6 ms·

Considering the majority in the house and senate, day 1 the ACA is going to get repealed - millions will lose their health coverage, and my employer's profitabi

by snuxoll 10y ago

Considering the majority in the house and senate, day 1 the ACA is going to get repealed - millions will lose their health coverage, and my employer's profitability is going to tank as a result as an increase of patients coming into the ER can't pay their medical bills and we end up sending them to collections before eventually writing it off.

pavlov 10y ago
It is highly telling that pharma stocks are strongly up following the Trump victory. Investors believe that drug prices and healthcare costs will reap increasing profits to shareholders in the next four years.
TearsInTheRain 10y ago
millions lost their health coverage when premiums and deductibles skyrocketed
- MaysonL 10y ago
  At present, there are millions more people with health insurance in the USA than before Romneycare became the law of the land. Especially in the states that implemented the Medicaid expansion provisions.
  - snuxoll 10y ago
    The Medicaid expansion is a particular sore spot if the ACA gets repealed, a majority of our physicians are in California where Medi-Cal has had gobs of funding and covered an expanded population well before the ACA was implemented - but for those in states that did rely on the expansion funding I expect our collection rates are going to plummet as Medicaid patients continue to make up a large majority of those that utilize emergency department and urgent care facilities. There's going to be a lot of people losing Medicaid if this happens that will become self-pay (aka, no money) patients. Not a good time to be in the billing industry.
- CamperBob2 10y ago
  They didn't necessarily lose their coverage, they just ended up with much worse coverage with much higher deductibles. Those of us who have stuck with our pre-Obamacare plans are paying dearly for the privilege. That's OK, I understand that Obamacare was supposed to fail from day one, in order to pave the way for single-payer coverage. But it's becoming increasingly apparent that we're going to get the first part without the second.
NickM 10y ago
Republicans already had a majority in the house and senate, and have tried to repeal the ACA many times. They still don't have a supermajority in the senate, though, so I expect Democrats will continue to filibuster any attempts to repeal.
- snuxoll 10y ago
  They also had a president that would veto any attempt to do so, only time will tell at this point - but the outlook is grim in my opinion.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- Spoom 10y ago
  They passed a reconciliation bill[1], which needed only a simple majority in both houses and is filibuster-proof. The only thing that stopped that bill from going through was a Presidential veto. The ACA is going to be repealed. 1. https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/3762 https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/3762
  - Frondo 10y ago
    This scares me. Before the ACA, no one would sell me health insurance. Several years ago, I had my gallbladder out. So whenever I'd try to buy health insurance, "pre-existing condition" would kick in, even though I'm perfectly healthy. So, I'm scared now, to once again be a self-employed adult without access to medical care. At least I'm in pretty good health. I know a few people who rely on their health care who, if they end up getting kicked off of their insurance plans, may not live very long. That's scary to think about, too.
    - Spoom 10y ago
      Without the Medicaid expansion, they likely won't be able to afford any private insurance as well. The ultimate outcome is going to be uninsured people flooding the ER, who by law has to stabilize them. But maintenance drugs will be out of reach of many.

by snuxoll 10y ago

pavlov 10y ago

It is highly telling that pharma stocks are strongly up following the Trump victory. Investors believe that drug prices and healthcare costs will reap increasing profits to shareholders in the next four years.

TearsInTheRain 10y ago

millions lost their health coverage when premiums and deductibles skyrocketed

MaysonL 10y ago
At present, there are millions more people with health insurance in the USA than before Romneycare became the law of the land. Especially in the states that implemented the Medicaid expansion provisions.
- snuxoll 10y ago
  The Medicaid expansion is a particular sore spot if the ACA gets repealed, a majority of our physicians are in California where Medi-Cal has had gobs of funding and covered an expanded population well before the ACA was implemented - but for those in states that did rely on the expansion funding I expect our collection rates are going to plummet as Medicaid patients continue to make up a large majority of those that utilize emergency department and urgent care facilities. There's going to be a lot of people losing Medicaid if this happens that will become self-pay (aka, no money) patients. Not a good time to be in the billing industry.
CamperBob2 10y ago
They didn't necessarily lose their coverage, they just ended up with much worse coverage with much higher deductibles. Those of us who have stuck with our pre-Obamacare plans are paying dearly for the privilege. That's OK, I understand that Obamacare was supposed to fail from day one, in order to pave the way for single-payer coverage. But it's becoming increasingly apparent that we're going to get the first part without the second.

NickM 10y ago

Republicans already had a majority in the house and senate, and have tried to repeal the ACA many times. They still don't have a supermajority in the senate, though, so I expect Democrats will continue to filibuster any attempts to repeal.

snuxoll 10y ago
They also had a president that would veto any attempt to do so, only time will tell at this point - but the outlook is grim in my opinion.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Spoom 10y ago
They passed a reconciliation bill[1], which needed only a simple majority in both houses and is filibuster-proof. The only thing that stopped that bill from going through was a Presidential veto. The ACA is going to be repealed. 1. https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/3762 https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/3762
- Frondo 10y ago
  This scares me. Before the ACA, no one would sell me health insurance. Several years ago, I had my gallbladder out. So whenever I'd try to buy health insurance, "pre-existing condition" would kick in, even though I'm perfectly healthy. So, I'm scared now, to once again be a self-employed adult without access to medical care. At least I'm in pretty good health. I know a few people who rely on their health care who, if they end up getting kicked off of their insurance plans, may not live very long. That's scary to think about, too.
  - Spoom 10y ago
    Without the Medicaid expansion, they likely won't be able to afford any private insurance as well. The ultimate outcome is going to be uninsured people flooding the ER, who by law has to stabilize them. But maintenance drugs will be out of reach of many.