Should health care insurance really cost people almost half of their entire monthly income? I don’t think so! This seems to be the major flaw of the Obamacare plan that I and millions of Americans are outraged about. I have an inside perspective of what it is costing people and it isn’t cheap. Changes are in the works and they can’t come fast enough for those who are feeling the pinch of this so called “affordable health care.”
The Reality Of It
My mom, who is almost 60 years old and has worked at the same place for over 20 years, has no insurance through her employer who refuses to offer insurance to any of its employees. My dad is retired; however, she is not eligible to participate on his insurance. This situation has forced her no other choice but to use Obamacare. This insurance is in no way justifiably affordable for anyone who desperately needs it. I’ve watched my parents pay out almost half of my mother’s monthly wages just to pay for one month of insurance. This frustrates me to no end, as I’ve seen my mother work hard all her life and it doesn’t make sense that at her age, that her healthcare coverage is a major stressor. My mother also has medical issues that require her to take medication on a daily-basis. Along with the high cost of insurance, they are now starting to cut out some of the medications that she needs. This makes me wonder how the people that make these decisions can sleep at night. I know I couldn’t, my conscience wouldn’t let me.
Rate Hikes for 2017-Really?
To make matters worse, it looks like the insurance costs are going to be going up for 2017 just as they have done in past years and West Virginias are really going to feel it, according to healthinsurance.org. There are only two exchange carriers that are available in WV, High Mark Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Care Source, and both are increasing their rates. High Mark Blue Cross Blue Shield will increase by 35.81 percent and Care Source will increase by 49.8 percent. How is this possible considering WV already has one of the highest average insurance rates across the country? Having only two insurance carriers participating and competing against each other only fuels the rates to go higher. In an article by wvmetronews.com, Scott Streator, senior vice president for Care Source’s market and product group stated, “In most markets, there is across most health plans increased rates in the double-digits.” He added premiums reflected the “true costs of health care.” He also noted that, “Premiums in West Virginia are typically higher than other states. There seems to be more of a correlation of lower premiums with more competition. “More affordable premiums,” he said, are usually seen in major metropolitan areas with additional competition among health systems.
Will They Stay or Will They Go?
High Mark Blue Cross Blue Shield will still be the main provider for WV in 2017 by covering all 55 counties in West Virginia, but who knows if they will even stay in the game in years to come given their previous contemplations. High Mark has noted that they had considered pulling out of the exchange at the end of 2015, but felt that they had a “social mission” to provide West Virginians with health coverage. Thus, justifying previous rate increase by saying that the 24 percent rate increase was the reason for being able to continue coverage in West Virginia. Doing so would have significantly impacted the 37,284 people in WV that were enrolled.
The Positives
The upside to this coming 2017 year is that they have formed subsidies, which means that people who use the new exchange will get reimbursed a certain percentage of their costs for coverage; however, there is a catch. Anyone using coverage outside the exchange or make too much money will not be eligible for the subsidies. For those people, there are short-term plans offered to them according to healthinsurance.org , these plans are offered in most states, but vary considerably. The states that are not available are New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The HHS has finalized the short-term coverage in 2017 to be no longer than three months in duration, whereas before the federal government defined the short-term coverage as being any coverage lasting less than one year.
Looking Toward The Future
Obamacare has impacted not only my family members, but many of other West Virginias and families across the nation. I’m still waiting to hear back from my mom to see if she will still be able to afford one of the medications she needs for her condition. If not, I don’t know what she will do. I’m sure they will figure it out. With cost rising across the country and even higher rate increases in an already poverty stricken state where many lack health insurance, I look to those who have a voice to take notice and fight for what is right and humane. For now, I, like many others that are fed up with a system that just isn’t working, am hopeful that the new changes that are coming in 2017 will help alleviate some of the pain and that transformation of this system is on its way.
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Reflection
The goal for this essay was to hopefully expose to others that Obamacare isn’t as affordable as the government would like to perceive it to be and many are suffering the consequences primarily in WV. In addition, I wanted to reveal that it just doesn’t stop with the high cost of the insurance, it goes past that and effects the cost of medication as well. I accomplished these goals by establishing myself as someone that has seen firsthand that the system is not working by explaining my mother’s situation. I also referenced several credible sources throughout that talk about the how rates continue to increase and how the lack of competition in WV has led to even higher rates. The audience that I have chosen would be anyone that has a hand in changing the current system such as politicians and insurance company executives. My hope is to get both to consider the impact these rates are having on Americans who are singlehandedly paying for this coverage. I’m looking for the politicians to fight for and apply pressure to getting it changed to where it is more affordable. In paragraphs two and three, I feel that I spoke clearly to my audience. Paragraph two is where I started explaining the situation with my mother to highlight how this impacts real people. In paragraph three I point out the high costs of insurance through the two WV insurance companies and give statistics to show the increasingly alarming rate increases both past and present.
There are several differences between citing sources via hyperlinking and the use of MLA style. One of those differences is that when using hyperlinks, there is less work in citing your source, whereas when using MLA8, you dig deeper into the source and pull the information out for people to reference. Another difference would be if you are doing an article for a magazine, your space would be limited. Hyperlinking enables you to stay within the guidelines and lets you focus more on the article itself. Hyperlinking also allows the reader to just click on the word or words and it automatically takes them to the source. One can find all the information needed and possibly even more. I feel that I could have improved more on the photos for this essay. It was hard to find and choose what photos I would use and how I should best lay them out throughout the essay. I was mostly finding charts and graphs for this subject and I felt that just charts and graphs wouldn’t get my point across for this advocacy essay. If I was to choose to revise this essay, I would possibly spend additional time trying to find even better images to add to the content and flow of this piece. Overall, I am happy with this essay. It felt good knowing that I was writing about a topic that has hit home for my family while further educating myself on the situation my mother is facing
Citations
“McCaughey, Betsy and Trish Regan.” “How Much Higher Are ObamaCare Premiums Going?” Youtube,
commentary by Betsy McCaughey and Trish Regan, 19 Aug. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaJtjNOw0zk
Credits:
Created with images by marcn - "No Obama Care" • leoncillo sabino - "Health Care Rally for a Public Option in front of Senator Bill Nelson´s Office" • Tax Credits - "Health Care Cost" • frankieleon - "you had me at "free pen"" • frankieleon - "pop life" • mrbill78636 - "DROP DEAD ..."