Friday, March 4, 2011

Am I a victim of Obamacare?

I have now experienced “Obamacare.” My insurance company has increased my yearly deductible by $500, while at the same time now charging for services that were previously covered under the plan after the deductible was paid. These include prescriptions, which were formerly no charge after deductible, now $10 for generic and $30 for non-generic drugs. Sounds like not much, but I have health insurance to cover the cost of my asthma drugs, of which I have to take several. This adds up, especially since the monthly plan premium has increased over $100. All this is awful, but the worst of all, and the reason I’m going to cancel the insurance, is that they now charge for ER visits ($100), ambulance ($100), and by far the worst of all, $300 a day after deductible if you go into the hospital! What’s the point of insurance with these kinds of costs, all of which I pay myself? I realize that if I had to pay the usual fees, they would be considerably more, but as it stands, I would still be severely set back financially if I had to be hospitalized with this lousy plan, which to me is not much better than nothing. I’ve always said that once my monthly premium exceeds the costs of my drugs, I’m going to cancel the insurance, since the drugs are the main reason that I have it. Not to mention the terrible, completely incompetent medical care that I get. For what I pay for this useless insurance,I could easily buy just about any new car that I want. It’s clear that the insurance companies are putting the screws to people like me, who pay for their own insurance. They aren’t going after company-paid plans because Obama has warned them not to. The irony of all this is that people such as myself, who would have been able to afford their own insurance, will no longer be able to. I should add that I hardly use the insurance, other than to obtain monthly prescriptions. I see the doctors about once or twice a year, get blood tests twice a year. That’s it, and this is costing me several hundred dollars a month that I can no longer afford. I believe that this non-insurance insurance is the initial reaction of insurance companies to future full implementation of the Obama administration health plan that goes into full effect in four years. The insurance companies are clearly engaging in price gauging,charging members significantly more for their plans,but offering significantly less benefits and protection. It’s now just a sham.