of care (hey, take care of yourselves, and if you can't, too bad...don't die where I can see it and/or be annoyed!") is disgusting, selfish, and cruel.

                  I have close family members who are high-level hospital administrators, and separate from the messes in Washington and State Legislatures, hospitals, MDs, and medical administrators are moving towards a system that will be run as single payer...not today, and not tomorrow, but I'd say in the next 15 years?

                  We cannot sustain a system of profit-before-health, it will not and cannot work long-term.
                  RRMS 2011, Copaxone 2011-2013, Tecfidera 2013-current

                  Comment


                    #39
                    I am glad to see it stay, sort of. Just like I would be concerned to see it go, sort of. There is good and bad across the board.

                    I like the single payor system idea. I know some people scream "socialism", but what's wrong with that? Also, that all for one mentality is what provides fire, police, roads and educations.

                    Is the law perfect? No. It is created by humans for humans, and as we well know, we are not perfect. I think the concept of medical treatment for all as needed and not based upon income is sound. I think that it just doesn't work in a capitalist society. The two concepts are mutually exclusive.

                    Personally, I think the insurance companies need to go away. The problem is they are a profit organization, not a support organization. They report to shareholders first.

                    The president is trying to duct tape the crack in the dam wall. While stopping the water is a great idea, we need a new dam, not roll of tape. The insurance based payment system just doesn't work well.
                    Sapphire's Gold - If I can't be graceful, at least I'll be entertaining.

                    Comment


                      #40
                      I get treatment and medications from the VA, and for me it is free. I also have Medicare now.

                      So far, the VA has been wonderful and I never used my benefit until I lost my job and my healthcare.

                      For me, with my age and the cost of treatment, all of the other problems from kidneys to eyes to inherited immunodeficiency - I don't believe continued treatment will be as easy in the future.

                      I believe I will be coming before one of those IPAP review boards since my care is strictly government financed.

                      Comment


                        #41
                        It's good to remember that this isn't the bill President Obama initially wanted. What he wanted was a lot closer to single payer. This bill is already the result of compromise with the Republicans.

                        I have the impression that a lot of MSers would prefer a single payer system, and would not regard it as socialism, any more than we think of our police and fire departments as socialist institutions.

                        Comment


                          #42
                          A thank you to Sequoia and to Onlyairfare and the others who took off their red / blue visors to comment on topic.

                          I for one hope that this works for the good of all the people and as KateA2 stated;

                          "Access to healthcare is a fundamental right."

                          Jer

                          Comment


                            #43
                            Gadancer-
                            2 questions

                            What is a IPAP review?

                            Why do you bother to spend the $ on medicare if you get all your treatment at the VA? All I haveis Part A which is no charge.
                            Plan for the future, but not too hard; it’s not your decision anyway

                            Comment


                              #44
                              You are really not forced to buy auto insurance, you can choose to be self insured. I forget the requirements, but if you have enough money in the bank, you can carry your own insurance. Wh would want to is another question and that is a state decision, not a federal one.

                              I am very worried about passing of this bill. Right now our deductible is high and we pay 1,000 a monthfor out insurance If it goes any higher, my dh will never be able to retire. I am afraid that since I am old with MS, I will not be able to get the meds I take for sx, since they do not cure it. I am worried about paying another tax and for my kids that they will be paying for us oldsters.

                              I have always been annoyed that people that can afford it, do not have it, but I do not think the government should run health insurance. How well are the other government programs going?

                              Just my 2 cents worth.

                              JudySz

                              Comment


                                #45
                                Tax Deductions

                                Just read that medical expense deductions on your Schedule A income tax will now be a minimum of 10% before you can deduct. That's an increase from the 7.5% it use to be....

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