Obama Care

thank you for adding some sanity.

(Desperately awaiting one of EN's famous cat pictures. . .) 

I am too.

Oh damn, I am one of the 918 people she has blocked so I can't see her entries.

I am one of those people who have said I want my surgery before 2011....I am not afraid of anything regarding my healthcare (well nothing that Obama caused - loved what he did - maybe afraid of the things that the all of the ANTI-healthcare reform people want to change!!)

I have three reasons I want my surgery before 2011: 1) We chose a higher deductable insurance plan for this current year, and we have met the deductable. 2) I want the surgery NOW - I want to start losing weight without the wait! 3)Combo of the the two in a way: We get our new plans announced next week - don't know what the plan options will be regarding deductables, medication coverage etc.....I don't want to have to wait to meet the deductable again and have to have the surgery in the fall...cuz I want it NOW! lol

 I am also hoping to have my surgery this year because I am tired of waiting to lose weight due to my stupid hormones! I am also happy that people are going to be able to have th opportunities to see a doctor and not worry about having health insurance, thank you so much for responding! :D

My insurance premiums have increased every year for as long as I can remember. So have my husband's (we pay attention to both so we can jump on the plan that's best for us). I wouldn't expect anything less for 2011, and the same would be true even with a different president or even a different political party in the hot seat.

Don't want to jump into the fray, but there is a lot of misinformation out there and I urge you to do your research from reputable information.  Because of the kind of work I do, I have to be very careful about what I write, but suffice to say I am working closely with the current requirements.  That being said, the US Dept of Labor website has some good information as well as the government site for the act  (PPACA). 
http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-aca2.html
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=11 1_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ148.pdf

Some things to consider:
- existing plans can assume 'grandfathered' status and not implement any of the changes (kinda blows away the 'we had to raise your premiums because of the act' argument, doesn't it),
- changes are done in stages and the changes for this year, if a plan chooses to incorporate them, make good business sense and many existing plans ALREADY have them in place.  Changes for this year include dependent coverage to age 26, elimination of pre-exising conditions, elimination of lifetime maximums and coverage of preventative health care. 
- Some plans may be hiking up rates more this year than others because it is the LAST year they will be able to do so without risking being eliminated or not eligible for the healthcare pools that will become effective in later phases of the act.

As far as WLS, there is nothing in the act that would make it harder to get WLS, to my knowledge. 

Hope this helps.

Sharon