The 30 Day Chronic Illness Challenge gives you one brand new writing prompt each day. All of the topics focus on chronic illness and/or living with a chronic illness. It was created by @cfs_zombie, and I learned about it through Tumblr. There are only a couple of days left to go!
Day 27: What’s the most helpful advice you have had?
Continue Reading “What’s the Most Helpful Advice you have Had?”
In a previous blog, I wrote that Shawn and I got our health insurance coverage through Covered California. It is the health insurance marketplace for the state of California. We ended up with a health plan that covered both me and Shawn. It cost only a few more dollars than the health plan that covered only me.
Right away, it was obvious that we were saving money by purchasing a health insurance plan through Covered California. Part of the reason was because we qualified for a subsidy. The only way to use your subsidy is to go through the Marketplace (which, for us, is Covered California).
The 30 Day Chronic Illness Challenge was created by @cfs_zombie. I learned about it through Tumblr. Each day, there is a brand new writing prompt that focuses on something that has to do with chronic illness (and/or living with one).
Day 19: How do you feel about the future?
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (which was also called ACA or Obamacare) was passed on March 21, 2010. President Barack Obamacare signed it into law on March 23, 2010. People were able to sign up for “Obamacare” plans on Marketplaces starting in October of 2013. Those plans kicked in on January 1, 2014.
Because of Obamacare, Americans who previously were unable to afford health insurance coverage were able to do so – some for the first time in their lives. People with low-income qualified for subsidies that could be used to cover part or all of the premiums of plans found in the Marketplace. Medicaid was expanded (in several states) to cover more poor people.
In this blog, I will give a timeline of what it was like to attempt to get health insurance coverage before Obamacare. The timeline is based on my own experiences as an adult who was trying to find affordable health insurance that actually covered things.
Continue Reading “What Health Insurance Was Like Before Obamacare”
Shawn and I signed up for “Obamacare” yesterday, and we got a really good health plan for a very affordable price. I wanted to share this story for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted our story to serve as a counterpoint to the hysteria that is being passed around about canceled health plans and skyrocketing rates.
The other reason I wanted to share our story was because it directly relates to our efforts to get out of debt. We got a health plan that covers both of us for just a little bit more than the cost of a plan that was only covering me.
Health insurance is kind of backwards. If you are extremely wealthy, then you might be able to get through life without having health insurance coverage. I mean, Bill Gates is unlikely to have concerns about being unable to pay for an extended hospital stay or the cost of the ambulance that took him to the hospital.
What if you aren’t extremely wealthy? You are simply not going to be able to pay your medical bills out of pocket. The only way you are going to be able to pay for your health care needs is if you can get insurance coverage. Theoretically, health insurance is supposed to be there to help you pay for (at least some) of your medical bills.
