Probably not as they're 28, 26, about 24 and 21.
Didn't they watch the news? I knew she didn't have health insurance! Her feelings on the subject were well known.
Again, you are absolutely correct about the subsidized premiums which again makes me wonder if Mary Lou Retton understood how it works. For us, business is good most years and we pay our premiums without any help. During COVID, however, we were very limited in what we could do (a portion of our work was considered essential, but not all and then we experienced disruptions in supply lines which kept our income low) and we got back nearly everything we paid in health care premiums that year and still qualified for subsidies the following year although not as much. I am so grateful that the ACA exists. It is definitely not perfect, but has worked for us.Ahhh, ok. Yes...I think the daughter is confused. There's a lot of "smack talk" out there about the ACA....how awful it is, etc. And again, I'm not saying it's the greatest system in the world, but you certainly can buy a bronze policy with a higher deductible for something reasonable. I understand that her income dropped during Covid...that happened for a ton of people. Ironically, had her income dropped that low, she would have likely gotten a policy that would have greatly covered most of this recent catastrophic illness.....for next to nothing. She would have gotten massive subsides making her policy nearly free. If her income was too low to even get her a policy on the exchange, she would have qualified for medicaid.
Perhaps the issue for her was that....embarrassment of her financial predicament? Also, she may have been influenced by all of the talk on the right about how horrible the ACA is....but they call it the other name, the one with a President's name attached to it. I heard an awful lot about the other team coming up with a great health care plan that is better, cheaper, more awesome in every way....but I'm still waiting for a glimpse at that plan. In the meantime, the ACA is actually popular with Americans....has a 60% approval rating.....which is about 500% higher than the approval rating of Congress.
We live outside of Pittsburgh, PA which is generally a low cost of living area and I am guessing our premiums are significantly lower than people in other areas with higher COL. We have no issues with finding doctors being so close to a mid sized city though so probably the best of both worlds. I don’t know if the ACA works for most people as well as it works for us, but it is certainly better than being uninsured.Thanks for the first hand experience on the ACA. I only know a bit about it as we're just beginning to understand how it works as we'll be accessing it as early retirees when we're in our late 50s/early 60s....until we reach medicare age. THE biggest selling point about the ACA is that in order to participate in the exchanges, an insurance company can't factor in pre-existing conditions and charge someone more. It's literally against the law.
As you've stated, I've read that the cheapest plans are in rural parts of the country....and that then it can be difficult to find providers, etc. I know it's not perfect by any means, but having an exchange that every American can use, many of whom will qualify for big subsidies, is a big deal. As far as health care provided in total by the government for everyone, well, not too many of those systems are perfect either. The U.K.'s NHS is in a serious crisis right now, and it was once one of the shining examples universal. health care in the world.
I'm not sure why Ms. Retton didn't have insurance, but she surely could have. And her daughter is misinformed for sure. I hope she also understands that even after the ordeal she's been through, she can purchase health insurance on the ACA. Maybe Hoda will tell her that tomorrow on The Today Show
File this under "careful what you wish for."
She certainly knew enough to campaign against the ACA. Idiot.
I saw the interview this morning... I would she herself did not understand that or was simply ignoring it (I never paid attention to her stance on ACA). She stated on the interview that she didn't have insurance because of her medical issues before covid and after the divorce she couldn't afford it. Maybe she was confused and thought the previous surgeries were related to the cost. She actually does not strike me as even a basic financially-intelligent individual, she is likely someone who always had someone else "deal with that" for her and never felt a need to understand any of it. She did state on the interview that she now has insurance.
I had no idea that was her stance. Ugh. As mentioned upthread, being able to buy insurance through the ACA allows us to run our small business. It doesn’t seem at all unpatriotic to me.
Idiot? No, she was wise.
Whenever someone starts ranting about "the government," I keep scrolling.
It's certainly easier to be a low information poster calling other people idiots, that's for sure.Whenever someone starts ranting about "the government," I keep scrolling.
If you say so.It's certainly easier to be a low information poster calling other people idiots, that's for sure.
Carry on.
I suspect MLR agreed to the interview under the condition that those options were not to be mentioned. Let's not fool ourselves that these interviews are anything but opportunities, for both interviewer and subject.
Thank you very much for pointing out this WSJ series. I didn't know it was out there and it's very informative.
No problem! I really like the series. Very interesting to see how the retirees live with different size nest eggs.
