patrick.net

Really, all that was just supposed to be for the "little people"!

"“It’s equivalent to taxing the sick,” Professor Green said. “I don’t think there’s any government in the world that would tax the sick.”

Hilarious. You guys missed the punchline: premiums would decline slightly.

Twenty dollar copays -- oh the humanity!

I read this as a pro-ObamaCare piece, but then again, it is the NY Times.

EBGuy says

Twenty dollar copays -- oh the humanity!

The idiot professor who equated copays and deductibles with "pay cuts" is a colossal embarrassment. I thought she was joking the first time I read her statement.

Meanwhile, in the economics department, tenured professors, free to never publish again, are busy cranking out more research proving that job insecurity is necessary to keep workers productive.

EBGuy says

Twenty dollar copays -- oh the humanity!

What makes you think copay is twenty dollars?

gsr says

EBGuy says

Twenty dollar copays -- oh the humanity!

What makes you think copay is twenty dollars?

That's just for doctor visit. This was the bigger issue.
"
For most other services, patients will pay 10 percent of the cost until they reach the out-of-pocket limit of $1,500 for an individual and $4,500 for a family.
"

gsr asked: What makes you think copay is twenty dollars?
Perhaps I misread the article. For a doctor’s office visit, the charge is $20.

EBGuy says

gsr asked: What makes you think copay is twenty dollars?

Perhaps I misread the article. For a doctor’s office visit, the charge is $20.

The doctor visit is not the main issue. Other services will cost more. This should not be a big deal for profs. But it is big for students, post-docs etc.

@gsr, I'll give you some points for the coinsurance. I've got a BS small business HMO plan. Twenty-five dollar copay. Hospitalization is $250 per day/max $750, but surgeon fee is nada. Max out of pocket is $2500 per individual/$5k per family.
I'm guessing (edit: no need to guess, the article says so) the the Harvard plan gives more choice for physician/surgeon and that's why the insured has to pay 10 percent (up to $1500) -- cry me a river.
Students are covered up to age 26 under their parents plan.

HydroCabron says

Meanwhile, in the economics department, tenured professors, free to never publish again, are busy cranking out more research proving that job insecurity is necessary to keep workers productive.

Ha! And proposing raising the retirement age for roofers, trashmen, electric linemen, nurses, etc. to 72. After all, I can sit in a comfy chair in an HVAC-equipped room and pontificate until I die, why can't those parasites?

Neoclassical Economics is Marxism Studies for Rich Dudes.

EBGuy says

Students are covered up to age 26 under their parents plan.

I guess parents will still have to work, if they can.

EBGuy says

I'm guessing (edit: no need to guess, the article says so) the the Harvard plan gives more choice for physician/surgeon and that's why the insured has to pay 10 percent (up to $1500) -- cry me a river.

It will supposedly hit lower-paid staffs. I am sure there are many of them, who have enjoyed nice Cadillac health coverage at Harvard so far.

gsr said: It will supposedly hit lower-paid staffs.
There is a reimbursement program eluded to in the article. See page 18 of the Harvard PDF that the NY Times linked:
You will be eligible to receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket, in-network costs that exceed these new thresholds.
Under $70,000: $900 Individual/$2,250 Family Threshold
$70,000–$95,000: $1,250 Individual/$3,125 Family Threshold

EBGuy says

You will be eligible to receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket, in-network costs that exceed these new thresholds.

Under $70,000: $900 Individual/$2,250 Family Threshold

$70,000–$95,000: $1,250 Individual/$3,125 Family Threshold

That reduces the effective out of pocket cost *if* they eventually get the difference back.
But it does _not_ make it better than what they used to have, which is the point of the complaint.

And this is the universal point. People have to accept relatively lower standard and higher cost and they are being told that it is good enough for them.

I still find it funny.

Harvard is raising the cost of heathcare to employees, that is covering less of their healthcare cost. And the right wing media spins this as:

For years, Harvard’s experts on health economics and policy have advised presidents and Congress on how to provide health benefits to the nation at a reasonable cost. But those remedies will now be applied to the Harvard faculty, and the professors are in an uproar.

Only later in the details - actually no details or explanation of how or why this is all about the ACA, other than this:

The university says the increases are in part a result of the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act,

Oh tell me it isn't so ! Harvard is acting like a corporation, and using the ACA as an excuse to not cover all of the increasing cost of healthcare to its employees ? I'm shocked !Oh the irony ! Especially is this actually was the result of the ACA.

Fuck em in the nutz

gsr says

What makes you think copay is twenty dollars?

The university is adopting standard features of most employer-sponsored health plans: Employees will now pay deductibles and a share of the costs, known as coinsurance, for hospitalization, surgery and certain advanced diagnostic tests. The plan has an annual deductible of $250 per individual and $750 for a family. For a doctor’s office visit, the charge is $20. For most other services, patients will pay 10 percent of the cost until they reach the out-of-pocket limit of $1,500 for an individual and $4,500 for a family.

Sadly, that's really cheap by today's standards!

And while the copay probably is $20, I am sure that doctors office tacks in other charges during the same office visit that make it much more $20, even if all you need is a prescription. You know, the $20 is just to walk in the door, then you get hit with a diagnosis fee added on top of that.

zzyzzx says

Sadly, that's really cheap by today's standards!

Yep this is damn cheap insurance. Not going to get any sympathy from me. With an out of pocket max of 1500 that is the most any of these people will pay in a year, or average 125.00 a month if it is used.