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How Obamacare Could Unlock Job Opportunities

4 points by adrianhoward 13y ago

Casseres 13y ago
As someone in my 20s, when theoretically I can afford the risk of entrepreneurship (no financial or familial obligations), Obamacare would make it harder for me. I looked at getting health insurance when I was unemployeed, it was reasonable. Now the cost for me has doubled for comparable coverage. That would make it harder for me to afford living expenses while I trying to be an entrepreneur. Also, just based on the title: Perhaps one day there will be Professional Healthcare Navigators. People you actually pay a fee to so they can find you a plan that will save you thousands or more a year. Just like professional tax return preparers once the tax code/law got too crazy.
- jloughry 13y ago
  ...just like professional tax return preparers once the tax code/law got too crazy. <grin>I love unintended consequences.</grin> What you mention is an important knock-on effect. There will be entrepreneurial jobs created that are new because of this. There was a NY Times story on HN recently [can't find it now] about medical scribes: assistants who follow around physicians all day and update the electronic health care record-keeping systems. They free doctors from data entry so the doctors can doctor patients. My PhD thesis was originally about classified information in the intelligence community---but you know what? It's not about that at all; it's about health care records privacy, and insurance companies acting just like competing national intelligence agencies---and the same security controls work in both situations. You think NSA has a file on you? Wait until you see what kind of privacy violations that Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, and Protective can get up to. There are new companies to be started in this area. Edit: explain what medical scribes do
- bsder 13y ago
  > I looked at getting health insurance when I was unemployeed, it was reasonable. Now the cost for me has doubled for comparable coverage. That would make it harder for me to afford living expenses while I trying to be an entrepreneur. What that tells me is that the plans you were looking at would kick you off if you actually started using them. One thing that everybody forgets is that prior to Obamacare the health insurance companies had entire departments devoted to finding ways to kick people off their rolls who used too much healthcare relative to what they were paying.
jloughry 13y ago
This is an extremely important point; "job lock" has been acting as a brake on the US economy since at least 2007--8, maybe earlier, and the outlawing of "pre-existing condition" redlining practices by insurance companies benefits the vanguard of Gen X at least as much as millennials gain. Have you ever tried purchasing health insurance as a individual? The difference between last year and this year is stark.
- andyv 13y ago
  No kidding-- this year it's 30% more expensive, at least for me.
  - jloughry 13y ago
    Mine (individual purchased, for a family of three) increased slightly, from about $850/month to $880/month, but the cost for office visits went down and the cost of prescription drugs went WAY down.

4 points by adrianhoward 13y ago

As someone in my 20s, when theoretically I can afford the risk of entrepreneurship (no financial or familial obligations), Obamacare would make it harder for me. I looked at getting health insurance when I was unemployeed, it was reasonable. Now the cost for me has doubled for comparable coverage. That would make it harder for me to afford living expenses while I trying to be an entrepreneur. Also, just based on the title: Perhaps one day there will be Professional Healthcare Navigators. People you actually pay a fee to so they can find you a plan that will save you thousands or more a year. Just like professional tax return preparers once the tax code/law got too crazy.

jloughry 13y ago
...just like professional tax return preparers once the tax code/law got too crazy. <grin>I love unintended consequences.</grin> What you mention is an important knock-on effect. There will be entrepreneurial jobs created that are new because of this. There was a NY Times story on HN recently [can't find it now] about medical scribes: assistants who follow around physicians all day and update the electronic health care record-keeping systems. They free doctors from data entry so the doctors can doctor patients. My PhD thesis was originally about classified information in the intelligence community---but you know what? It's not about that at all; it's about health care records privacy, and insurance companies acting just like competing national intelligence agencies---and the same security controls work in both situations. You think NSA has a file on you? Wait until you see what kind of privacy violations that Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, and Protective can get up to. There are new companies to be started in this area. Edit: explain what medical scribes do
bsder 13y ago
> I looked at getting health insurance when I was unemployeed, it was reasonable. Now the cost for me has doubled for comparable coverage. That would make it harder for me to afford living expenses while I trying to be an entrepreneur. What that tells me is that the plans you were looking at would kick you off if you actually started using them. One thing that everybody forgets is that prior to Obamacare the health insurance companies had entire departments devoted to finding ways to kick people off their rolls who used too much healthcare relative to what they were paying.

jloughry 13y ago

This is an extremely important point; "job lock" has been acting as a brake on the US economy since at least 2007--8, maybe earlier, and the outlawing of "pre-existing condition" redlining practices by insurance companies benefits the vanguard of Gen X at least as much as millennials gain. Have you ever tried purchasing health insurance as a individual? The difference between last year and this year is stark.

andyv 13y ago
No kidding-- this year it's 30% more expensive, at least for me.
- jloughry 13y ago
  Mine (individual purchased, for a family of three) increased slightly, from about $850/month to $880/month, but the cost for office visits went down and the cost of prescription drugs went WAY down.