Doctors, Hospitals Expect Confusion as Obamacare Plans Begin

By ewis Krauskopf and | January 2, 2014

  • January 2, 2014 at 2:23 pm
    Sarah says:
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    Just wait until the lower income people with their fully subsidized plans with large deductibles can not see a doctor because the doctors decline to take the insurance because they know they will not be paid until after the deductible is met! It does not take a rocket scientist to see there are going to be real problems with “Doc Shock” with these plans going forward! 2013 biggest lie – If you like your plan you can keep it!” 2014 biggest lie – If you like your doctor you can keep him!, Period!” (Liar in Chief)

    • January 2, 2014 at 2:37 pm
      Agent says:
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      Sarah, I would add that wait until the doctor’s office or hospital tries to confirm coverage and the patient is not in the system because there was no confirmation of coverage, no ID card and no premium was paid. I think the Doc shock will be manifested in the month of January and going forward.

    • January 7, 2014 at 2:39 pm
      Agent says:
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      Sarah, I guess one way to lower the cost of healthcare is for consumers to just not go to the doctor. Of course they can still go to the Emergency Room and tell them they don’t have insurance. The Libs said that was what was wrong prior to Obamacare. Now, the Medicaid people and those that are without will flood the Emergency Room so how did this law help that situation?

  • January 3, 2014 at 1:23 pm
    FFA says:
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    Let the games begin!!!

    • January 3, 2014 at 2:38 pm
      Agent says:
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      Hey FFA, are you freezing to death up there on the frozen tundra? I understand the playoff game in Green Bay will have a temperature around zero and windchill in the minus 15 neighborhood. Reminds me of the famous “ice bowl” with the Packers/Cowboys for the NFL championship. Starr won it with a QB sneak at the end.

      I have seen a story on the internet that people are already being turned away on getting care because they cannot confirm coverage. Even if they have it, the deductible keeps getting in the way if the patient had one of those sorry Bronze Plans. Dr Offices and Hospitals want money that these people don’t have. Isn’t it just wonderful, this Affordable Care Act?

      • January 3, 2014 at 3:33 pm
        FFA says:
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        yes. I am still here. Pipes are frozen solid. No running water for several days now. Good neighbors. While there this AM, she told me starting Sat, Cold front coming through on Sat afternoon bringing temp of 20 below before wind chill. Bugging out in the AM before that starts to happen. Going to be cold in Green Bay this week end. YIKESSS.

        • January 3, 2014 at 4:39 pm
          Agent says:
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          FFA, be careful going home. The pictures I see are just awful in the Great Lakes area. I guess this proves Global Warming after all. Two ships stuck in the ice in Antartica thinking they would see Penguins swimming around in warm water, record low temperatures all across America.

          By the way, do you remember all the Libs screaming about the former healthcare system that people were just using Emergency Rooms for their Healthcare and saddeling the taxpayers with all that extra expense? A new study done by Harvard of all institutions has concluded that Emergency Room visits will escalate under Obamacare as the Medicaid people will use them more and then add in all the ones who can’t get affordable care in force. Emergency Rooms will be the primary care people will be getting. Another huge lie of Obamacare. Not quite as bad as “If you like your plan, you can keep it, Period”, but bad nonetheless.

          • January 6, 2014 at 11:28 am
            FFA says:
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            Agent – No issues getting home on Sat. Took a little longer then normal cause we had to drive a little slower then we normally would. This will quiet the debate on “Global Warming”. Everything is closed around here. I am the only one in my building today. Banks Closed. No traffic on main st. Its just cold!

          • January 7, 2014 at 2:36 pm
            Agent says:
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            FFA, glad you made it allright. I understand most flights at O’Hare are cancelled since the fuel is freezing as well. We have had it rougher than usual but it is balmy compared to up there. Our high is about 25 and it is supposed to warm up to the lower 50’s by the weekend. Maybe it wil warm up there as well. I am sure you would take 32 degrees, wouldn’t you?

