Boehner Complains That Obamacare Tripled His Co-Pay

[SGOS]

What the fuck.  edit:  $1500

That's a guess on my part, but for a somewhat ordinary plan purchased by an individual without collective power, $800 per month is in the ball park.  This would not include dental or optical, and you may have to pay for meds out of pocket, and of course you would have to meet some specified deductible before anything was covered.  Congressmen have very good insurance, so I'm guessing $1500 would not be unreasonable, but I don't know for sure.

Deductibles vary a great deal.  Years ago, I figured out that just between my monthly payment and meeting my deductible, it was costing me something like $8000 a year before insurance even paid anything.  That was many years ago.  It would be much higher now.

Now, I get Medicare, so I don't think about these costs much anymore.  With my additional insurances that basic Medicare does not cover, it still costs me just under $300 per month, and frankly that makes me feel like I've died and gone to heaven.  I still have to pay for dental and optical, and occasionally I've gotten a small bill from my doctor which is not covered by my plans, and I still have to pay for medications, some of which have doubled in recent years.

When employers opt out of insurance for their employees, most Americans, at least those who depend on employer provided insurance, will probably experience sticker shock, and it will be "shocking."  It was for me, anyway.

[SGOS]

After retirement,  I went to see an insurance agent and told him what kind of health insurance I had from my previous employer, and asked him what it would cost to get something that didn’t pay all my medical costs, but would cover me in the event of a catastrophic illness.  I wish I could remember what he said exactly, but I can’t because I didn’t understand a word of it, partly because it was meaningless, and partly because he spoke like a machine gun using coded language understood only at secret insurance agent meetings.

But I’ll try to recreate the feel of the scene as best I can.  Read it while keeping in mind one of those late night TV commercials where the guy talks at lightening speed so  he can fit everything into his allotted 30 seconds.  The agent says (and this is only about one tenth of the entire pitch):

“Sure, we can set you up with a sixty forty twenty thirty with an additional forty forty when you realize ten percent of your sixty after the twenty thirty reaches max, at which point, you can opt for an eighty twenty with a forty forty…….”

This is said with no pause where I get to ask for clarification.  I just kind of sat there with my head nodding, and he kept going, because  I doubt that he gave a shit.  He may have just wanted me to leave… which I did.  But before I left, I felt to compelled to ask (why I have no idea really), “How much would that cost?”

Perhaps this is why Obamacare has insurances exchanges in each state.  You don’t have to walk down the street to listen to another agent explain a slightly different policy using a slightly different style of cultivated “agentspeak“.  Well, I suspect it’s better than that, at least I would hope so.

I remember leaving that agency laughing to myself and thinking, “Well that was helpful!”