obamacare dealt huge blow

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Danzig

i get why they did what they did...but it's a huge, intricate mess. we all know the adage of keep it simple-it's too bad they didn't do so in this regard. and still a lot of minsinformation out there.
a guy who works with my husband was telling him about his son and daughter in law getting a huge quote. i asked some questions, he asked the guy-and i told him to pass on that they didn't need to go thru the exchange and would be better off not doing so, as they didn't qualify for a subsidy. that the rate would be much lower if they went right thru the insurance company itself.
so, they did.
the problem with the exchanges is a potential 'death spiral' for those within it. that only the lower income and very ill will buy thru the exchange, thus creating rate issues...much like if you only had dui drivers in your auto company.

they should have just put everyone on medicare. no more medicaid, no more state programs like arkids, and had basic coverage thru medicare-and the insurance companies could sell supplements like they do now, to everyone who wanted them instead of just seniors.

as for the story--always scary when a kid is sick.
i went to the doctor last tuesday for a sinus infection. he said 'boy, you sure are pale' (tony had said the sam thing a few days before). let's draw some blood.
found out last thursday i have severe anemia-i had no idea what all anemia could cause, but i had every symptom on the list.
went to the pharmacy for the third time that week to get iron pills...guess what the insurance company (united healthcare) doesn't cover? iron pills.
'do you still want them?' asked the pharmacist? well, yeah...i'm this close to needing a transfusion!
which reminds me, i need to call and ask them why they weren't covered.

I absolutely agree with you that universal Medicare is the answer; we're just still some years from it, I think. But generally, the ACA is an improvement over what was before. But hey, Social Security was a pretty limited program when it started- the only way to get the South to vote for it was to write it so basically all black Americans were excluded- and now it's universal, so that's something.

Sorry about the anemia. I have the opposite problem- iron overload. Runs in my Celtic family. My levels are fine now, but I'll have to donate a lot of blood eventually as it can really cause big problems over the years. My dad was recently diagnosed as having torn all three of the major hip muscles loose from the bones (he's been in agony for years and the doctors just kept shooting cortisone and telling him the pain was in his spine). The doc who finally figured it out said he usually only sees injuries like this in people who are in high-speed accidents, but as soon as he found out my dad has hemochromatosis he said, "Oh, yeah. That'd do it."

You can buy over the counter iron pills, right? Do you need very high doses, is that why it needs to be a prescription?