            By the way, the Global Warming people have a funny logic. They say cold like this is proof there is Global Warming on the earth. Of course, they keep changing their tune and now say it is climate change. Every time they are proven wrong. Those idiots in Colorado said the country would have multiple hurricanes hitting land this past year. Did I miss something? We even had a light year on Wind & Hail. This has prompted the insurance industry to raise rates for “expected losses” like State Farm, Allstate & Farmers Group. This ought to go over well with insureds that already complain about their rates.

          • January 9, 2014 at 11:39 am
            Wes says:
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            Agent – An incorrect conclusion that many people seem to jump to is that if global warming is happening, then an unusual outbreak of cold weather as we experienced this week wouldn’t just be unlikely, it would be impossible. Well, let’s look at what caused this week’s weather. It started with the Polar Vortex – an extremely cold, dense mass of air that swirls around the north pole. The Polar Vortex is not unusual. It forms every winter, but it usually stays put where it is, north of the arctic circle.

            So what happened this week? The jet stream is what happened. During a normal winter, the jet stream meanders about the northern hemisphere around the latitudes of the continental United States, with wind speeds typically around 100 – 150 mph. Last week, the jet stream was overly energized. It stretched up to almost the arctic ocean in western Canada, then shot down to the Gulf of Mexico, with top winds of over 225 mph. The jet stream grabbed the Polar Vortex out of its normal spot and temporarily pulled it south. After hearing this one might say – this has nothing to do with global warming – it was just the jet stream. OK, but what causes the jet stream? Jet stream activity is directly related to the thermal energy in the tropics. When the tropics heat up, the jet stream speeds up and reaches further north. Last week the jet stream was about as far north as it ever goes, with wind speeds 50% faster than normal. So, although the end result was colder than normal temperatures here in the United States, what set that in motion was much, much hotter than normal air in the tropics. That seems to confirm that global warming might be happening.

            And yes – I said MIGHT be happening. I am very willing to debate the issue, as long as the debate has relevant scientific facts rather than sound bites. But I am not willing to believe that a single weather event can either prove or disprove something as complicated and long-term as global warming.

    • January 8, 2014 at 12:52 pm
      Agent says:
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      FFA, I saw a good cartoon this morning you will like. The picture is of two down on their luck hobos standing on a street corner with their tin cups and signs. On one sign, it says I want to be rich. On the other sign, it said Used to be rich. The guy that had the Used to be rich sign told the other one that “It looks like Obama solved the Income Inequality problem”. Pretty true picture of what is currently going on.

      • January 9, 2014 at 1:10 pm
        Agent says:
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        Wes, are you a scientist or are you in the Insurance business like we are? Do you blame man for this Polar Vortex like the kooks in the Global Warming community do? What happened to the jet stream back in the 30’s when we had the Dust Bowl years due to the drought? Could it be a natural phenomena that occurs ever so often? What if the earth has tipped on its axis a little? Could that be another explanation for the jet stream changing its pattern? I have not seen any reports that the tropics are any hotter than usual. The closer to the equator you are, the hotter it is.

  • January 3, 2014 at 1:30 pm
    Frank says:
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    Anytime someone enrolled in a new plan (like my company just did), we won’t be in the “system” for a few weeks, so that’s not the issue. And, the doctor or hospital will confirm “coverage” and will have to accept the patient because of the contract they have with the carrier. The “sticker shock” will hit when the patient gets the bill from the doctor or hospital visit and them learns that they have to pay the high deductible BEFORE receiving benefits!

    Forget Obamacare for a moment – I went in last year with Horizen BC as my Plan, and the Surgicenter said “No problem”. My bill was $4,000 of which, HA HA, Horizon paid HALF leaving me to pay the other half out-of-pocket. That was BEFORE Obamacare! Do you think anything will change AFTER Obamacare??

    What WILL change is this – the people who have been putting off having MRIs, endoscopy, colonoscopy, cataract surgery, etc., will now schedule them and be told “you are covered”, just like I was. And they will get a huge bill at the end of the day for their deductible!

    But, they will have “Affordable Care” insurance!! Yeah, right! Good luck with that!!

    • January 3, 2014 at 4:09 pm
      Libby says:
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      Frank: Preventative care is not subject to deductibles.

      • January 6, 2014 at 5:25 pm
        Always Amazed says:
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        Which would include the colonoscopy. The MRIs and endos aren’t preventative and depending on how your insurance works you either have to pay 40% of the charge, or 20% of the charge.

