Obama's health law finally gets real for America
Source: AP-Excite
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
WASHINGTON (AP) - Now is when Americans start figuring out that President Barack Obama's health care law goes beyond political talk, and really does affect them and people they know.
With a cranky federal website complicating access to new coverage and some consumers being notified their existing plans are going away, the potential for winners and losers is creating anxiety and confusion.
"I've had questions like, 'Are they going to put me in jail if I don't buy insurance? Because nobody will sell it to me,'" said Bonnie Burns, a longtime community-level insurance counselor from California. "We have family members who are violently opposed to 'Obamacare' and they are on Medicaid - they don't understand that they're already covered by taxpayer benefits.
"And then there is a young man with lupus who would have never been insurable," Burns continued. "He is on his parents' plan and he'll be able to buy his own coverage. They are very relieved."
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20131103/DA9RAMJO0.html
In this Oct. 30, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks at Boston's historic Faneuil Hall about the federal health care law. Now is when Americans start figuring out that President Barack Obama's health care law goes beyond political talk, and really does affect them and people they know. With a cranky federal website complicating access to new coverage and some consumers being notified their existing plans are going away, the potential for winners and losers is creating anxiety and confusion. A look at three broad groups: those losing coverage, those gaining coverage, and those wondering if their coverage will change. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
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I trust CMS to keep secure my data than any corporation; public, private or non profit. They had some holes and they added compensating controls. Shows they are actively monitoring their security posture to me, not the old close your eyes and hope I've seen in my IT audits.
But good luck with the "oh noes don't use the website" line, 
Why? The doughnut hole is being shored-up, there is better preventive care, and that's good news. However, even though I am PRO ObamaCare:
1) I'm concerned that the resyphoning of funds away from Medicare Advantage will make subscribing to these plans significantly less cost effective, i.e., higher premiums, fewer benefits. Seniors will most likely need to convert to original Medicare with Medicare Supplemental coverage to account for the 20% of charges that are not covered by original Medicare. BTW, this is exactly what I am doing partly because my Advantage plan is providing significantly fewer benefits in 2014.
2) You say, what's wrong with that? The additional premiums for Medicare Supplemental policies are currently substantially higher than current Medicare Advantage premiums. For example, in 2013 you could easily get a good Advantage plan with part D for $0 additional premium. The same is not true for Medicare Supplement plans which generally charge an additional premium of between $50 and $200 per month, depending upon the subscriber's locality and age. The good plans are probably going to run you at least $100/month, and I believe that to be a conservative estimate.
3) This doesn't sound like very much? Try telling a senior living on $1000 per month that the cost of their health insurance is going to increase by such a substantial amount, and see what kind of reaction you get. Of course, if the Dems sell out on Chained CPI, we can throw that into the mix too.
4) But you say, can't these low income seniors get subsidies like other low income people? The answer is NO. In fact seniors are not allowed to partake of the exchanges. So no, no subsidies. A senior may generally qualify for Medicaid if their bank account dips below $3000 or thereabouts. Retirement savings? Forget that. You will be required to spend them down before you can get help. Fun? Well, it gets even more entertaining.
5) You do remember the nightmare of having a pre-existing condition, don't you? Well, seniors haven't woken up from that bad dream yet. Yes, that is correct. Even though conventional insurance policies must accept applicants with preexisting conditions, the same requirement is not pertinent to Medicare Supplement plans. You can of course be accepted to such a plan unconditionally if you apply within a 6 month window after your 65th birthday. But you must have been continually insured for 6 months prior to your 65th birthday. If not, you must wait for up to 6 months before you can be covered by Medicare Supplemental insurance. Yes, that is correct. But it gets better. If you do not apply within your birthday window, and you develop a health condition, you can easily be denied coverage if you have renal failure, have been hospitalized within the past 90 days, or have some other ongoing, untreated condition. In light of what ObamaCare has done for the general population regarding pre-existing conditions, this sucks so badly that words cannot express it.
6) So if you are turning 65, make sure you act quickly to get coverage before you get screwed by the window phenomenon. Of course, if you currently are not insured, you are SOL for 6 months.
7) The solution? Medicare-for-all, medicare supplement subsidies for all low income persons, and no pre-existing condition clause for supplemental policies. Of course, 100% Medicare coverage would be even better because it eliminates the need for all private coverage.
8) Short of that, Obamacare needs to be amended to remove these deficiencies, or a lot of elderly people are going to get shafted in the next few years. The cuts to Medicare Advantage have just begun and will continue thru 2017, so we have not begun to see all of the ramifications.
9) Please pass this information along.
10) Finally, please try to prove me wrong. I would be so happy if you could. 
PS, if you have permission to start your own thread, you are more than welcome to use this text to do so. I have not made sufficient posts to DU to qualify for starting my own thread.
Thanks for reading this.
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