8 ms·

I am not blaming Obamacare. I have reflected your exact sentiment in my other posts online. This is a result of the disaster that is the US healthcare system as

I am not blaming Obamacare. I have reflected your exact sentiment in my other posts online. This is a result of the disaster that is the US healthcare system as a whole. Obamacare was a patch, but not enough to stop this from happening. I do advise that people not write-off criticisms of ACA as right-wing hysteria right now; the 2017 increases are really unbelievable in many states (Minnesota: 50%+). Everyone can browse these rates online.

ceejayoz 10y ago
Left-wing criticisms of the ACA are that it should've had a public option (or single payer) - which may get some momentum with ongoing premium hikes. The right-wing hysteria part is the (false) idea that premiums didn't go up like this pre-Obamacare, as well as the idea that "roll it back" is a tenable solution.
- merpnderp 10y ago
  10-20% rate growth was common before the ACA. Now my state is looking at a 74% hike. It is false to claim these kind of hikes were normal before the ACA.
  - ceejayoz 10y ago
    Your state is an outlier. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-obamacare-premiums-20160919-snap-story.html http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-obamacare-premiums-201... > A new analysis from the Urban Institute found that the average unsubsidized premiums in the Affordable Care Act exchanges, commonly known as Obamacare, are actually 10% lower than the full premiums in the average employer plan nationally in 2016. http://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-trump-clinton-claim-obamacare-512605 http://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-trump-clinton-claim-obama... > According to the Kaiser Family Foundation the average cost of the second lowest priced silver metal plan, also known as the benchmark plan that is used to set subsidies, will see its price increase 9 percent next year. That's significantly higher than the 2 percent increase for these plans this year, but it's south of the figures provided by Trump.
    - dibujante 10y ago
      It's more of a "you touched it; you're responsible" scenario. The insurance market was bad pre-ACA. Then Obama touched it. Now it's his fault. If he had left it alone, everyone could have continued to just point the finger.
  - RandomName2020 10y ago
    Yes, but if often was impossible to get insurance with preconditions, Regardless, ACA sucks. So did pre-ACA insurance.
beat 10y ago
I've been saying for a while that the health care system is the biggest impediment to entrepreneurship in the US. Not only does it make it difficult to start a company, it makes it difficult to work for startups and small businesses. Employer-provided health insurance is an incredibly strong bias in favor of large corporations (that have dedicated HR and can negotiate rates and self-insure).
- radley 10y ago
  ...and grandfathered programs unaffected by the new rules, allowing access to doctors who aren't participating in the new "negotiated" rates.
- taurath 10y ago
  Its the same for investing - you /cannot/ tax defer more than $5500 a year of your income for retirement unless you have a COMPANY PROVIDED 401k. There is no such thing if you are a employee at a company that doesn't supply one.
  - PaulHoule 10y ago
    Not true, you can put more than that in a SEP IRA.
    - ghaff 10y ago
      As I understand it, it doesn't help you as an employee of a small business though unless the business makes the contribution. SEP IRAs are primarily intended for freelancers and small business owners.
    - TearsInTheRain 10y ago
      Unless I'm mistaken it looks like SEP-IRAs have to be offered by an employer as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEP-IRA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEP-IRA
      - icedchai 10y ago
JonFish85 10y ago
Let's also not forget that a significant part of this hasn't even kicked in yet, the so-called Cadillac Tax has been kicked down the road, but is potentially enormous. Those who pay the most for their health care plan are going to be heavily taxed to subsidize everyone else. So as much as the current plan rate hikes are unbelievable, it's still going to get much worse before it (maybe) gets better.
- patmcguire 10y ago
  How kicked? I remember a big internal uproar when I was at one of the big tech companies about cutting some benefits, and one of the explanations was the cadillac tax.
  - Spooky23 10y ago
    I think it's 2018. All of the fancy benefits, like infertility, durable medical equipment, etc will probably get axed in most big companies.
    - JonFish85 10y ago
      A quick google search brought this up, which might be accurate[1]. It suggests that 2020 is when it is supposed to be enacted now. The Wikipedia article [2] seems less concrete about it, other than to say that there's bipartisan support for not implementing it. [1] http://www.cigna.com/health-care-reform/cadillac-tax http://www.cigna.com/health-care-reform/cadillac-tax [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_insurance_plan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_insurance_plan
      - Spooky23 10y ago
        Our HR wants to be ready. Slashing benefits early is a side bonus I'm sure. :)
      - gozur88 10y ago
        I doubt it will ever happen. The reason it was delayed to start with is it's not at all politically palatable.
gwbas1c 10y ago
You hit the nail on the head. The US insurance program is about 80% of why I wasn't able to run a startup. At the time, I was 29 years old and spent about as much money on insurance as I spent on food. It was my single biggest expense after rent.