  • January 7, 2014 at 2:36 pm
    John Spek says:
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    Libby,
    the colonoscopy is only preventative if
    there were no removals
    local, not full anesthetic was used
    outpatient clinic, not hospital services were used

    if those conditions are not met – it’s not covered

    and since that is a major expense – people will deal with the high deductibles in sticker shock

    that’s in the fine print that people acting as their own broker on exchanges did not see or read

    soon consumer protection will step in, and require a disclaimer
    Exchange site disclaimer

    “You may buy this without medical questions or restrictions, but there may be large out of pocket costs, and those costs may exceed listed amounts because of the care giver you select.
    Your pricing is based on a combination of insurance premium, possible government provided subsidy, and your willingness to be held financially liable for Out of Pocket Cost Sharing amounts.
    It is your responsibility to assure that you know what you are buying and to report the information needed correctly.
    Subsidies may be available after disclosure from you as to family earnings, family status and other salient requirements, and are subject to government investigation and verification.
    Any subsidies provided under false circumstances will become your future liability with a responsibility to repay, possibly with assessed interest.”

    • January 7, 2014 at 3:30 pm
      Libby says:
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      No wonder I paid $1,000 for my one and only colonoscopy and will NEVER have another one!

      • January 7, 2014 at 5:25 pm
        Agent says:
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        I finally agree with you on one Libby. I had my one and only as well. The preparation was worse than the procedure. That stuff they make you swallow is about as bad as it gets. I got sick on that stuff and couldn’t quite get it all down. You also have to make sure you are close to the bathroom since you tend to explode at the wrong time.

        • January 8, 2014 at 1:38 pm
          ralph says:
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          Story time!

          had to get scoped once. did the prep work (cleaned me out better than drano), went to the hospital for the procedure, and they said, “Where’s your ride home?” I told them that I had none, since my father was unable to help due to car problems. Being new in town, I didn’t know many people so I told them that I was just planning on hanging around for 6 hours or so until they cleared me to leave, or I’d just take a cab. No big deal, right? WRONG.

          They said they’d have to reschedule the procedure. No way was I going through that prep hell again, so I asked what my alternative was. They said they could do it WITHOUT ANESTHESIA and it would take about 5-10. The thought of that was absolutely horrifying, but I figured minutes I could handle pretty much anything for 5-10 minutes. WRONG AGAIN!

          I closed my eyes, gritted my teeth and tried to mentally prepare myself by focusing on the music playing on the radio. Within 30 seconds, I was moaning for them to “KILL ME, PLEASE!” The best part (and I swear I’m not making this up)? The song playing was Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Goin’ On.” They stopped the procedure, and it was several years before I ever had another (and you can bet I had a ride home for that one, as well as several back-ups just in case).

  • January 8, 2014 at 1:48 pm
    FFA says:
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    Had a client call me this AM. She has her new insurance card went to the pharmacy to pick up her RX and walgreens told her the card was not active. Called BCBS to dig into it after a two hour hold time. Health Care . Gov site has not sent her premium payment over to BCBS so the card was showing Inactive. She had to make an additional payment directly to BCBS. The gov site also has not processed her dental ap. Moral, want your insurance active, get the payment directly to the company – not the govt.

    • January 8, 2014 at 3:03 pm
      Agent says:
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      FFA, my Blue Cross newsletters have been saying they would honor late payments up to 1-10-14 if the applicant was in their system. How can they issue a new card, but not activate coverage? I agree that people should pay the company direct once the coverage is affirmed. It is a lot safer on BC system than the government who is well known for screwing things up. BC has hired 500 more employees to answer the phone and put out a new phone number and they cannot deal with all the problems that keep cropping up. We should now thank Obama for creating 500 new private sector jobs. Of course, it is adding expense to the bottom line, but so be it.

  • January 8, 2014 at 3:19 pm
    FFA says:
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    agent, the gist is that she made the payment and the Govt is holding the money. If the carrier don’t get the premium money, how are they supposed to pay claims????

