Bummer: Government No Longer Spending Gobs Of Money To Help Newly Insured

by William Teach | February 19, 2014 8:10 am

This is apparently a HUGE major issue, and, of course, Republicans are mostly to blame

Who will help the newly insured?[1]

Newfound health benefits often come with newfound questions. But most states have either spurned or run out of federal funding for consumer assistance programs aimed at guiding Obamacare’s newly insured through the complexities of using their coverage.

Some states with GOP governors never sought Affordable Care Act dollars for these programs. Most states that did have almost used up the federal cash and are struggling to keep programs afloat. Only 12 states and the District of Columbia now have active consumer assistance programs, and they’re basically on their own.

“These are a crucial resource to protecting people’s access to actual care,” said Cheryl Fish-Parcham, deputy director of health policy for Families USA. “Without funding, many of these programs will close.”

Well, if the far-left advocacy group Families USA says it, it must be awful!

People who have never been insured or who have had long gaps in coverage are often bewildered by the jargon and process: What’s a deductible, they ask. A co-payment? Co-insurance? When do I need an insurance card? How can I locate a primary care physician? What if the doctor isn’t in-network? The questions may not be difficult, but the answers can be crucial for getting or not getting appointments, prescriptions, tests or referrals.

If only there were some sort of medium which would allow these newly insured folks to access a repository of information that would provide those answers. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what it is. Perhaps if someone would invent an electronic database with links to the insurance companies and something like “most asked questions” and “how does insurance work” and “what are your coverages”, along with outside links which provide similar information.

As to the “newly insured”, well, the majority of them are people who previously had health insurance[2], and saw them lose their plan thanks to Obama’s lie of the year.

The need is significant. According to a December study published in the journal Health Affairs, fewer than 1 in 4 uninsured Americans understands key terms like deductibles, out-of-pocket spending caps or provider networks. Advocates are concerned that if people run into problems after getting insurance but can’t find help, many might not seek care or renew their coverage.

Nothing like signing up for something you don’t understand, eh? But, then, most who voted in the affirmative for Obamacare didn’t understand it, either. And the biggest problem is not understanding it, it’s affording the thousands and thousands of dollars for the deductible.

What this is really about is funding for far-left groups which provide “help” to those who mostly lost their plans and now have to obtain insurance through the Exchanges, and will use that access to the consumers to push them to donate to Democrats and vote Democrat. They want to keep the government funded gravy train a rollin’.

“Many of these people are first-time customers of health insurance, so there are going to be lots of claims that are denied, and people are not going to know what to do,” Ditre said. “They have no idea of how many phone calls you have to make.”

Strange: all the radio commercials talk about these being “quality health plans” (while mostly ignoring cost, despite the word “Affordable” being in the title of the bill), yet, it seems to be pretty hard to use. You mean it didn’t streamline things, and make it easier, and protect the “patients”? Double strange. Because the full title of Obamacare is the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove[3]. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach[4].

Endnotes:
  1. Who will help the newly insured?: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/obamacare-newly-insured-103645.html?hp=r2
  2. previously had health insurance: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/01/18/most-obamacare-enrollees-already-have-health-plans-report-says/
  3. Pirate’s Cove: http://www.thepiratescove.us/
  4. @WilliamTeach: http://twitter.com/WilliamTeach

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