Obamacare

[GrowGoddess]

There is.  This man qualifies for subsidies and might be surprised to find that he gets very affordable insurance.  He needs to turn off Fox News and get on the website and sign up.  If he can't pay the premiums, they will simply cancel the insurance.  If he's in his 50's and doing manual labor for a living, he needs medical care and he should have it AND it should be "affordable" -- which is defined as costing less than 9% of your Adjusted Gross Income unless he nets over $44k annually after he pays his taxes, business expenses and saves for retirement.   He sounds like exactly the kind of person who the program is designed to help.  

 

He has applied and been denied many times.

For help for propane this winter, they deducted dollars off his bridge card and will be taking the rest out of his tax return.

Normally his tax return pays for his property taxes. That leaves him nothing. He works, pays taxes, and gets nothing.

I consider him an others in his situation public servants. Work, pay taxes, and get little to nothing in return.

 

Computer, internet, TV? You must be living on fantasy island. He doesn't have any of those things. Please explain to me how $15 a week will pay for that, electricity, gasoline, etc? Since our government banned analog TV, he no longer has a signal. (our government did not provide a HDTV) all he has is the radio. This is very common around where I live. He is one of the lucky ones, he owns a vehicle. Can't afford to insure it and it has over 250,000 miles on it, but keep preaching for ACA. It is all justified, punish the hard working American, take everything he has so that you can get a deal on your insurance.

[KentuckyMMJ]

If my insurance covered mj for me, I would still be growing my own and I really should be growing my own food too. Especially living in North America.

 

I do grow my own....food too.  No Roundup for me, thank you.  

 

I am not sure that MJ will ever be a pharmaceutical drug.  I think it will become legal to grow, smoke and enjoy for both medical and recreational purposes in the next 10 years.  Sooner in most states.

 

Still, those who know how to grow will be able to make money doing so.  Especially if it's organic.  

[KentuckyMMJ]

He has applied and been denied many times.

For help for propane this winter, they deducted dollars off his bridge card and will be taking the rest out of his tax return.

Normally his tax return pays for his property taxes. That leaves him nothing. He works, pays taxes, and gets nothing.

I consider him an others in his situation public servants. Work, pay taxes, and get little to nothing in return.

 

Computer, internet, TV? You must be living on fantasy island. He doesn't have any of those things. Please explain to me how $15 a week will pay for that, electricity, gasoline, etc? Since our government banned analog TV, he no longer has a signal. (our government did not provide a HDTV) all he has is the radio. This is very common around where I live. He is one of the lucky ones, he owns a vehicle. Can't afford to insure it and it has over 250,000 miles on it, but keep preaching for ACA. It is all justified, punish the hard working American, take everything he has so that you can get a deal on your insurance.

The government supplied free analog converters for a couple of years before they re-purposed the analog channels to the cell phone companies.  If he didn't get one, he can probably find one (or you could do it for him on your computer or he could go to the library) on Ebay, Freecycle or Craigslist.  I wouldn't be surprised if Goodwill had lots of them too since a lot of people eventually upgraded to Digital TVs (maybe not HD, but digital) after they got theirs.  

 

Your friend is a property owner and generally property owners are not considered poor...or at least not poor enough to get welfare.  They are often wealthy in land if not cash.  So, a property owner who has an income tax return that covers his property taxes must earn enough income to pay those income taxes - usually thru payroll tax withholding...which would indicate he has a job.  But you said he does odd jobs.  Do the people in the community that hire him for odd jobs withhold and file payroll taxes for him?  If not....how ever does he get an income tax refund at all?  It would seem that a self employed person would owe income taxes at the end of the year -- not be expecting a refund with which to pay taxes.  

 

Curious-er and Curious-er.......fantasy indeed.

[GrowGoddess]

The government supplied free analog converters for a couple of years before they re-purposed the analog channels to the cell phone companies.  If he didn't get one, he can probably find one (or you could do it for him on your computer or he could go to the library) on Ebay, Freecycle or Craigslist.  I wouldn't be surprised if Goodwill had lots of them too since a lot of people eventually upgraded to Digital TVs (maybe not HD, but digital) after they got theirs.  

