I seldom visit this site, and I'm sorry to be such a stranger, because I always enjoy it when I do drop by... Two years in a row, I fully intended to come to one of the gatherings.
I post so infrequently that I usually reintroduce myself, so... I've lived in Wyoming for 24 years, since August, 1989, and loved it more than any other place I've ever been. Near TOTAL freedom, here. I moved to Converse County at 20, from Baltimore. At that time, I made $700/mo on a cattle ranch, but started buying my own health insurance way back then. Yeah, it took food off my table. I didn't even have a cell phone until I was 30 or so, as I tried to do the responsible thing, by having a catastrophic health care plan, and saving for retirement too. (Paying SE tax compounded the financial difficulties, but I made it work.)
In these past 24 years, I've paid over $100,000 in premiums to three different carriers (I changed when I was married, then again when divorced), yet NEVER MADE A CLAIM!!! In June of this year, I got the first letter from my carrier... My high-deductible (first $5,000 annually on me, EVERYTHING ELSE on them to $6M/lifetime) plan was being terminated, "due to mandates in the ACA". I could not be grandfathered, because my existing plan did not qualify under the ACA. (What the HELL was grandfathering, then???) In June, my carrier offered me a new plan with a vastly reduced deductible (now at $2K) and a monthly rate up 253%. THey proudly stated that it now covered maternity, dependencies, and pediatric dental care. (Great, for a single MAN with no children or addictions. NO, you damned Socialists, we are NOT all the same.)
Three weeks ago, in early October, I got "the letter" that my policy will terminate on March 1, 2014. They urged me to go to the exchange for coverage. I won't even try that crap. I called WinHealth - they're exiting the private marketplace in Wyoming Dec. 31st. Blue Cross is my only option. No thanks. I'm going without. Thanks to Obamacare, for the first time in my life, I will be uninsured. I REFUSE to pay triple the rates for insurance to cover things I can't possibly have.
Of course, we all knew (based on things said by members of the administration) that Single Payer was the goal; I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly. Anyone could see, had they opened their eyes, that the very insurance companies they loved to hate were now in bed with the Feds, and you were now FORCED to engage in business with them. How could it NOT fall apart, leaving "us" screaming for Single Payer? WELL PLAYED, Commies. Well played.
And just how does that Single Payer crap work out? My German friend, at 50 y/o, pays €650 per month from his paycheck for German healthcare, while his employer matches that amount. (That's like almost $1800/mo at today's exchange rate of $1.37/€1)
My ex wife was Dutch... You know, from the Netherlands, that NPR tells us has a fantastic healthcare system. Somebody please tell me why it took her suffering FIVE YEARS of recurring sore throats as a kid and 'tween, before they finally removed her tonsils and ended the problem for good.
Okay, now I could get to ranting, so I'll end it here. Calgon, take me away. We evidently weren't safe in Wyoming, and the 10th Amendment is meaningless.
I s'pose the real reason for this post is that I'm wondering what is happening to other members here, to their insurance policies, and what "we" are going to do about it.
Blessing to all who live here, or dream to.
- Darrin
