Sadie

DF’s beauty – a very lovely way to end the day 🙂

Tweet Of The Day

So. Much. Truth.

https://twitter.com/SonofBaldwin/status/579334415832084480

What the Affordable Care Act means to me…. coverage for $1/month!

I’m not sure where to begin…so let me go back to a little over three years ago when I had to begin the process of purchasing health care on the individual market.

I was no longer able to stay on my parents plan and my COBRA coverage had run out from my previous employer (somewhat ironically selling Healthcare/Life insurance) and thus began an exhaustive search for an affordable option.

I had several pre-existing conditions due to basketball/tennis related injuries that required several surgeries and had moved backed to Indianapolis to help my father recover from serious heart problems. The job market wasn’t great at the time so I figured I would work part-time and go back to school.

After finally settling on what I thought would be the kind of coverage ideal for me, I purchased a plan from Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield. They are the largest insurance provider in the state and had a decent plan that fit my needs. It was called the Lumina 2500.

The plan was pretty cheap (139/month) considering it was on the individual market. The crux of the plan was I would have no co-pay for doctor visits/ER/pharmacy, but I had to pay the negotiated price between the provider/insurance companies in full.

For example: If I got sick and went to the family physician and the bill was ~ $200 I would end up paying $80, if the medicine was ~ $60 I would pay ~ 25 depending of if there was a generic available (the ~ $85 total all of went toward my deductible of $2500 which was also the maximum out-of-pocket for the year).

This plan worked for me because I knew no matter what happened in a given year I would never have more $4000 in expenses (including my premium). I only got one major cold during the three  following years so I thought this was great. ABBS did jack my rate up ~20% every year (2014 premium was $180) but I  could live with that since the Affordable Care Act would be available shortly.

 To my chagrin, Gov. Pence did not set up a state exchange last year and also didn’t expand Medicaid.

At the end of 2013 I decided to go to school full-time in the hopes to get into a radiology program. At the same time I was hoping to find a better option on the national healthcare marketplace once it was rolled out. I came to find out that Anthem dominated the insurance market here in the state of Indiana (they were essentially the only company that joined the marketplace that had good in-network providers)….. the kicker was being a pseudo monopoly all their comparable plans were actually closer to $400/month. Since I didn’t have enough taxable income, I also didn’t qualify for any subsidies so I was stuck with my current plan & the expectation of a rate hike ever year…. or so I thought.

Around early Nov. 2014, Anthem announced that it was discontinuing my insurance plan and I had to find another one through them or another insurance company. The insurance commissioner of our state was one of only two in the country (according to Anthem, Connecticut was the other) that were not extending the grandfather clause of allowing you to keep your insurance plan if you liked it.

Chat Away

On This Day: President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama gather with President Sebastián Piñera of Chile, wife Cecilia Morel, and their family for a photograph during a dinner at La Moneda Palace in Santiago, Chile, March 21, 2011 (Photo by Pete Souza)

Cheerleader in Chief

President Barack Obama sits beside his brother-in-law Craig Robinson while attending the Green Bay versus Princeton women’s college basketball game in the first round of the NCAA tournament. President Obama’s niece Leslie Robinson plays for Princeton.

Rise and Shine: The First Lady in Cambodia

First Lady Michelle Obama visiting a school in Siem Reap province, Cambodia

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VOA: Michelle Obama Meets With Cambodian Students

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama is in Cambodia where she spoke Saturday at a Peace Corps training event in the city of Siem Reap, home to Cambodia’s famed Angkor Wat temple complex. The visit is part of a two-nation trip meant to highlight a new global women’s education initiative.

Obama thanked the Peace Corps volunteers for the work that they are doing to educate and empower girls in Cambodia.  She called the volunteers the “living, breathing” embodiment of what her program, “Let Girls Learn,” is all about.

Earlier in the day, Obama met with a group of girls at a school on the outskirts of the city.

Accompanied by Bun Rany, the wife of Cambodia’s prime minister Hun Sen, Obama told the schoolgirls to stay in school and take advantage of their education to demand greater freedoms in their impoverished country.

“Let girls learn’ is about giving girls like you here, all the girls who are here, giving you a voice in your communities and in your country,” she said.

The trip is the first time that the wife of a sitting U.S. president has visited the Southeast Asian country.

More here

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First Lady Michelle Obama and Bun Rany, the first lady of Cambodia, arrive to meet with students at a high school on the outskirts of Siem Reap, Cambodia

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Early Bird Chat

On This Day: President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and senior staff, react in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, as the House passes the health care reform bill, March 21, 2010 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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MoooOOOooorning!