 

Your friend is a property owner and generally property owners are not considered poor...or at least not poor enough to get welfare.  They are often wealthy in land if not cash.  So, a property owner who has an income tax return that covers his property taxes must earn enough income to pay those income taxes - usually thru payroll tax withholding...which would indicate he has a job.  But you said he does odd jobs.  Do the people in the community that hire him for odd jobs withhold and file payroll taxes for him?  If not....how ever does he get an income tax refund at all?  It would seem that a self employed person would owe income taxes at the end of the year -- not be expecting a refund with which to pay taxes.  

 

Curious-er and Curious-er.......fantasy indeed.

 

This is in defense of the weak, the victims of our government.

 

The odd jobs are $10 lawn mowing jobs. Which are few and far between now, at least over the past couple of years. Would you file a 1099 for a $10 lawn mowing job? Half of the people never paid him for taking care of their cabins. I suppose they are having financial difficulties too.

No, he is not self employed, he works part time at a local Save-a-Lot. Since the government started giving out tax breaks to companies for creating new jobs, $5,000 for each new employee, they started cutting all employees hours. His were cut in half. He makes less than $5,000 per year and that includes the side jobs. You get all of your withholding back if you make less than $5,000. He will get fined $95 for not purchasing the insurance which will put him behind $100 on his property taxes.

Yes, he is a working white male that owns his home. So, he is not eligible for benefits. He has already worked a whole lifetime worth. After losing his insurance, he got into a car accident and the insurance company did not leave him alone until he gave up his house in the city. He moved up north and bought a $10,000 dump and fixed it up.

 

There are many in this situation, I only used him as an example.

 

Like you, I did not know of these things until I moved up north into a poor community. Luckily I had family to help me out. I am barely getting by myself and I have 30 years of experience in what I do. Unfortunately, I can no longer afford to help people like him, but I can still try to defend them.

[beourbud]

Funny how the pubtards want to use ACA instead of the term They coined "ObamaCare"

 

Obama Cares

Thank You Mr President Barack Obama

[pergamum362]

You get it all out kentucky? I post on this site because im a caregiver and believe in the good marijuanna does for people.

[jointedone]

Good. Can't wait for all you youngsters to start paying for my medical care. 

[GregS]

This is interesting.

 

]

[pergamum362]

Very interesting. You know what else is interesting? If its so great then why is it mandatory?

[pergamum362]

Nevermind, you cant anwser that question. I will admit obamacare doesnt seem to be that bad, i never thought it was. I just dont think i should be told by the fed gov what i need. In 4 years or so, i would have bought health insurance on my own.

[+Malamute]

Grow goddess, if he makes under 15,000/yr; he will qualify for Medicaid. Problem solved and drama issue over.

[+Malamute]

Jointedone, healthy people have always paid for your healthcare insurance.  All this program did was create another insurance risk pool, LIKE the hundreds that already existed in this country.

[GrowGoddess]

Grow goddess, if he makes under 15,000/yr; he will qualify for Medicaid. Problem solved and drama issue over.

 

He was denied. So either his social worker is lying to him or somebody else is.

I must say, his social worker started treating him badly when she learned that his home is paid for. She seemed very disturbed about that.

Also, I know of another 50 year old who is disabled. Receives no assistance and he was kicked off the medicaid program. He owns his home too.

 

Can you provide me with a link to the information so I can offer these guys some help? Neither of them have access to a computer or internet.

 

I mean no offense, but I must say, it sure seems like another government program that does not help those who truly need it. Maybe that is why the two people I speak of have no medicaid and no financial assistance.

[+Malamute]

Of course I am willing to help. :-)

 

First off, owning 1 house and 1 car do not penalize you at all for qualification on any program. SSI, SNAP, Medicaid etc.  Although there are strict asset and income guidelines, 1 house and car(+ other things) are exempt during determination.

 

 Next, each person and case is unique to a degree and I would need to know how and why the person lost his/her Medicaid coverage already and whether he/she ever officially qualified for disability or if they were determined to no longer be eligible for disability and what changed in their income to cause such a removal. 

 

 But regardless of that,... Michigan Republicans have been a total pain in the asss and have not properly done the Medicaid expansion just yet(coverage for people between 100-133% of poverty level), but should be done soon. I think it will be called the healthy Michigan plan and will have more copays than traditional Medicaid.