    • January 8, 2014 at 5:10 pm
      Agent says:
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      FFA, I just got my daily email notice from Blue Cross. They are now going to extend the payment period for 1-1 effective date to 1-31-14. A whole month? Will they want two payments to catch up? It really is incredible what is going on. Of course, Blue Cross has bought into all this and they are trying to make it work to their advantage, but they are missing premium dollars just as the other carriers are. Carriers have cancelled 6 million policies so they aren’t getting revenue from them either. I think the till may be bare before any money shows up. They wanted all this, so they will have to live with it. By the way, why is Sebelius holding onto this money? Your customer is lost in the labyrinth of the Federal Government. Why am I not surprised?

  • January 8, 2014 at 6:14 pm
    FFA says:
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    Another client went through all the hoops. Went to hit the “Submit” button and the transaction voided out because their “daughter is at school out of state”.

    So, it cant even handle that contingency. Of course, if it cant handle getting the money to where it needs to go, why should it handle something a little less common like student away at school…

    • January 9, 2014 at 9:57 am
      Agent says:
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      So the only way to get the daughter covered is if she is going to school locally and living at home? I suppose the daughter could apply for an Individual policy for young Millenials and pay the exhorbitant premium. Isn’t that a great idea? Colleges used to offer student health plans for conditions of the student at the infirmary at school, but those have been cancelled as well. It sounds like your client is in a pickle just like millions of others are.

    • January 9, 2014 at 12:50 pm
      Agent says:
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      FFA, How about a good joke to lighten your day from the troubles of the world?

      Obama was walking on the beach during his vacation in Hawaii. He found a bottle, picked it up and rubbed the sand off. Out popped a genie. She said Master, may I grant you one wish? He said, do you know who I am? I don’t need any common woman to give me anything. She said, Please, if I don’t grant a wish, I will be returned to the bottle forever. He grumbled about the impertinence of the woman and then said, very well, I want to awaken with three white women in bed with me in the morning. Just do it and be off with you. The annoyed Genie said “So be it” and disappeared. The next morning Obama awakened with Lorena Bobbit, Tonya Harding and Nancy Pelosi in bed with him. His penis was gone, his knees were broken and he had no Health Insurance. The subject on the joke was “God is Good.

      • January 9, 2014 at 1:12 pm
        Libby says:
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        Even I laughed at that one, Agent.

        • January 16, 2014 at 4:01 pm
          Agent says:
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          You laughed and then thumbed it down, didn’t you Libby?

      • January 9, 2014 at 1:23 pm
        FFA says:
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        Good One…

        • January 9, 2014 at 4:55 pm
          Agent says:
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          FFA, have you been following the story on Bridgegate with Christie? The bridge between NJ and NY had several lanes shut down a couple of months ago for “traffic studies” and was done for political reasons by one of his staff. One woman died because emergency vehicles couldn’t get to her and several others had health issues. I don’t agree with much the RINO Christie does, but I do give him credit for apologizing for the problem and immediately firing the aide who did it. That is different than the President, who doesn’t fire anyone for malfeasance. Sebelius still there, CMS head still there and a myriad of wrongdoers are in the various departments and agencies who should have been removed long ago are still drawing their huge salaries and benefits and no consequences to any of them.

          • January 9, 2014 at 6:24 pm
            FFA says:
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            I caught a piece of that on the news this AM. Didn’t catch the whole story. I am sure I will be brought up to speed on tonight’s news.

            Glad to hear he did something about it other then blame the Dems..

  • January 9, 2014 at 10:25 am
    FFA says:
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    The way it looks to be shaking out, the daughter needs to apply for her own individual policy. The husbands job is dropping the group health on 02/01/2014 so they need to do something fast. She told me she spent hours on Health Care.Gov trying to get this done. When she went to submit, it blew up on her and that she had to start from the very beginning…

    In the mean time, my group renewal hit my desk. The health portion was $2611.74 and the renewal on the health portion was going to be $3095.00 – an 18.53% increase.

    I don’t understand how and why OBama thinks this will work.

    Saw a piece on the WGN news this AM. Companies are turning profits and should be hiring. Instead, they are not hiring, holding profits in the bank not knowing where the Health Care is headed.

    More evidence this is nothing but a job killer.

