One other aspect is whether doctors will accept the coverage. I do not accept “exchange plans” because the rules state these plans can not he cancelled for a long time period (i want to say 3-6 months) after last payment is made so what ends up happening is a patient signs up and pays the first month payment to get the letter stating they have the insurance to suffice for tax purposes but then doesn’t pay anymore and then the doctors offices call to confirm if the patient is covered, the insurance company says yes, then the doctor provides services and the insurance company denies the covered services due to lack of premium payment by the patient. And then the doctors office is out time and money and they know sending someone like that to collections is a useless venture.

So i know lots of doctors offices don’t take exchange plans. Trumps EO making the “tax” void made this issue not as big a deal since people weren’t picking up plans just to suffice for tax purposes but it still applies for people who cant pay, decide to not pay, etc. and the rules of the exchange plans not being able to say a patient doesn’t have coverage for 3-6 months after they really don’t still applies.

Has anyone here signed up for the Affordable Care Act? I’m a contractor with a wife and kids, and I need to find out if the cost/coverage is worth it, or if we should just continue as cash patients. Of course I’ll research online, but you have to jump through hoops to try and get a quote....just wondering if anyone can give a ballpark estimate of the price. Is/was the coverage sufficient? Any input you can offer is greatly appreciated.

The Affordable Care Act is not affordable at all. You can get health coverage still on Non-Obama care plans. They do have pre-existing conditions and there are limitations, but they do exist still.

Not exactly correct. The only reason to have it for tax purposes is to get the subsidies which can be quite substantial. The ACA has a three month premium nonpayment grace period. Go beyond that and those that get the subsidy will lose it and have to pay back any they have received for the year. And will be unable to receive subsidies again until they have held qualified insurance for a calendar year. So what one could do is cancel their insurance after 9 months and still qualify for ACA insurance with subsidies the next enrollment period.

Thanks all. My fear is just what was mentioned above...that a lot of doctors won’t take it.

There are quite a few Christian based medical co-ops that are a 1/4 of the cost of ACA. It's not insurance, all the members pay in monthly and the co-op pays the bills. All the staff at my church are on one of these. If interested, PM me and I can find out the name.

Not in texas, the individual plan market went away, ask me how i know....the only way is through a group plan in texas. Or exchange plans as an individual. As a contractor, i dont think the OP would he eligible for a group plan unless through some guild or something else, but not likely through his business

I was talking strictly from the doctors side of things and explaining why a lot of doctors don’t take exchange plans. You made my point though, someone stops paying in September but goes for a medical appt/procedure in November or December. Technically according to the plan the patient is still covered, so they verify the benefits as covered, but when billed the insurance company says “sorry that person hasn’t paid since September and so is not covered”. By that point the services are rendered so what’s the motivation for the patient to pay the doctor now?

And we wonder why medicine is so expensive in the us...

I was talking strictly from the doctors side of things and explaining why a lot of doctors don’t take exchange plans. You made my point though, someone stops paying in September but goes for a medical appt/procedure in November or December. Technically according to the plan the patient is still covered, so they verify the benefits as covered, but when billed the insurance company says “sorry that person hasn’t paid since September and so is not covered”. By that point the services are rendered so what’s the motivation for the patient to pay the doctor now?

And we wonder why medicine is so expensive in the us...

I have an individual plan...either that, or the agent that I use has put me in a group, but the point is, you have other options besides Obama care and the medishare faith based ones. I did the Medishare, and it was no good. Now I am on an individual plan. The cost is about 30% of what Obamacrap was going to cost.

Funny I argued this same thing a few years back and was told I was full of BS by a progressive “conservative”.

Bad deal for Doctors. Huge roll of the dice.