Meet Butch Matthews, A Republican Who Came To Love Obamacare After Realizing It Will Save Him $13,000

[JohnR! 5,495]

Why is your concern for the insurance co. rather that everyone else?

I have no concern for the insurance companies or anyone else. I am not the one crying bloody murder or getting all worked up because of the ACA . I have been trying to help some of the less aware comprehend what ACA entails in an attempt to allay their unwarranted concerns...

Edited October 4, 2013 by Gegel

[Crashed~N2~Me 970]

I love fairy tales and anecdotes as much as the next guy.

You don't just love fairy tales...apparently you believe in them too.

Just a bit of advice = You should really study the entire report before you extend your neck on it. You should consider multiple resources for comparison & validation.

Hint = Go back to the Kaiser report & try to grasp some of the finer details.

1) Definition of "average". What's the high & low?

2) "Average" deductibles nearly doubled in same time frame. How much is the "average" deductible now?

3) Google Aon Hewitt & HayGroup - Identify why ACA has increased core premium costs by 13.8%

4) Trust your Messiah - WH report stated Insurance premiums have "averaged" as high as 14%+.

5) Research "average" group health deductibles.

6) Identify how group health plans have been restructured to lower premiums by reducing coverage/ increasing deductible.

7) Identify premium history on plans which maintained prior benefits year after year.

8) Contemplate - premiums on policies with additional benefits - maternity, vision, dental...etc...?

I can go on & on ..but I'm sure this will keep you plenty busy & cutting yourself with safety pins for hours to come.

Oh...& by the way - The Easter Bunny isn't real. The Tooth Fairy was either your custodial or non custodial parent. & No MBD.. there isn't a Santa Claus - That was your drunk azz Uncle you found 2nd basing the neighbor's wife under the mistletoe.

Sorry.. but I think it's time you accepted reality.

P.S. After the recession hit - Kellogg's reduced cereal content (per box) on "average" 4 ounces. Kept box size the same. Sold it for the same price. Do the math Newton & tell me - Did prices go up?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

You don't just love fairy tales...apparently you believe in them too.

Just a bit of advice = You should really study the entire report before you extend your neck on it. You should consider multiple resources for comparison & validation.

Hint = Go back to the Kaiser report & try to grasp some of the finer details.

1) Definition of "average". What's the high & low?

2) "Average" deductibles nearly doubled in same time frame. How much is the "average" deductible now?

3) Google Aon Hewitt & HayGroup - Identify why ACA has increased core premium costs by 13.8%

4) Trust your Messiah - WH report stated Insurance premiums have "averaged" as high as 14%+.

5) Research "average" group health deductibles.

6) Identify how group health plans have been restructured to lower premiums by reducing coverage/ increasing deductible.

7) Identify premium history on plans which maintained prior benefits year after year.

8) Contemplate - premiums on policies with additional benefits - maternity, vision, dental...etc...?

I can go on & on ..but I'm sure this will keep you plenty busy & cutting yourself with safety pins for hours to come.

Oh...& by the way - The Easter Bunny isn't real. The Tooth Fairy was either your custodial or non custodial parent. & No MBD.. there isn't a Santa Claus - That was your drunk azz Uncle you found 2nd basing the neighbor's wife under the mistletoe.

Sorry.. but I think it's time you accepted reality.

P.S. After the recession hit - Kellogg's reduced cereal content (per box) on "average" 4 ounces. Kept box size the same. Sold it for the same price. Do the math Newton & tell me - Did prices go up?

Oh good Lord. More fairy tales. Look, you want to dispute something, put up. But don't try and validate your fairytales with more fairytales. It's not impressive.

And I'm sorry you had such a rotten childhood. You should go and smack your uncle for ruining your Christmases if he's still around.