    • January 9, 2014 at 10:58 am
      Agent says:
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      Wow FFA, Another group biting the dust and having to get Health Insurance from the wonderful government site which takes incompetence to new levels. All they get for their trouble is for it to go down. Doesn’t sound to me like their fixes are working after 3+ months.

      Regarding your renewal, did you have to accept higher deductibles, higher out of pocket to keep the increase to 18+%? Do you still have the same network or has it been skinnied down? I saw an article the other day that the Walmart plan has a network three times bigger in Chicago than Obmacare exchanges.

      • January 9, 2014 at 1:20 pm
        FFA says:
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        My group was Max Rated. I am part of the Demographic that this is actually helping for now. I don’t understand how, all of a sudden, my rates can be that much less. Mine landed at $1127 & my producer is at $650. with a lower deductible. How can that be????

        I just read the Walmart article. Seems they care more about their employees then OBama cares about Americans. Better Coverage. Lower Premiums.

        I am not sure what OBamas end game is, but he is screwing everyone he can on the way there.

        Tables have turned here such that I may be cutting my service rep. At a point where extra help so I can have only one day off a week is gonna be unaffordable. With all the growth last year, expenses just increased….

    • January 22, 2014 at 1:00 pm
      Agent says:
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      I saw another article this morning that the hacked Target is sending all their part timers to the exchange hoping they will get a subsidy in the exchange. They have been covering them up until now, but less than 10% of the employees took it since they had something withdrawn from their paychecks.

  • January 9, 2014 at 3:23 pm
    Agent says:
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    FFA, I was going to ask you whether your Producer ever got his confirmation & ID card. I wonder if he is in the system for prescriptions should he need one based on the example of your client.

    I was reviewing our year end as well. We had growth in revenue, but the net profit was less because of expenses. We didn’t give raises last year, but did this year. We are thinking the rise in renewal rates will offset if we can keep our business on the books and write some new business. We are well into a hard market now. As long as there aren’t many sharks circling the agency smelling some blood, we will do ok. Not one agency expense went down for us. Everyone wants more from E&O to P&C expense on the package and internet expense from the vendor went up as well. It wasn’t that long ago that an agency our size was in tall cotton on income. Now, we get by, but it gets harder all the time. This is all we know how to do, so I guess we will hang in there and hope for better times. Insurance is cyclical anyway and we have been through all the ups and downs for 30 years. The monkey wrench now is the overbearing, too big government which is eating everyone’s lunch.

  • January 9, 2014 at 6:35 pm
    FFA says:
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    He got his card. Has not had to use it yet, but he has it…

    I have not had a chance to pull year end together. In process of getting ready for tax man. wife had a boat load of Sal Army donations totaling almost $4000 this year. Got that fully organized last night.

    I am sure expenses are going to be up. In particular payroll. The move ran a little over $2000 all said and done with (not including the security deposit). Got another round of small comp account non renewals to deal with. Probably going to lose them as no carrier wants monoline comp under $5000 in IL any more. Thanks Gov Quinn, that real reform. Most of these are Medicare / Medicaide funded business (NFP’s) so the tax payer gets to pay the pool rates for these folks instead of a preferred carrier rate. That’s real reform… Increase Cost to the state funded business… Great.. By my tally, I have lost close to $600,000 in premium volume because of Comp Reform.

    And we need Ethics CE…. I do resent politicians telling me I need ethics. Especially Illinois Politicians.

    we have a guy running for Gov on the Republican Ticket. No Political Experience at all. Very Successful Business Man. Talks a lot like Walker does.

    I think I have ruled out Wisconsin for a move. My brother told me that they tax retirement income to 30% up there. It would be good until I retire, but then having to move when I’m like 70?????

    Focusing in on Iowa now. May have to consider Snow Bird. Have FLA or Utah or TX as my “home” address and stay by the lake during the Summer Months…

    • January 10, 2014 at 10:00 am
      Agent says:
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      FFA, 20+ years ago, Texas was very much like what Illinois is currently on WC. It was horrible with no voluntary market, everything going to the Pool, lawyers suing for cut fingers, employees faking injuries so they could ride the system. Finally, after great pressure from the business community, they passed reforms and straightened it out. They created a WC fund, lowered rates, took the lawyers out of claims and started prosecuting the fakes. The “Fund” as we called it became Texas Mutual which has grown to be the number 1 carrier in the state. It actually pays dividends to policyholders which reduces costs. I would estimate that rates have declined 30-40% over the years. They provide excellent Loss Control as well and help insureds reduce exposures to loss and we have seen Experience Mods decrease on the insureds. It is like night and day from what it was back then. Perhaps Illinois should send a delegation to Texas and find out what works so they can clean up their act.

