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| The newest Republican that everybody on the far right really hates now. |
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. At this point, it doesn’t even cover his medication or doctors’ visits — particularly concerning considering he had to have two stents placed in his heart in 2006.
“I do not work now, I’m 61, and we do have assets saved up. But still, to come up with that $1,069 per month….” he said, trailing off. “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.
Does anybody else hear that popping sound?
I do believe that is the sound of Republican heads exploding in frustration. Or as I like to call it, my new ring tone.
My voice teacher has 40 students and directs two choirs..I'm guessing her income is around $50,000. She too has an ungodly high Blue Cross policy. At church last week, she was handed some information about the ACA that told her she could NOT qualify for the ACA because she is technically a 'small business owner.' She is also overweight, and the paper insisted that under the new law, all the insurers would be having regular weighins so they can charge obese people more. Sounds like Heritage Foundation scare tactics to me. I'm glad this man is out there...hopefully there will be many more, including my sisters, who don't have health care and hate Obama so much they will shoot themselves in the foot rather than check this out. You can't fix stupid.
ReplyDeleteI hope you gave her the real info.
DeleteThese lies will keep people from getting the health care they need. I don't necessarily believe in "evil," but this shit comes pretty close.
DeleteA small business owner in our town has taken his own life, unfortunately. Yesterday a neighbor told me over the back fence that people were thinking it's all Obama's fault, and for how his business was going downhill because of Obamacare. Too much sitting on the couch watching Fox TV! I said I could absolutely positively guarantee that Obama was not at fault.....
ReplyDeleteThese stories will start to filter out, and even those who haven't
ReplyDeleteapplied, or didn't think they wanted to for ideological reasons, will find, often, that they will get great savings, or at least some.
My insurance for a family of four went from $12,000 a year before Romneycare to a fraction of that now, with the same doctor, services, hospital, and lower prescription costs. I had a mild -- but still pre-existing -- condition when I became self-employed, and even the local Chamber of Commerce group plan was prohibitive.
I look forward to seeing more of these stories here. In general, the word will spread from Republicans to their friends and family that ACA (they don't even have to call it Obamacare) is not such a bad deal after all.
Well, for all the Republicans I know, it is all about their OWN money, after all. To hell with anyone else. I am convinced that by the 2014 election and certainly by 2016, most Republican candidates will be defying history, campaigning on their support of the ACA. They will claim to have no recollection or involvement in the current obstruction tactics. May I just say in advance...the dirty lying fucktards!
ReplyDeleteSpot on.
DeleteVernD
This is what the GOTP fears of course. Heads up Gryphen, 'how' should be 'who' in your title line (a bit of 'Merlot' during posting perhaps?). I have done it more times than I care to admit.
ReplyDeleteAlready changed it. But thanks.
DeleteWhat do you wanna bet that they all are flocking to ACA and getting their fair price - but will try to prevent others from getting it too by intimidating them with fake horror stories about Obamacare helping or even PUSHING (saw that somewhere yesterday... :/) people to commit suicide, especially when they are elderly... :(
ReplyDeleteGryphen, here is another one. Rand Paul supporter decides he likes the new health care plan, because, tada, he can now get health care at an affordable price.
ReplyDeletehttp://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/10/04/2730801/joshua-pittman/
Amazing!!!
DeleteTypical republican shithead. If the law helps someone else it is communism/socialism/totalitarianism, you name it. If the law turns out to help him....wellllll, THEN it is reasonable and good.
ReplyDeleteWhy should I have to subsidize this 61 year old who obviously didn't take care of himself if he needed stents at age 54. Another republican hypocrite.
That's the thing, isn't it? Progressives (and even not-quite-progressives) have been working for affordable health care precisely because it helps EVERYONE, even people who actually self-identify as a fucking Rand Paul supporter.
DeleteJust wait for those stents to fail, let's see him get the same "Change of heart" Darth Cheyney got, he'll be so thrilled, he'll turn Democrat.
ReplyDeleteKidding aside, Obamacare will practically sell itself as more and more people realize the benefit to cost ratio is a win win for individuals AND usinesses. It invests in people's health while cutting costs, promoting healthy choices and preventive care.
Anyone who's had a serious illness knows how expensive health care coverage was, and how easily one could be denied because of the "risk" that it may return.