ceejayoz 10y ago

Left-wing criticisms of the ACA are that it should've had a public option (or single payer) - which may get some momentum with ongoing premium hikes. The right-wing hysteria part is the (false) idea that premiums didn't go up like this pre-Obamacare, as well as the idea that "roll it back" is a tenable solution.

merpnderp 10y ago
10-20% rate growth was common before the ACA. Now my state is looking at a 74% hike. It is false to claim these kind of hikes were normal before the ACA.
- ceejayoz 10y ago
  Your state is an outlier. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-obamacare-premiums-20160919-snap-story.html http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-obamacare-premiums-201... > A new analysis from the Urban Institute found that the average unsubsidized premiums in the Affordable Care Act exchanges, commonly known as Obamacare, are actually 10% lower than the full premiums in the average employer plan nationally in 2016. http://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-trump-clinton-claim-obamacare-512605 http://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-trump-clinton-claim-obama... > According to the Kaiser Family Foundation the average cost of the second lowest priced silver metal plan, also known as the benchmark plan that is used to set subsidies, will see its price increase 9 percent next year. That's significantly higher than the 2 percent increase for these plans this year, but it's south of the figures provided by Trump.
  - dibujante 10y ago
    It's more of a "you touched it; you're responsible" scenario. The insurance market was bad pre-ACA. Then Obama touched it. Now it's his fault. If he had left it alone, everyone could have continued to just point the finger.
- RandomName2020 10y ago
  Yes, but if often was impossible to get insurance with preconditions, Regardless, ACA sucks. So did pre-ACA insurance.

beat 10y ago

I've been saying for a while that the health care system is the biggest impediment to entrepreneurship in the US. Not only does it make it difficult to start a company, it makes it difficult to work for startups and small businesses. Employer-provided health insurance is an incredibly strong bias in favor of large corporations (that have dedicated HR and can negotiate rates and self-insure).

radley 10y ago
...and grandfathered programs unaffected by the new rules, allowing access to doctors who aren't participating in the new "negotiated" rates.
taurath 10y ago
Its the same for investing - you /cannot/ tax defer more than $5500 a year of your income for retirement unless you have a COMPANY PROVIDED 401k. There is no such thing if you are a employee at a company that doesn't supply one.
- PaulHoule 10y ago
  Not true, you can put more than that in a SEP IRA.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    As I understand it, it doesn't help you as an employee of a small business though unless the business makes the contribution. SEP IRAs are primarily intended for freelancers and small business owners.
  - TearsInTheRain 10y ago
    Unless I'm mistaken it looks like SEP-IRAs have to be offered by an employer as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEP-IRA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEP-IRA
    - icedchai 10y ago

JonFish85 10y ago

Let's also not forget that a significant part of this hasn't even kicked in yet, the so-called Cadillac Tax has been kicked down the road, but is potentially enormous. Those who pay the most for their health care plan are going to be heavily taxed to subsidize everyone else. So as much as the current plan rate hikes are unbelievable, it's still going to get much worse before it (maybe) gets better.

patmcguire 10y ago
How kicked? I remember a big internal uproar when I was at one of the big tech companies about cutting some benefits, and one of the explanations was the cadillac tax.
- Spooky23 10y ago
  I think it's 2018. All of the fancy benefits, like infertility, durable medical equipment, etc will probably get axed in most big companies.
  - JonFish85 10y ago
    A quick google search brought this up, which might be accurate[1]. It suggests that 2020 is when it is supposed to be enacted now. The Wikipedia article [2] seems less concrete about it, other than to say that there's bipartisan support for not implementing it. [1] http://www.cigna.com/health-care-reform/cadillac-tax http://www.cigna.com/health-care-reform/cadillac-tax [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_insurance_plan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_insurance_plan
    - Spooky23 10y ago
      Our HR wants to be ready. Slashing benefits early is a side bonus I'm sure. :)
    - gozur88 10y ago
      I doubt it will ever happen. The reason it was delayed to start with is it's not at all politically palatable.

gwbas1c 10y ago

You hit the nail on the head. The US insurance program is about 80% of why I wasn't able to run a startup. At the time, I was 29 years old and spent about as much money on insurance as I spent on food. It was my single biggest expense after rent.