The connection between the Affordable Care Act and a kidney stone first came to me when Nancy Pelosi, using her best On Golden Pond voice, famously stammered, “We have to pass it to see what’s in it.” While her words replayed on occasion in my recesses somewhere between the cerebellum and the ureter, the analogy didn’t fully dawn on me until I got my projected ACA compliant rates for 2015.
Apparently, by the time I amass all of the coverage this unread 2,000+ page mystery novel mandates, my monthly premiums will increase from $345 a month to $815. So rather than the $2,500 per year savings touted by the President, and despite the MSM’s never ending attempt to revise the numbers and convince us that the law will help, not hurt, my real increase will be over 130%. Not to worry though, my deductibles will only double.
This forever calcified my connection between the ACA and kidney stones: it will now burn when I pay!
Of course as details of this reality continue to emerge for people across the country, stories like mine have been sloughed off as “poppycock” by people like Sen. Harry Reid, a man who clearly has a vivid grasp on fantasies and imagination. I can’t begin to think what his safe word must be.
Sorry Senator, this is all very real to some of us. More real than even the clammy-handed milquetoast who plays your counterpart on House of Cards.
There are a variety of thoughts as to what is but here’s what I think:
The stark reality of adding more sick people of all ages added into the actuarial tables affects rates for everyone. Sure it’s the “right” thing to do, but it makes the increase in costs inevitable. While railing against the man over a cup of free-trade green tea latte, hipsters are quick to relegate this rise in costs to corporate greed. However, no matter how shaggy your beard is or how many pairs of Clark Kent glasses you own, covering more doctor bills means paying more money. Math is still math…or at least it will be for a little bit longer.
Also, individuals and families are being forced to pay for programs or coverage they don’t need. Via the ACA the administration has deemed that health insurance policies which don’t have things like birth control and pregnancy coverage are “sub-standard” and “junk.” I for one would like the government to leave my junk alone, as I previously dealt with my own prospective pregnancy concerns over a decade ago: one afternoon of pain, followed by a weekend of frozen peas and martinis. Now, as someone who more closely resembles a Florida orange (full of juice but totally seedless), I resent being forced to pay more for something I don’t need.
What’s the takeaway? First, if your rates haven’t gone up or your policy hasn’t been canceled, they will be. Mandates and delays aside, your day on the chopping block is coming. And if you have already been affected and left between a stone and hard website, tell your story loud and often. Do your best to influence anyone who will listen.
If we provide so many voices that we can’t all be silenced maybe we can make the upcoming mid-term elections the cranberry juice needed to flush this law once and for all.
