The Affordable Care Act will open enrollment again on Nov. 15 and with it will come some unpleasant surprises. That's because a number of Obamacare plans and insurance company plans will raise their rates, making healthcare yet more expensive. On top of that, penalties for failing to secure a health-insurance plan will rise steeply next year.
One year ago I posted:
"My wife had to retrieve a cat toy that rolled under the love seat and when reaching for the toy she got a splinter under her fingernail. We couldn't get it out so the next day we took a quick trip to Urgent Care. Urgent Care said it would be better for her to visit the emergency room of a nearby hospital. We did, and they quickly pulled the splinter with a pair of small tweezers.
Today we got a bill from the local hospital for $1,327.00, just to get a splinter out of her finger! With tweezers! When we got home my wife immediately threw out the cat toy - that turned out to be expensive.
We were shocked, then concerned. What has happened to our health care system? When I read an article later in the day, it wasn't much comfort to learn how much a woman was charged for a recent three hour visit at her local hospital:
"A few weeks ago 52 year old Marcie Edmonds went in to a hospital in Arizona to get treated for a scorpion sting. With the help of a friend, she called Poison Control and was advised to go to the nearest hospital that had scorpion anti-venom, Chandler Regional Medical Center. At the hospital, an emergency room doctor told her the anti-venom could quickly relieve her symptoms. She said the physician never talked with her about the cost of the drug or treatment alternatives. Her symptoms subsided after she received two doses of the drug Anascorp through an IV, and she was discharged from the hospital in about three hours. A few weeks later, she received a bill for $83,046 from her regional Medical Center."
Guess the way things are going with the health care system, there's not much we can do. One year after posting this story, the legacy continues, as reflected in an article I read today:
"About 35 million people in the U.S. remained without insurance in 2015, according to the Congressional Budget Office, despite a law intended to cover nearly all legal residents. While there is significant variation by county and state, the cost of plans across every price tier has jumped by double digits"
Today might be a good time to throw out all of your cat toys.
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