Edited October 5, 2013 by Mr. Big Dog

[Crashed~N2~Me 970]

I am aware of all of that. And I am aware that none of that has anything to do with Obamacare. It happened over the 10 years prior to Obamacare same as it did in the 3 years since. So unless you are saying that these developments happened from 2000 to 2010 in mere anticipation of Obamacare, you will have to admit that attributing rises in premiums and deductibles to Obamacare is, well, a giant fairy tale.

Aon Hewitt & HayGroup have several studies prior to ACA & after.

You & I agree = Costs & premiums have (had long term trend) increased.

Where we are splitting (it seems to me) - ACA has piled on top & created an additional "average" rise in premiums (according to HayGroup & AH) of low = 4% & high = 13.8%.

ACA has indeed added extra cost.

Oh good Lord. More fairy tales. Look, you want to dispute something, put up. But don't try and validate your fairytales with more fairytales. It's not impressive.

And I'm sorry you had such a rotten childhood. You should go and smack your uncle for ruining your Christmases if he's still around.

Quite an edit -

[himher 634]

61-year-old Butch Matthews, left, with his wife Debbie

Butch Matthews is a 61-year-old former small business owner from Little Rock, Arkansas who used to wake up every morning at 4 A.M. to deliver canned beverages to retailers before retiring in 2010. A lifelong Republican, he was heavily skeptical of the Affordable Care Act when it first passed. “I did not think that Obamacare was going to be a good plan, I did not think that it was going to help me at all,” he told ThinkProgress over the phone.

But after doing a little research, Matthews eventually realized how much the law could help him. And on Tuesday, his local Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) provider confirmed that he would be able to buy a far better plan than his current policy while saving at least $13,000 per year through Arkansas’ Obamacare marketplace.

Matthews was self-employed between 1997 and 2010, meaning he had to purchase his own plan on the individual market. He chose a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan for himself and his wife that charged a $250 per month premium and had a $2,000 deductible. But the price of that policy kept rising even as it covered fewer of his costs, eventually devolving into his current rate of $1,069 per month with a $10,000 deductible.

...

“I went to Blue Cross Blue Shield, and they don’t even sell that plan anymore, but I could not change it to anything else. So I was locked in with it.”

That all changed once Obamacare’s state-level marketplaces opened to the public on Tuesday. Matthews knew that, at his income level, the law would help him pay for insurance. But even he might not have expected just how good of a deal he could get: his new coverage will cost him absolutely nothing in monthly premiums after factoring in federal subsidies, and has a deductible of $750.

“Which is a lot different from $10,000,” he pointed out, laughing.

...

So what would Matthews tell other Americans who are skeptical about Obamacare? “I would tell them to learn more about it before they start talking bad about it,” he noted. “Be more informed, get more information, take your time and study and not just go by just what you hear on one side or the other. Actually check the facts on it.”

“I still am a very strong Republican, but this… I’m so happy that this came along,” he continued. “Our home is paid for, vehicle’s paid for, this is our expense that we have. We have more expense on medical care than everything else put together, so this is going to be a great help for us.”

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/10/02/2721501/butch-matthews-obamacare-convert/

Health insurance policies that cost "nothing"? yay!

“Which is a lot different from $10,000,” he pointed out, laughing.

The people laughing today thinking they will collect from a broke-a$$ government are going to wonder ####### hit them when the bill comes due. Exponential spending is not sustainable.

Edited October 5, 2013 by himher

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Aon Hewitt & HayGroup have several studies prior to ACA & after.

You & I agree = Costs & premiums have (had long term trend) increased.

Where we are splitting (it seems to me) - ACA has piled on top & created an additional "average" rise in premiums (according to HayGroup & AH) of low = 4% & high = 13.8%.

ACA has indeed added extra cost.

The average increase pre- and post Obamacare is one and the same. Are there low and high end increases? Of course. Those were there prior to Obamacare and they are still there post Obamacare. Nothing changed except insurance companies now must use a set high percentage of the funds they collect to pay for actual health care or refund the extra funds to the insured. Insurance companies can no longer sell plans that are nothing but a giant rip-off and they can no longer cherry pick their customers. They can't collect your premiums and then kick you to the curb when you get sick. There's nothing wrong with any of that.