    • January 17, 2014 at 9:57 am
      Agent says:
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      FFA, we have been focusing on how we did year end with all our carriers. We did very well with most of them since 2013 was a light year for wind/hail and other claims. It is kind of strange how some carriers look at business. We had about half a million with one of our Personal Lines carriers and a 33% Loss Ratio which typically means you get contingency since the allowance is 50-55% Loss Ratio. Because the company had underwriting changes, took rate, they ran off some business we had to move. They will not pay us anything due to book shrinkage. We were profitable to them and we had nothing to do with their underwriting decisions and we just had to move business or lose it, but they did a number on us. They are my least favorite company and I am keeping an eye out for another carrier which I can do a book rollover with and provide competitive rates, coverage. What a joke.

  • January 9, 2014 at 6:42 pm
    FFA says:
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    Republican Randy Hultgren put something on his blog yesterday.
    They had some kind of a Congressional Hearing regarding Security on Healthcare.gov. It stated there was a White Hat Hacker testifying that even basic internet security was not followed. He gave a quick demonstration on how easy it is to hack into that site. Nor is there ant protocol in place to notify people there info had been compromised. He stated something along the lines that if Target had to do it within two days, the Govt should be held to the same standard. He drafted a letter to OfnBama to have these issues addressed in a timely manner.

    • January 10, 2014 at 10:02 am
      Agent says:
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      FFA, I understand the House is passing a bill requiring Healthcare.gov to notify customers that their info has been hacked. This will not make it past Harry Reid anymore than anything else has for the last 5 years. We are going to see a lot of breaches in this totally insecure site.

    • January 10, 2014 at 5:12 pm
      Agent says:
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      FFA, I saw on a Newsmax article that the government is cancelling their contract with CGI Federal, the builder of the glitch ridden Healthcare.gov. They are now going to contract with Accenture for another $90 million. What the heck, it is not their money, spend, spend, spend. So far, the site has eaten up more than $1billion and it still didn’t work on the back end communicating with companies and premium payment. Some tech experts say the site should not have run more than $10 million at the most. Isn’t our government just wonderful and there are actually people like Planet & Libby that want single payer. Wow! Stupity reigns.

      • January 11, 2014 at 1:59 pm
        FFA says:
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        And still, no govt official have lost their jobs. HMMMM. How strange. My regional carrier had an issue with their production / bonus figures and it took them an extra three days to get that info calculated correctly. Got notification today there is a new head of IT.
        HMMM. Three day F up and the big guy gets canned…

        Amazing what the American People have to put up with and no consequences handed down for the massive amount of tax payer money wasted….. I am sure sebelious gets at least one day off a week and collects her cushy tax payer funded pay check.

        • January 17, 2014 at 5:00 pm
          Agent says:
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          Well, we can’t say that no one has left. The lady who was the assistant to the CMS head Tavener did resign after 41 years of faithful service as a bureaucrat. She was in lock step with Tavener & Sebelius on the rollout implementation of the site. She didn’t know what she was doing either. She got out while the getting was good and can now enjoy her generous retirement package and not have to justify what she did in front of Congress. I sure wish Sebelius and Tavener were both gone as well. He isn’t going to fire anyone for malfeasance or dereliction of duty.

  • January 10, 2014 at 3:01 pm
    Agent says:
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    FFA, Before the libs start crowing about their new 6.7% Unemployment rate, some pesky facts keep getting in the way. This country has the lowest labor participation rate in the past 36 years. Only 75,000 jobs created in December which is abysmal at best. Most unemployed have given up and are not counted in the stats. Millions have applied for Social Security Disability to keep the gravy train rolling. Obama wants Unemployment extended for at least 3 months and has no plan to pay for it with cuts to anything else. This is close to being a permanent entitlement for the jobless. I am sure there will be a way for them to blame Bush for this nearly 6 years after he left office. The clueless Progressives are all about entitlements and they don’t know how to recover an economy and put people back to work.