 

 So beyond that, You can apply for Medicaid and if disabled, apply through the Social Security office for your determination of disability.

 

 Also, in Michigan there is the Adult Benefit Waiver program(ABW) for low income people which covers basic doctor stuff, x rays, tests and most prescriptions. 

 

 All of these are generally a pain in the donkey to deal with. You have to fill out forms regularly, sometimes twice, but if ya jump the hoops, you can get most your healthcare covered if qualified(poor donkey broke).

 

 Most of this stuff is set to change April 1st if full federal approval is given to the program the governors admin. came up with.  Some changes for the better, some for the worse.

 

 This covers the intent of the new coverage for Michigan...

 

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdch/Healthy_Michigan_Waiver_Amendment_for_Web_439514_7_441472_7.pdf

[+Malamute]

Government programs do help people all the time.  But sometimes knowledge is power and figuring out how to jump through the hoops and time spent dealing with the application process and maintaining it throughout your eligibility, is way easier said than done. 

 

Another issue that has been a problem is that if you are not officially disabled, you are expected to work to receive any benefits after a set period of time(6 months,1 year etc) unless you can get a work exemption for certain activities/issues(college, birthing a kid, etc), You are kicked off assistance programs.  This has been this way since 1996 welfare reform.

 

 So what happens, is you get people that can't really work, yet are not fully disabled and they fall through the cracks.

[+Malamute]

Ahhh, here ya go:

 

Healthy Michigan Plan Enrollment Announcement

The State of Michigan will begin accepting applications for the Healthy Michigan Plan on April 1, 2014. Michigan residents can enroll at any time online, by phone, or in person.

Open enrollment through the Federal Marketplace for Healthcare Coverage is closing on March 31st, 2014.  If you are not sure if you will be eligible for the Healthy Michigan Plan and do not have health care coverage yet, please apply through the Marketplace at Healthcare.gov before March 31st.

 

http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,4612,7-132-2943_66797---,00.html

 

 

That webpage should lead ya through what ya need to know.

 

 Notice it says apply on the fed by march 31st if ya might qualify and April 1st they take app's for the expanded medicaid program(healthy michigan)

[GregS]

Very interesting. You know what else is interesting? If its so great then why is it mandatory?

Everyone is required to participate in paying for it because everyone will use it, if not laying their bike down on I75, then when they have a heart attack or are diagnosed with any number of diseases that all humans are prone to. I have a brother with Parkinson's that appeared out of nowhere. He changed his tune in a hurry, having been one of those who continually claimed that sick people are malingerers.

[KentuckyMMJ]

He was denied. So either his social worker is lying to him or somebody else is.

I must say, his social worker started treating him badly when she learned that his home is paid for. She seemed very disturbed about that.

Also, I know of another 50 year old who is disabled. Receives no assistance and he was kicked off the medicaid program. He owns his home too.

 

Can you provide me with a link to the information so I can offer these guys some help? Neither of them have access to a computer or internet.

 

I mean no offense, but I must say, it sure seems like another government program that does not help those who truly need it. Maybe that is why the two people I speak of have no medicaid and no financial assistance.

https://www.michigan.gov/difs/0,5269,7-303-12902_35510-263899--,00.html

 

I have personally helped several people sign up and the ACA trained people to assist.  It seems the people who need it most and who qualify have been the most mis-led group in our population.

[GregS]

https://www.michigan.gov/difs/0,5269,7-303-12902_35510-263899--,00.html

 

I have personally helped several people sign up and the ACA trained people to assist.  It seems the people who need it most and who qualify have been the most mis-led group in our population.

It can be fairly said that many are the least educated. Mal is doing a fine job explaining things. The Repubican noise machine has put out so much stupid information and outright lies that those who cannot think critically, and there are many, are confused.

[Restorium2]

Speaking of mislead;

 

Back when the resession was going strong folks were losing their good health insurance for various economic reasons. The insurance companies saw this and wrote some policies that were just fluff. They didn't pay for anything at all. It gave some folks a false sense of security to have these fluffy policies. These are the policies that were cancelled because of the ACA. These are the folks that you see on TV saying they lost their coverage. They really didn't have coverage at all. They were victims of the insurance companies not Obamacare.

[KentuckyMMJ]

This is in defense of the weak, the victims of our government.

