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Sifo
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 12:53 pm: | 
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A personal story here... Both my wife and I have our current insurance plans coming to an end very soon, so this current "open enrollment" period is time for us to act. We have examined various plans over the past few weeks, trying to make heads or tails of the plans to figure out what would work best for us. This in itself is a fairly daunting task. Yesterday my wife decided she was going to actually do the ObamaDontCare (ODC) sign up, as our situation in 2015 should allow for substantial savings for us under ODC. So about 3:30 in the afternoon she went to the website. After about an hour she was swearing at it, but still making progress. By 5:00 she was really mad with it because it doesn't explain how to deal with other sources of income, not from our employer. At this point she called to get help from the navigators. After about another hour, the navigator was able to get her to the point of knowing what the subsidy would be for us, and we are ready to choose a plan. Well that plus we are supposed to provide "documentation" on our expected income via mail. Unfortunately, we don't know that income until tax time, so early 2016! The navigator just didn't seem to understand how it works when you have investments in mutual funds. We just don't know what our income will be in 2015. We just provided a best guess knowing it will get settled up when we do our 2015 taxes. Somewhere in all of this, our call was dropped, but my wife continued making progress on her own. Around 6:30, she was frustrated by knowing that some personal information had been left incomplete earlier in the process, and she couldn't figure out how to make any changes. Call the navigator again. It took a while, but eventually the navigator was able to make the change for her. Mind you, this was incidental personal information that had nothing to do with our income, etc. Well, she immediately noticed that the amount of the subsidy had changed. She actually had it written down from earlier. The navigator said it should not have changed. We got a supervisor on the line who said the same thing. So now my wife is asking how to see a summary of what information is in our account. THERE ISN'T ONE!!! So my wife asks how she would update our estimated income. You can't do that either! Once you enter information in a screen and save it, it's done. They did suggest that they could wipe out all the information in our account and start over to update something. My wife verified, "you mean start over at the point of entering our names?". YES! My wife, who has spent years being technical sales support for a company that dealt with multimillion dollar contracts is actually starting to swear on the phone! I've known her for 35 years now, and I've never seen this ever before! She actually ended the call with "thanks for not being able to help".
Bottom line, it took her close to 6 hours on the computer and phone to get to where you actually pick a plan. There is no way to see what has been entered, some which was entered by the person on the phone. They have no way to edit any of that information that you can't see either. They can't explain why out benefit amount changed during the process, but did suggest that we could file with the IRS to get it straightened out. Keep in mind that NOTHING that went on during that almost 6 hours has ANYTHING to do with deciding what insurance plan you want to choose.
Our government has been patting themselves on the back for how much better the new site works compared to last year. This may be true, but it's still pathetic, especially considering this was likely the most expensive civilian software system ever devised.
This morning at work we talked to someone who simply waited on the phone for help until her phone died.
My brother-in-law is getting bitten too. He's been praising ODC all year based on how cheap it is. Unfortunately, he spent most of the year on unemployment and he's now finding out that he won't qualify for the subsidy that he has received all year. He will be forced to either pay it all back when he does is 2014 taxes, or take enough money from his 401K plan to bump is income to the minimum amount. He then will have to pay a penalty for early withdrawal from his 401K. BTW, you can put money into a 401K (not a ROTH 401K) to reduce your income to qualify for the subsidy, or a greater subsidy. We will likely be doing this at the end of 2015. 
Just though I'd share my experience so far. It might help someone else figure things out. |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 01:09 pm: |
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quote:BTW, you can put money into a 401K (not a ROTH 401K) to reduce your income to qualify for the subsidy, or a greater subsidy.
Well there is your young single just out of college first job loophole. Bank every last penny of your income into a 401k so you are at the poverty level, and get fully subsided health insurance while you pour what would be spent on insurance into your 401k. |
Sifo
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 01:24 pm: |
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You can only bank, I think the max is $6K per person per year. Still, in some situations, it makes a huge difference. We can "adjust" our income by $12K this way. We happen to be in a situation where it's very doable for us. Why wouldn't I take advantage? |
Court
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 01:39 pm: |
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>>>Why wouldn't I take advantage?
It would be foolish not to.
I go to extraordinary, within legal bounds, measures to shield income from taxes.
I start with 30% contribution to the company plan but no one should ever contribute less than the amount an employer will match.
