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There are some significant disadvantages as well, though. One is that there are fairly large cost/access disadvantages for healthcare compared to being part of

There are some significant disadvantages as well, though. One is that there are fairly large cost/access disadvantages for healthcare compared to being part of a corporate group plan, although Obamacare has improved the access part.

ChuckMcM 12y ago
This is something I think tech professionals should be able to ameliorate. You can do 'group health' (like AARP does) with a group membership organization. Is there not anything like that available from at least the IEEE or the ACM?
- atsaloli 12y ago
  Indeed: http://www.acm.org/membership/insurance-programs http://www.acm.org/membership/insurance-programs
  - _delirium 12y ago
    That's more of a marketing partnership, unfortunately not a proper group plan. I looked at it a few years ago, and it was missing the one key part of a proper group plan: mandatory coverage. If you work for Google, you are automatically covered by Google's group-plan health insurance; the insurer does not approve or reject specific employees. Whereas with ACM's partnership, being an ACM member is no guarantee of coverage. You have to submit an application, and the insurer can turn you down (or at least could, a few years ago).
cylinder 12y ago
Obamacare hasn't improved the access part unless you're subsidized. Maybe the plans are a little better, but you're still paying exorbitant premiums, especially in corrupted states like New York where you've got to subsidize the high incomes of medical malpractice lawyers. Important to note that employees of large corps are still paying big premiums, they just think they're not because the employer is paying half or more. But if those costs weren't there they could be passed to the employee as wages. This is one of the strongest explanations for the stagnation and decline of wages in the US over the last couple decades. If we made everyone buy their own insurance, there'd be riots in the streets.
- _delirium 12y ago
  > Obamacare hasn't improved the access part unless you're subsidized. That's the "cost" part of cost/access; access is whether you can get health coverage at all. Pre-Obamacare, access to healthcare was pretty dicey outside a corporate health plan, up to the insurer whether they were interested. If you had significant negative health history, you effectively had to work for a large corporation in order to get under the group umbrella. My own health is fortunately good, but I have more than one friend who chose not to start a company or join a small startup because of the healthcare issue (one has a congenital heart problem, which poses no issue for getting corporate group coverage, but previously made individual coverage a no-go).
  - zrail 12y ago
    I'm part of that group of people. I held back on starting my own business for almost a year because I would not have had access to health insurance at all due to my medical history. Obamacare means that I can buy it. After that it's just money. Bill a few more hours and/or raise my rate a few percent and I don't notice the difference.
  - mgkimsal 12y ago
    "access to health care" and "access to health insurance" are still 2 pretty different things. obamacare somewhat addressed one, but didn't do very much for the other, ime.
- CamperBob2 12y ago
  Obamacare hasn't improved the access part unless you're subsidized. Not even remotely true. Getting rid of pre-existing condition restrictions was a huge step forward in itself.

ChuckMcM 12y ago

This is something I think tech professionals should be able to ameliorate. You can do 'group health' (like AARP does) with a group membership organization. Is there not anything like that available from at least the IEEE or the ACM?

atsaloli 12y ago
Indeed: http://www.acm.org/membership/insurance-programs http://www.acm.org/membership/insurance-programs
- _delirium 12y ago
  That's more of a marketing partnership, unfortunately not a proper group plan. I looked at it a few years ago, and it was missing the one key part of a proper group plan: mandatory coverage. If you work for Google, you are automatically covered by Google's group-plan health insurance; the insurer does not approve or reject specific employees. Whereas with ACM's partnership, being an ACM member is no guarantee of coverage. You have to submit an application, and the insurer can turn you down (or at least could, a few years ago).

cylinder 12y ago

Obamacare hasn't improved the access part unless you're subsidized. Maybe the plans are a little better, but you're still paying exorbitant premiums, especially in corrupted states like New York where you've got to subsidize the high incomes of medical malpractice lawyers. Important to note that employees of large corps are still paying big premiums, they just think they're not because the employer is paying half or more. But if those costs weren't there they could be passed to the employee as wages. This is one of the strongest explanations for the stagnation and decline of wages in the US over the last couple decades. If we made everyone buy their own insurance, there'd be riots in the streets.

_delirium 12y ago
> Obamacare hasn't improved the access part unless you're subsidized. That's the "cost" part of cost/access; access is whether you can get health coverage at all. Pre-Obamacare, access to healthcare was pretty dicey outside a corporate health plan, up to the insurer whether they were interested. If you had significant negative health history, you effectively had to work for a large corporation in order to get under the group umbrella. My own health is fortunately good, but I have more than one friend who chose not to start a company or join a small startup because of the healthcare issue (one has a congenital heart problem, which poses no issue for getting corporate group coverage, but previously made individual coverage a no-go).
- zrail 12y ago
  I'm part of that group of people. I held back on starting my own business for almost a year because I would not have had access to health insurance at all due to my medical history. Obamacare means that I can buy it. After that it's just money. Bill a few more hours and/or raise my rate a few percent and I don't notice the difference.
- mgkimsal 12y ago
  "access to health care" and "access to health insurance" are still 2 pretty different things. obamacare somewhat addressed one, but didn't do very much for the other, ime.
CamperBob2 12y ago
Obamacare hasn't improved the access part unless you're subsidized. Not even remotely true. Getting rid of pre-existing condition restrictions was a huge step forward in itself.