 

The odd jobs are $10 lawn mowing jobs. Which are few and far between now, at least over the past couple of years. Would you file a 1099 for a $10 lawn mowing job? Half of the people never paid him for taking care of their cabins. I suppose they are having financial difficulties too.

No, he is not self employed, he works part time at a local Save-a-Lot. Since the government started giving out tax breaks to companies for creating new jobs, $5,000 for each new employee, they started cutting all employees hours. His were cut in half. He makes less than $5,000 per year and that includes the side jobs. You get all of your withholding back if you make less than $5,000. He will get fined $95 for not purchasing the insurance which will put him behind $100 on his property taxes.

Yes, he is a working white male that owns his home. So, he is not eligible for benefits. He has already worked a whole lifetime worth. After losing his insurance, he got into a car accident and the insurance company did not leave him alone until he gave up his house in the city. He moved up north and bought a $10,000 dump and fixed it up.

 

There are many in this situation, I only used him as an example.

 

Like you, I did not know of these things until I moved up north into a poor community. Luckily I had family to help me out. I am barely getting by myself and I have 30 years of experience in what I do. Unfortunately, I can no longer afford to help people like him, but I can still try to defend them.

I live in Kentucky but grew up in Michigan.  Poor in rural Kentucky makes poor in rural Michigan look like country living. Deliverance meets Feed the Children.  Kentucky is one of the states that the traveling charities that used to provide medical and dental care to 3rd world countries spend a lot of time in - the need is so great.  It's a "red" state but the government embraced the opportunity to get medical care for it's huge poor population. 

 

Most states won't provide welfare benefits to home owners - especially home owners with 100% equity.  The Affordable Care Act is a Federal Program that is based on your Adjusted Gross Income.  You can actually be quite wealthy in assets and still benefit - especially if you are nearing the end of your working life and poor health prevents you from earning as much as you used to.

 

It's important that the word gets out to those who truly need the help, regardless of your political views.  It's downright embarrassing to live in a 1st world country that denies half it's population basic medical care.  I'd hate to see people suffering because they've been given bad information about the program.  Without good health, working for a living is difficult and getting out of poverty becomes impossible.  

[Restorium2]

That guy Grow Goddess keeps talking about doesn't even have to pay any fine at all. He doesn't come close to making enough for a fine. What made him (and Goddess) think he had to pay a fine at all? Just guessing or what?

Edited March 30, 2014 by Restorium2

[bobandtorey]

I live in Kentucky but grew up in Michigan.  Poor in rural Kentucky makes poor in rural Michigan look like country living. Deliverance meets Feed the Children.  Kentucky is one of the states that the traveling charities that used to provide medical and dental care to 3rd world countries spend a lot of time in - the need is so great.  It's a "red" state but the government embraced the opportunity to get medical care for it's huge poor population. 

 

Most states won't provide welfare benefits to home owners - especially home owners with 100% equity.  The Affordable Care Act is a Federal Program that is based on your Adjusted Gross Income.  You can actually be quite wealthy in assets and still benefit - especially if you are nearing the end of your working life and poor health prevents you from earning as much as you used to.

 

It's important that the word gets out to those who truly need the help, regardless of your political views.  It's downright embarrassing to live in a 1st world country that denies half it's population basic medical care.  I'd hate to see people suffering because they've been given bad information about the program.  Without good health, working for a living is difficult and getting out of poverty becomes impossible.  

And west by god is also in the same shape (West Virginia )  i was taking to someone at a club meeting last week that had BCBS and he had his Hip replaced and it still cost him $8,000 dollars out of pocket for it

[KentuckyMMJ]

Very interesting. You know what else is interesting? If its so great then why is it mandatory?

 

The primary reason it's mandatory is because Insurance Companies wanted it.  Remember when Obama said that he didn't support the individual mandate while running for election?  He went back on his word because he found himself faced with a choice between getting some kind of Healthcare Reform Law passed and failing altogether.  So, he gave the Insurance Companies and all of our Congressmen in their pocket on both sides of the aisle their Individual Mandate.  

 

The insurance companies insisted that people would not sign up for a policy until they wanted medical care.  Then, they would sign up, get their medical care and drop the policy.  It's hard to argue that they are wrong.

[pergamum362]

I can still do that.