01-27-2017, 11:05 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Natasha
I WAS totally gung-ho for the Affordable Care Act. My first year of private practice in 2014, I qualified for "help" from the feds but didn't realize until the next tax reporting period of 2015 that I had to "pay back" the offset (the portion that the gov't covered me because I was earning at or below the poverty level during 2014). PLUS, because I was un-insured for 90 days, I was penalized 2,500k. I got wise and succumbed in 2016, but as fate would have it, I earned (a.k.a. WORKED MY ASS OFF)double what I did in 2015 so now I get no help in paying for premiums. So for 2016 I pay $500 per month for my health care insurance with a $6k deductible. This means I delayed an annual mammogram and a colonoscopy and never bothered to have a questionable mole on my nose looked at. Now, in January, 2017, my premiums have doubled. I'm now paying $800 per month with the same deductible. I did discover that the "screening" procedures such as mammogram, colonoscopy, and PAP smear are covered without meeting the deductible, so I'm going to do all those "tune-ups" and get my money's worth. But still . . . $800 a month for a sole proprietor, small business owner?! No wonder I can't afford to hire a secretary! And God forbid I want to expand my practice and heal more people, but I can't afford to hire another therapist unless they're willing to be a private contractor and/or covered under their own partner's medical insurance.
Small business is the backbone of this nation. Providing supportive services to the less fortunate is what I do. I'm not saying I deserve a medal - I chose this profession. It just chaps my ass that Congress gets top-notch policies and we - the guys in the trenches healing the results of their crappy legislation - have to pay more. The whole system needs an enema.
Natasha Ufema
This is super far afield from the original post (Hilo Medical Center billing issues), it was added on months after the last post, and not at all Puna related. Sorry you had such a hard time getting insurance that works for you, but that has nothing to do with Hilo Medical center.