My Girlfriend just turned 62 and was paying to Anthem Blue Cross...

[busterbrown]

$440 a month with a $7,000 deductible.. She had been with this carrier for almost 20 years on a high Premium
Plan with good benefits.. It all started happening around 55 when the premiums started going up $30, $40, a month until they finally reached close to $700 a month... So she got a $7,000 dollar deductible plan and immediately had a Meniscus Operation which sucked up the deductible..(By the way this is the second minor surgery she had in 22 years. No other illnesses thank God.

So there she was now on this shitty H.C. program paying now close to $500 a month $6000 a year. Out of work with a few assets which she had to protect.. (No House) 6000 x 3 years is $18,000 until Medicare with no job..

Then came Cover California. and then came a healthcare plan which meant no premium payments from now until Medicare....This is a life changing event. The clinics she is using are great and the stress of not having to come up with $500 a month is so freaking relieving.. She just had to prove that she had no income all..

I think the Cover California Plan is applicable in every state which accepted the Fed. Medicaid..
Can you imagine living in one of the states which doesn’t have these plans? I’d be in the streets. Why is there not open revolt (non-violent) in States where Medicaid subsidies were rejected? Live are freaking at stake here..

https://www.coveredca.com/FAQs/

[JaneyVee]

1. States that want it to work, it will work. States trying to destroy it, it won't.

[busterbrown]

3. And begs the question.. Such as..

I have a wife who is seriously ill who has no insurance who would be covered completely in California.. Why not here in Georgia. Each State must have Tens of thousands in this type situation. Why are they not in the streets fighting..

[JaneyVee]

4. Sick people have a harder time getting in the streets and fighting.

[busterbrown]

9. Huh?

Parents who have sick ones... Families who have sick ones..Advocates??

[Hoyt]

22. Why in Georgia is easy, the friggin creepy crackers that elect the Nathan Deals, Brouns,

Gingreys, etc. These are mean spirited, ignorant inbreds who pander to the racists who worship the likes of Neil Boortz, Limbaugh, neo-confederates and worse.

[LAGC]

2. I know, tell me about it! The GOP *hates* poor people.

The Feds are picking up the entire cost of expanding Medicaid for the next 4 years for those states that opt in, and most of it after that.

But these Republican JACKALS turned it down, because we can't have poor people "free-loading" off the system.

Even though its going to save money in the long-run in those states having everyone covered instead of all the uninsured racking up expensive emergency room visits and what not.

EVIL.

[busterbrown]

6. Jesus H... When these people read how effective the plans are working in the “acceptance states"

Why the hell are they not protesting every night in front of their Governors Home? Their loved ones lives are at stake!!!

[Arugula Latte]

26. I'm hoping they will eventually get the message from friends and relatives in blue states.

And then speak up.

[loudsue]

5. I live in NC, where our new republican-everything government even turned down federal medicaid

NO MORE REPUBLICANS!!!!! That is what we have to chant in the streets. This state has become Koch addicts.

[busterbrown]

12. We need to keep this conversation going..

Even if one of you re-posts it...Why is there no freaking revolt in the “Non-Acceptance States”? I have friends in Penn. out of work and they are hearing from me..

[bravenak]

7. My state is rejecting the Medicaid expansion.

I hate my governor. Maybe this will incentivize us to vote in a dem in the next election.
More stories will be coming out showing us red states how far we have been left behind. Then, you will see red staters complaining about not getting their fair share of the Medicaid money, and whining about being ripped off.

[enough]

8. You are asking a very important question: Why is there no open non-violent revolt

in those states that have rejected expansion of Medicare? I live in one of those states (PA), and I have wondered this over and over.

The only thing I can think of is that our society has become so fractured and atomized that people who don't have enough money now think of themselves as helpless and possibly even worthless. This isn't too surprising, given the state of the media, and the way the right-wing has managed to put out the takers/makers version of reality.

[busterbrown]

10. I’m sorry to curse.. But your absolutely correct!!

It is absolutely fucking amazing to me that people who have friends families and loved ones who are gravely ill are not at that Governor’s house every God Damn night.

I think its because they don’t understand.. But Christ, what the hell?

[G_j]

27. Close to a thousand people have been arrested

protesting NC republican policies. It's just not much reported on, aside from people like Rachel Maddow and Ed Sultz.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022987963

http://www.carolinamercury.com/2013/07/73-arrested-at-12th-moral-monday-protest/

--

Moral Monday Protests in N.C. Edging Toward 1,000 Total Arrests
By Sterling Beard

July 23, 2013 5:04 PM

There were 73 arrests at the twelfth Moral Monday protest yesterday outside the North Carolina state house in Raleigh, bringing the total number of arrests from the series of protests to 925.

That makes an average of roughly 77 arrests every Monday for the last three months; at this pace, it’s possible that next week’s Moral Monday protest, the 13th, could result in the 1,000th arrest.

--

[busterbrown]

28. Are they going after the ACA issues?

I think its a great issue to point out to the uninformed..

[SoCalDem]

17. It's very hard for poorer folks to organize & protest

Many of these people have a crappy job (or two or three) that schedules their LIFE (for very little pay-and chaotic time off when they try to do the other things in life that are necessary).. They have more month than they have money, and have no time, energy or money to take to the streets.