    • January 11, 2014 at 2:01 pm
      FFA says:
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      75000 jobs created in December is a horrible number considering that most retailers beef up employee count for the holiday season.

      Meanwhile, State Farm continues to move people out of state…

      OBama needs to go. Biden cant be worse… Or can he?

      • January 13, 2014 at 10:42 am
        Agent says:
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        So FFA, the American People are showing some creativity about how to handle Healthcare and all the issues passed by our dysfunctional government. There was a good article in my Sunday Business Section of the paper. A company headquartered in another nearby city is opening a branch here for a family healthcare clinic. They are designed to serve people with all types of insurance except Medicaid. They will serve people with high deductibles or no insurance, group or individual.

        An Individual can pay a $50 membership fee and then pay $25 whenever they visit the clinic. Businesses can buy on behalf of the employees. They can then raise their deductibles on their Group to high amounts and theoretically, that reduces their Healthcare costs. This is kind of the Doc in the Box concept for routine treatment that many people will take and if a catastrophic event happens, then the insurance kicks in. Most people will just gamble that they will not have serious claims and will use these outfits since primary care is so expensive. We used to have several plans with $25 Co-pay for office visits. They are on their way back.

  • January 13, 2014 at 2:13 pm
    FFA says:
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    My Sis In Law works for a credit card company doing collections. They have hired a Doctor to be in their facility to handle the routine stuff – Colds, Flus ect…

    Trying to enroll someone now. Web site is, yes you guessed it, down…

    • January 13, 2014 at 2:51 pm
      Agent says:
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      They hired Accenture to fix the site for another $90 million of our dollars. Accenture may rue the day at getting involved with this nightmare. I wonder how many Millenials they have enrolled to date. Carney keeps whistling a happy tune and has no clue or doesn’t want to say since it is an embarassment.

      • January 14, 2014 at 1:00 pm
        Agent says:
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        So FFA, the numbers are now out on the enrollment as if I believe them anyway. Only 24% of enrollees are the young invincibles and mostly the sick PreX people are enrolling and a lot sent to Medicaid. I have been paying attention to this rollout since last October. Do you remember them categorizing the young invincible crowd as age groups 18-34? When these numbers came out, the age groups suddenly changed to 18-38 because the numbers were so bad. Add those extra 4 years to get more enrollees. Somehow, I don’t think 38 year olds are part of the young crowd. They are usually married with 2 kids by then. I think Obama is fudging the numbers again. Lie, lie, lie about it and maybe it will come out in the end.

        • January 16, 2014 at 3:59 pm
          Agent says:
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          FFA, did you hear about the testimony in front of Congress on the website security issues. They had this guy Mitnick, who is a renowned former hacker testify about the site. He says the security is “shameful” and “minimal”. In their haste to launch, almost no testing of security was done which has left millions of applicants info at risk. This is going to make the Target breach look like a walk in the park before it is done. Can you just see the hackers eyes light up when they go in? What a gold mine for them.

  • January 13, 2014 at 3:39 pm
    FFA says:
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    Finally got the ap done.

    • January 13, 2014 at 5:17 pm
      Agent says:
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      FFA, what is the story coming out of Chicago about the two people that died when one dropped his cell phone in the Chicago river by mistake and went in after it? I understand a woman also was involved and they can’t find her. I know cell phones are critical to the addicts out there, but to risk your life in an icy river is a bit much. What do you know about it?

      • January 16, 2014 at 2:50 pm
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        I caught a little blurb about it on the news this AM. It fell on frozen water and the knuckle head went after it and broke through the ice. That’s all I caught. I am sure I will get more details when I can jump in the Herald.
        Not sure if your southern folks know this, but running water don’t freeze. My goofy brother dumped his smobile in the river two times.

        • January 16, 2014 at 3:54 pm
          Agent says:
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          Yes FFA, us Southern folks know all about running water. We actually don’t have much frozen water down here to worry about.

