Thread Drift

[Crankin]

Pic of me and the 2 granddaughters.

[emily_in_nc]

Adorable photo, Crankin. They are so beautiful! I know you are a very proud grandma!

[ny biker]

Beautiful photo, thanks Crankin.

(I printed mp pictures on the new photo paper, put them in frames and wrapped them. I did get a lot done today but feel like there's lots more to do, mostly because packing for a long winter trip always takes about 5 times longer than I think. Bulky clothes and boots, and having to be prepared for unexpected winter weather always means lots of luggage.)

[shootingstar]

the babies look similar..though from different parents, Crankin. How fun and wonderful!

[Crankin]

They look similar the way my sons, do, despite having outwardly different traits. One is blonde and blue eyed (thanks to her mom) and the other is very brunette with either brown or dark hazel eyes. But, they have the same shape heads and the same big ears both my kids had. They grew into the ears. My yonger son and his wife were blondes when they were young. The other one is an exact replica of her dad.

[shootingstar]

Affordable Care Act -- Since I am Canadian, am curious to know generally if the ACA helped you/your family.

Another question: The confusion right now that exists in the U.S. with new prez-elect, gets down to understand and how to trace trail of evidence to truth. That is the crux: What is truth? How will you verify with long term evidence (that doesn't get wiped off)?

Trump and some of his Cabinet appointees could actually prompt war very fast. It wouldn't take much.

[ny biker]

Affordable Care Act -- Since I am Canadian, am curious to know generally if the ACA helped you/your family.

Another question: The confusion right now that exists in the U.S. with new prez-elect, gets down to understand and how to trace trail of evidence to truth. That is the crux: What is truth? How will you verify with long term evidence (that doesn't get wiped off)?

Trump and some of his Cabinet appointees could actually prompt war very fast. It wouldn't take much.

I truly think something disastrous is going to happen. War, economic collapse, something. The man is such an insecure narcissist, and it guides his behavior.

The ACA has not affected me directly, but only because I been lucky enough to not need it. It has provisions to eliminate lifetime coverage caps and exceptions for pre-existing conditions, which are important for everyone whether they realize it or not. I do know people who have gotten insurance from an exchange. Unfortunately their premiums have gone up a lot, because there are aspects of the law that need to be changed so that relatively healthy people get coverage while they are still healthy. I've read that the provision to allow parents to keep their children on their plans up to the age of 26 if the children are still students has been very popular.

I'm trying to decide how to spend next weekend. Choices are: bike ride if the weather is good, go to the women's march on Saturday, or get drunk. Or maybe a combination.

[Blueberry]

DH and I have always made choices that meant we had health insurance. The ACA has meant that many people won't have to make those choices - which gives them so much freedom. It makes sense. My mom has coverage through it - and is careful not to earn too much money so she would have to pay more for her insurance. It creates some interesting incentives to minimize income - but it has definitely helped many, many people. It has also helped financially struggling hospitals - they now get paid for more of their emergency room work (and subsequent admissions).

I'm a medical student. I will have to choose a specialty under a Trump presidency. I don't know whether to zig, zag, or try to move to Europe. What I do know is I'll have a boat-load of loans to pay off. Just tuition at a state school will be over $100k in loans (no living expenses, books, etc) - at an interest rate that is (imo) criminally high. I could borrow money for a house, car, etc. for less interest than the federal government is charging. It's scary to make that kind of investment with so much uncertainty.

[Crankin]

I have not had to access the Affordable Care Act, but since I am in a medical field, I know a lot of people who have. When DH was on sabbatical from work this summer, we did a comparison between the ACA and paying for Cobra (extending the insurance plan from his former company, which you can do for 18 months, at your cost). The ACA was 400.00 a month more for comparable coverage (it was a premium plan). So, we went with that. However, for a single person, ACA was much cheaper. My issue with insurance a family is construed of 2 or more people, so no matter if you are a couple or a family with 10 kids, the cost is the same. If ACA is still around, DH might access it if he wants to retire before 65, since he is younger than me and can't access Medicare when I can.
Massachusetts has had health care for all since 2006. My clients who have policies through the Connector (our exchange for ACA coverage) have had premiums rise a lot. My son used it in his first job, as he had no benefits. On the other hand, truly needy people have very good coverage. I have friends who have kept their kids on their policies from work until 26 and it was a big help.
DH has a a different Blue Cross policy at his new job. It is good, but it's Blue Cross HMO, so we need referrals. Ugh. I have had never had to do this. I am used to just calling my PT for an appt. when I need it. So, I have my physical coming up and I guess I'll ask for 12 sessions, so I can access him over the next couple of months. It was cheaper for the company to do this policy and pay for everyone's deductible than offer the premium plan we had before.

