I have health insurance! Thanks, Obama!
I am a procrastinator about somethings. Anything to do with insurance and such confuses me so much, I put off dealing with it. Some frustration is due to my ideas about health insurance.
1. We should be enrolled in health care, not health insurance.
2. It should be single payer.
3. It should not be tied to our employment or way of making a living.
4. It should not penalize us for seeking health care in another parts of the country or as 'they' say in insurance-ese, "out of area" or "out of network".
In my area, I was disappointed with what seemed to be a lack of info about signing up. I heard on a public radio station from a city about 60 miles away, that the financial half of the health system I work for was a portal to my state's exchange and that they had navigators on staff to assist the public. I work per Diem for them, and had no clue until this tidbit of info was dropped by a commentator on a discussion panel about the ACA.
Another aspect that was causing me to put it off was the thought of adding another monthly bill to the list, for a service that if my prior experiences with insurance ran true, I wouldn't be able to afford to use due to deductibles and co-pays.
After reading of other peoples' experiences here on DU, I took the plunge in early December and went to my state's exchange. Successfully created an account. Yeah! That was easy! Then it wanted income...OMG...confused the hell out of me. I then remembered about the navigators and looked on the site for directions on contacting one. I called the number, set up an appointment for the next day and gathered the necessary documents. My first meeting went great and took all of 15 minutes. I may have been able to accomplish what she did, on my own. However, it would have taken me forever, if I was able to do it at all. Because of changes in income between last year and projections for this year, my numbers needed to be approved.
I let the ball drop as the holidays rolled around. I went back on earlier this month and attempted to compare and pick plans...... uuuggghhhh. I was lost in insurance plan hell! I signed out of the site without choosing a plan. Well, this Monday, my navigator called for follow up and I made an appointment for today. And I just returned home.
I qualified for enough tax credit that a silver plan AND dental insurance were within my reach. My monthly premium is more then what I paid at my last job that provided insurance, but this plan itself is much, much better then what I was getting.
Now I have to deal with the fact I will not be able to call for a referral for a primary physician and ask specifically for a male doctor that specializes in gay men's health. My last place of residence, Portland, OR, I called the provider group covered by my insurance. I asked for just that and not only was given a choice, my doctor was OPENLY gay! The first time in my life, my doctor reflected ME. I could go and not have to be the one doing the education. But that is a topic for another thread!
So long story short, I have insurance that I can afford to buy and AFFORD to use!
Thanks to those DUers that shared their tales.
And thanks, Obamacares!
= new reply since forum marked as read