Next . . .I get the low hanging fruit. My employer gives 1 free share of stock for every 9 purchased and you can go up to $50k per year. Handing someone $9 and having them hand you back $10 is FREE money. Never walk past a dollar on the sidewalk.
Similarly, I like to max out all those "pre-tax" benefits. You contribute to the parking and commuter account all year and their, neigh on the holidays, sits $5,000 of funds that never get taxed.
Most folks never really think about the insurance thing beyond just "assuming" it to be something someone else does for them. The moment, carefully timed to arrive about the time the Big O departs, the hard truth of the matter hits . . . and our old system is irrevocably gone . . . there's going to be a public furor.
Americans stood by and bought into that stupid "we've got to pass it to know what's in it" line of bullshit. Gruber was partially right. |
Sifo
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 01:48 pm: |
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but no one should ever contribute less than the amount an employer will match.
My wife used to work at a place that would match 50% on up to 6% of your salary! You put in a dollar, and avoid taxes on that dollar, and they give you back a buckfidy! Amazing that some still wouldn't take advantage. |
Court
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 02:13 pm: |
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That's precisely our current formula.
I'm a ••••• as well . . .when I found out that they have a 100% immediate (with no requirement to remain with company . . which has since changed) tuition reimbursement program . . . I hit them for advanced degrees from NYU and Columbia.
Now it looks like Columbia may generously send me . . at the ripe age of 61 . . to law school.
Ya gotta love these programs ! |
Reindog
| | Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2014 - 02:18 pm: |
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Better Call Court! |
Sifo
| | Posted on Monday, December 08, 2014 - 07:31 pm: |
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So we just got a call from an insurance representative. My wife took the call. Claimed to be from Cigna. We didn't purchase insurance from Cigna. They then transferred her to a BlueCross rep. First they wanted her to provide her birth date. She refused. Then they asked for our ID with the insurance co. She refused again. Apparently they were quite persistent. My wife was smart enough to keep refusing them. She then called BlueCross directly. They had no clue who called us or why. It would seem likely that security on healthcare.gov isn't all it's cracked up to be.  |
Aesquire
| | Posted on Monday, December 08, 2014 - 07:58 pm: |
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I get calls all the time from guys claiming to be from my bank. They want to confirm it's me before they can tell me Why they are calling and want info.
I tell them my bank says such calls are from thieves. So first I need their physical address. Then it gets abusive.
One time I finally told the guy ( who refused to give ME any info I wanted ) to go have sex with himself and hung up.
He was from my bank and shut down my credit card.
I went to my bank and we had words. I made them put a note on my account that I would prosecute if harassed in such a manner again....
This was after I couldn't talk to a human on the phone or access the computerized system, because the identity question was blank on the computer form so there was no way to give the right answer.
These folks actually want my business. Imagine if it was mandatory and they could care less.
You don't need much imagination. Just deal with healthcare.gov.screwu |
Ducbsa
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 09, 2014 - 05:56 am: |
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One of my sons needs to sign up for O'care and very likely voted for Barry both times. With his short temper, it won't be pretty. Maybe it will be a teachable moment for him. |
Reindog
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 09, 2014 - 10:29 am: |
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Jonathon Gruber is testifying about the lies and duplicity of Obamacare before Congress right now. Here is how the information is being disseminated.
Fox News: Airing the Hearing.
Fox Business News: Airing the Hearing.
CNN: Yacking about the UVA rape case followed by Mark Lamont Hill demanding control of the police with "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" lies of Ferguson.
MSNBC: Banning horse carriages in New York City.
If you don't know who Jonathon Gruber is by now, then you are hopelessly lost. |
Reindog
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 09, 2014 - 10:35 am: |
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Reindog
| | Posted on Thursday, December 11, 2014 - 10:52 am: |
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Obamacare must die.
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Reindog
| | Posted on Monday, January 05, 2015 - 10:27 am: |
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This has already happened to some of my friends who are Badwebbers. Kill and destroy the travesty known as Obamacare.
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Ducbsa
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 06, 2015 - 07:39 am: |
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Harvard profs discover Obamacare is a bad idea! Send Gruber over to explain it to them.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/01/scha denfreude-on-the-charles.php |
46champ
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 06, 2015 - 09:40 am: |
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Ducbsa that is great I am going to work with a smile on my face. |
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