[Danno 1,228]

The average increase pre- and post Obamacare is one and the same. Are there low and high end increases? Of course. Those were there prior to Obamacare and they are still there post Obamacare. Nothing changed except insurance companies now must use a set high percentage of the funds they collect to pay for actual health care or refund the extra funds to the insured. Insurance companies can no longer sell plans that are nothing but a giant rip-off and they can no longer cherry pick their customers. They can't collect your premiums and then kick you to the curb when you get sick. There's nothing wrong with any of that.

Why was it named 'THe affordable Healthcare act?"

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Why was it named 'THe affordable Healthcare act?"

That'll be your homework for the weekend. Try and see if you can figure it out. Suggest you don't look for answers on the websites you usually peruse - you won't find them there.

[Danno 1,228]

That'll be your homework for the weekend. Try and see if you can figure it out. Suggest you don't look for answers on the websites you usually peruse - you won't find them there.

Mind if I borrow one of your websites to do research on?

Oh never mind, I have it right here.

Obama_talkingPoints.DNC

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Mind if I borrow one of your websites to do research on?

Oh never mind, I have it right here.

Obama_talkingPoints.DNC

You're off to a bad start. But that's the story of your life, isn't it? Never been much of an achiever.

[Ban Hammer 13,678]

Again, the principle selling point of every state program is that we will get more out of it than we put in.

THis is why it was titled and marketed as "affordable."

IF there were any truth to it one wonders why all the "exemptions" were sought, you would think people would have instead been Petitioning Barry for "early enrollment."

This program will be like all such programs, Food stamps, section 8, Obama phones.... there will be winners and losers, those who ride free and those who pay.

original post removed and returned without the picture. incoming message as to why.

[himher 634]

The average increase pre- and post Obamacare is one and the same. Are there low and high end increases? Of course. Those were there prior to Obamacare and they are still there post Obamacare. Nothing changed except insurance companies now must use a set high percentage of the funds they collect to pay for actual health care or refund the extra funds to the insured. Insurance companies can no longer sell plans that are nothing but a giant rip-off and they can no longer cherry pick their customers. They can't collect your premiums and then kick you to the curb when you get sick. There's nothing wrong with any of that.

There are those millions of people who get their premiums subsidized with borrowed money. Just one tiny thing that's all.

What is this "post-obamacare". The system hasn't even started up and you're claiming some kind of victory? We just got the notice that our rates are increasing in Dec, by 11%. Our rates at our company have increased 15% since 2008

Come back and see us after YOUR next open enrollment sport then let us all know what a great thing this is.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

What is this "post-obamacare".

That is addressing right wing fairy tales that have been circulating for the past couple of years about astronomical health insurance premium increases because of Obamacare. See, your right wing storyline is rapidly falling apart and that get you guys a bit in a panic. That's understandable. It's also quite entertaining. Keep it coming!

[himher 634]

That is addressing right wing fairy tales that have been circulating for the past couple of years about astronomical health insurance premium increases because of Obamacare. See, your right wing storyline is rapidly falling apart and that get you guys a bit in a panic. That's understandable. It's also quite entertaining. Keep it coming!

What part of an 11% rate increase in our health insurance premium before the "affordable care" program even starts is "quite entertaining" to you? Otherwise don't stupidly mistake panic for a cold hard determination to push this ill-conceived program right off the books sport.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

What part of an 11% rate increase in our health insurance premium before the "affordable care" program even starts is "quite entertaining" to you? Otherwise don't stupidly mistake panic for a cold hard determination to push this ill-conceived program right off the books sport.

You can have all the determination you want, sport, but you have failed so far and will continue to fail in that effort. You guys are failures all around.