Many cannot get the time off (or afford the money lost)..and the ones who are unemployed, have no money to travel.

[enough]

18. True. (nt)

[flamingdem]

11. Can you tell us more about the kind of treatment she gets with Medical?

Is she already on it? What was her experience with finding doctors, especially specialists?

I learned that it can take many months to see a specialist unless in dire need. You're in a
line with people who have never had coverage and so extreme need goes first with Medical
and limited resources. However in January they will offer a different product from what I
understand it won't be the clinic home setup that they have now but it will be through
Health Net and similar companies but at the Medicaid / Medical restriction whatever that
is, compared to ACA

I have total empathy since I was paying the same to the same company as well as Blue Shield.

However I have my doubts about Medical being able to respond to the million new members
though her story sounds very positive.

But maybe in the end Medical is going to be even better than ACA.

[busterbrown]

13. Are you kidding... Its been great!

Called up and in 2 days she had 2 tests to track her digestive problems.. We’ll see the results next week..

Did you read the link.. Covered California.. Every state which has accepted Medicaid dollars from the Fed has such a plan. Covered Oregon, etc.

In Cali. if you make less than $17,000 its free.. Otherwise it’s up to you to get on the exchange..

[flamingdem]

14. I thought it didn't start until Jan. 1?

At least for single adults without children.

Can you tell me if it's Health Net or LA Care or which program it is? I am not sure they're all so responsive, but that's great news.

[busterbrown]

15. The Web site plans don’t start until next year.

Since “Cover California is for those with very low incomes” Under $!7,000 it comes under a different heading.

Cover California..https://www.coveredca.com/FAQs/

[flamingdem]

16. So she's on Medical?

Is it retroactive Medical where they started her early?

I've learned that Medical as it has existed is broader than the Medical programs starting Jan. 1 that are operated by insurance companies such as Health Net and LA Care.

So I think she has the full package but the program that a million Angelenos are being enrolled into is more limited

[bluemarkers]

19. my friend isn't so fortunate

No need to wonder what it's like:

I just met him this year and is a wonderful and kind man. He is in his mid 60s and lost his pension.

He had been working 3 jobs to make ends meet. He couldn't afford insurance but was feeling ill. He finally went to the emergency room, yet still was unsure what to do. He wandered around the outside and someone saw him. They led him inside and knew immediately he was in serious trouble. He was in the hospital for 5 days while they treated his congestive heart failure and afib.

He has been working at a big box store (2 actually) trying to get 50 hours a week, is worried about having enough food to eat and has no heat yet he is worried he won't be able to have gifts for his grandchildren this year. Did I mention he is a good man? A few of us are putting some money together, but we could lose our jobs for doing this. Retail sucks.

We live in North Carolina. He had his unemployment benefits and food stamps cut.

plus I get to work Thanksgiving! yea me

[busterbrown]

20. My God!! What a Country..

[ErikJ]

21. They reject free Medicaid money to kick poor and sick under the bus!

And THEY are the Christian party? Disgusting!

[ReRe]

23. In the winter of our discontent as a nation....

... comes a light at the end of the tunnel. I am so happy for your friend. I'm happy for all of our friends all over the country who are feeling the same relief, and feel sorrow for those who live in the states that are still in the grips of an evil ideology. I curse the politics of hate which kills so many innocents in this country.
Thanks for sharing your friend's story.

[passiveporcupine]

24. I lost a friend about ten years ago

to prostate cancer. He was unemployed, and had been trying to find a job for almost two years, in construction, to no avail. He also had built a second home on his property, and was trying to sell that to raise money, but the market just wasn't moving. He was having some pain issues and saw a doctor who told him he had elevated blood levels indicating he might have prostate cancer. He kept trying to get on Oregon medicaid, but they wouldn't accept him because he didn't have the necessary tests to prove he had cancer (I think it was a biopsy he needed). So he ended up taking a job out of state working as a construction manager, just to get the money for the test. About seven months into that job, he had to quit that job because of back pain. He did get the test done though, and it proved he had prostate cancer that had spread to his lower back. By that time, it was too late to treat it successfully.

So, Oregon finally accepted him on their medicaid plan and he got hospice until he died, which was only a few months later. If he had gotten treatment in time, he might still be alive today. He was my age, and I'm almost 64. That is really too young to die just because you can't afford health care.

He was a really nice man (used to be a minister and a mental health counselor) and he helped me a lot with a construction project on my house that I couldn't afford, but really needed to get done. His help assisted me in getting the mortgage I needed. I helped him as much as I could with paperwork and stuff, when he was in hospice, but I still wonder why it had to end that way. That was ten or eleven years ago. I still miss my friend.

[busterbrown]

29. Depending what his income was..

Covered Oregon today could have helped him..

[passiveporcupine]

30. he had no income

so today he would have been eligible for Medicaid (Oregon's version)...at least starting in 2014.

[busterbrown]

31. I think it was pumped in early... I mean as much as 6 months ago..

My Girl friend has been on since Sept... Anyway in honor of your friend ( I’m gonna be spreaden the word) Hard!!

By the way Welcome

[passiveporcupine]

32. Thank you

I hope he is somewhere to hear this. And thank you for the welcome.

[SoapBox]

25. I love my Calfornia.