[emily_in_nc]

My DH and I have had an ACA plan since 2014, and for us, it has been a godsend. We are early retired, and as such, don't yet qualify for Medicare. If we had to buy the equivalent plan that we have through the healthcare.gov exchange, through Florida Blue, it would be priced at over $1100/mo. It is a "silver" plan with lower deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses than most. As it is, we do qualify for a subsidy as our income is low right now, and we are paying just over $300/mo for our plan. We really only use it for preventive care now, as we've had no medical issues since we got it, but it is nice to know it is there if we had an accident or a serious illness. It pays in full for our yearly checkups, mammograms for me, and screening colonoscopies. We also only have to pay a copay when we visit our dermatologists for mole checks, and my DH had to have a few lesions frozen off -- all covered in full.

I love my Obamacare and am sure I will miss it when it's gone. Just like I will miss the man who gave it his name!

[ny biker]

Blueberry, the situation in this country regarding student loans is appalling.

I have to confess, I don't want to go to the women's march. Inertia I guess. But I feel like I have to go. It may not accomplish anything. But as a certain German bike racer once said, if you try to to win, you might lose. But if you don't try, you lose for sure.

So now I have to get my hands on a clear backpack -- regular ones aren't allowed for security reasons.

[shootingstar]

Appreciate the health care insurance/coverages stories. In Alberta, local residents and citizens don't have to pay the govn't any monthly premium. In British Columbia, yes everyone pays a minimum regardless of whether or not you see a doctor that year. It's pretty low cost.

I have to confess, I don't want to go to the women's march. Inertia I guess. But I feel like I have to go. It may not accomplish anything. But as a certain German bike racer once said, if you try to to win, you might lose. But if you don't try, you lose for sure.

So now I have to get my hands on a clear backpack -- regular ones aren't allowed for security reasons.

Let us know how the march goes. Stay safe, NY. It isn't about "winning": It is about sending a clear public signal and mobilizing next generations to stay committed to listen, act positively, think clearly, and be unafraid to speak out, after our generation.

Blueberry, the major CAnadian universities, have gotten a significant number of American student applications this upcoming year. International student tuituion fees are a lot higher for all CAnadian university programs...it's been that way for decades and will not change.

[ny biker]

Hoping this will post okay -- it was posted on the News and Guts facebook page which was started by Dan Rather and some colleagues.

https://www.facebook.com/newsandguts...02530466818596

In sharing this to followers of his own page, Rather said:

When my colleagues and I started the Facebook news page for my News And Guts company, the goal was to create a digital town hall where information could be exchanged in free and open communication. As reporters, we wanted to listen more than we spoke. And one thing we have been hearing a lot in the few days this page has been online is the anxiety bordering on panic amongst many in our community about the GOP determination to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

As a reporter, I think this may be a national story not getting nearly enough attention amongst the press who are so focused on the political parlor games in Washington. I think there is a groundswell of activism around this issue for millions of Americans, with an intensity and determination that may echo the Tea Party - but in reverse. I also believe the implications of this profound change to our current healthcare system may be dawning on many beneficiaries of the ACA, who didn't realize that their new healthcare options were indeed the product of the much-maligned "Obamacare."

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks for sharing this post and FB page, NY. I have now liked and followed it. The stories there are very powerful. Ours is more mundane since we haven't needed the ACA for anything major other than a safety net -- and free preventive care, which can help, as the name implies, PREVENT more serious illnesses. If they take that away, more people will need more expensive and longer-term healthcare services, which costs us all more as a society. Makes no sense to me....

Reading about the cancer patients who can now afford health insurance courtesy of the ACA/Obamacare (and it is true that some people don't realize they are one and the same!) reminds me of my husband's best friend, who died of colon cancer at the way-too-young age of 49. He had symptoms but had been laid off from his job in the early 2000's. His Cobra policy had run out before he found another job, and he couldn't get or afford health insurance on the open market. So he went without, delayed getting checked out, and by the time he was diagnosed, he was stage 4.

THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN IN A FIRST-WORLD COUNTRY (or anywhere). It still makes my blood boil!

He did eventually find a job with medical insurance, but it was too late to save his life. This was a college-educated man who worked as a software engineer, not some street bum. He left four children and a wife behind.

Tragic. We cannot allow this to happen again!

[Sky King]

As self employed folks we've had ACA since it's inception. Yes, I have had to change our plan every year to higher deductibles but (knock on wood) we are healthy folks. With that though, we each get a physical every year - covered. We both are of colonosopy age and those are covered, mammograms are covered, the occasional meds have been very inexpensive. What I find so frustrating and baffling is since its inception the republicans in congress have refused and blocked any attempts to modify and correct it's issues so that now they can gleeful throw democrats under the bus. So many of our government officials do not have governing in mind. Disgusting.
I will go to the Idaho Women's march. One of our state government representatives just proposed a state law that would convict Doctors and women who choose to terminate a pregnancy of murder... Lovely