    • January 16, 2014 at 3:53 pm
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      Funny FFA. The media will keep stomping on Christie and milk this for all its worth. If a Democratic Governor was there, it would be an after thought.

  • January 16, 2014 at 5:42 pm
    FFA says:
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    Letterman has no mercy for any politician. Between Ford, Obama and now Christy, he has just been on a roll…

    • January 16, 2014 at 5:51 pm
      Agent says:
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      Comedians always like to have fun at the expense of Presidents and politicians in general. They have generally given Obama a pass, but now a few good jokes have been told, especially about the website fiasco. I think they are a little afraid to go after Obama real strong fearing reprisal. The Narcissist in Chief doesn’t take criticism real well. He couldn’t even stand Dr. Ben Carson’s comments at the prayer breakfast and seethed the whole time Carson was speaking. Can an IRS audit be far behind? I wonder how Obamacare would have turned out if Obama had appointed Carson to design the overhaul. I don’t think we would be in the desperate trouble we are in had Carson had the input for it.

      • January 17, 2014 at 9:58 am
        FFA says:
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        I really don’t think OBama gives a damn about any one but himself. He certainly cares more about the folks in Syria then the hungry children in the USA.

        • January 17, 2014 at 5:07 pm
          Agent says:
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          FFA, He also cares more for the leaders of Iran as well since he is lifting sanctions and freed up their money to continue to develop Nukes. He hung Israel out to dry on this one and they may have to take unilateral action if they think they are about to be wiped out as Iran has promised they would do. Of course, the other Arab nations in the Middle East will also acquire Nukes once Iran does and we will really have a volatile situation. These crazy Jihadists don’t really care if the world has a radiation belt around it and people die from the effects.

        • January 20, 2014 at 2:29 pm
          Agent says:
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          FFA, did you see where our pot smoking President said that smoking pot is no more dangerous than drinking or smoking cigarettes like he did in his youth? That’s two Democrats that admitted smoking it. Of course, Slick Willy said he didn’t inhale. We believe him 100%, right? Anyone who thinks getting stoned on Marijuana is ok should be locked up. Those people have no clue where they are or what they are doing and often just graduate to Cocaine or other hard drugs. We are one screwed up society when we have leaders who think this is ok. No wonder he is so goofy about so many things.

        • January 20, 2014 at 4:36 pm
          Agent says:
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          That is what Narcissists do. It is all about themselves 100% of the time. He now thinks his popularity rating has fallen because of racism. He must have been smoking some more of that pot he is in love with and thinks is so good. Carville used to say – It’s the economy stupid! Do you think that Obama is really focused on the economy? If so, when did he start? Did he have a dream while on vacation that he needed to focus on the economy? Is that why he came out and said he would rule by executive fiat in 2014? Is he going to order companies to hire more workers even if they can’t afford it? Inquiring minds want to know.

        • January 22, 2014 at 12:06 pm
          Agent says:
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          FFA, I had a Blue Cross customer whose daughter finally reached the age of 26 so they sent a letter that she was ineligible to remain on the parents policy. I told him to beware of Healthcare.gov since it is not secure for information so he went to Blue Cross to apply for coverage. Now she will have coverage with Obamacare with higher deductibles, higher out of pocket expense and a higher premium than what was charged as a dependent. What a deal! At least BC has a more secure site.

    • January 17, 2014 at 1:16 pm
      Agent says:
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      Pretty scary stuff FFA. I am sure some of the Progressive bloggers like Ron, Libby & Planet would disagree with the article and say Obama is wonderful and the economy is doing great. I hope it is wrong, but I am afraid it could be right and just around the corner.

    • January 22, 2014 at 11:58 am
      Agent says:
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      Good one FFA. I have seen similar ones to this before. The new theme for Obama when he does the State of the Union will be “income inequality”. He and other Progressives only know one thing, take from the rich and give to the poor. LBJ tried that with his War on Poverty over 50 years ago. $20 Trillion later and we have more poor people now than we had back then. The only way to get rid of poverty in this country is education and hard work. The poor do not want to work, get a skill so they are trapped into poverty for their whole lives. Generation after generation are living on the government dole and the Democrats love to keep them there so they can vote Democratic and keep them in power.



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