Health care new rules and BK

[One Half Full]

I have been asking this question to myself, and wonder if anyone asks it here, and what the answer is:

I was told not to go BK due to the fact that I was poor, jobless, and did not have health insurance. Getting a job with health insurance seemed to be a major reason not to go BK because you never knew if you would have a broken leg or heart attack and the BK meant you had to wait for 7 years before going BK again, so you might end up owing 100,000 for a medical situation when the original amount you owed was 20,000.

So, in 2014, low income people will be allowed to join "pools" or if they are too poor, possibly get expanded Medicare. I am being allowed class 5 Veteran's benefits because I am a low income Veteran, so essentially, the argument about not going bankrupt is a moot point with me.

Does "Obama Care" mean that many more people who have been forced to avoid BK can now go BK?

BK clears the slate, but one thing that I have not heard much is the benefit of allowing people not to artificially keep their incomes small so that creditors do not have the ability to garnish their wages. BK would actually mean "hope" for some of these poor people. They could start making a little more money, and perhaps live better lives, not only because they have insurance, but also because they can make more money, and repair their credit.

Has anyone thought about this?

[keepsmiling]

Yup, I think about it all the time.
Problem is it's so hard to get an idea of what to do to get this care. Nobody seems to know anything.
Anyway, it's one of the things we are waiting for.

[tobee43]

actually, yes, i have.

first...medicare is for the elderly........you CARE for the elderly
second...medicaid is for the poor.......you AID the poor

so it would be a form of medicaid.

hospitals are given grants to use to write off those that cannot afford to pay. where i use to work in nj it was the hill burton fund, (there was a max annually), however there are many ways to aid the poor, the biggest problem is many poor are not familiar with the system, for that matter who is and how to utilize it and get the assistance they need.

it all comes out in the wash either way, even if those bills were eventually turned into civil law suits, once one goes bk they can wipe out the judgements. it's even scary one has to think about these things, but a reality of today.

[LadyInTheRed]

I have been asking this question to myself, and wonder if anyone asks it here, and what the answer is:

I was told not to go BK due to the fact that I was poor, jobless, and did not have health insurance. Getting a job with health insurance seemed to be a major reason not to go BK because you never knew if you would have a broken leg or heart attack and the BK meant you had to wait for 7 years before going BK again, so you might end up owing 100,000 for a medical situation when the original amount you owed was 20,000.

Does "Obama Care" mean that many more people who have been forced to avoid BK can now go BK?

I doubt there are many people who are delaying filing BK solely because they don't have health insurance and they might incur medical expenses. Delaying filing because of a current medical condition that will continue to require you to incur medical expenses makes sense. Waiting until you have income to support yourself after your BK makes sense. But a healthy person delaying filing only because they don't have medical insurance doesn't make sense to me.

So, I think that Obamacare might cause some people with ongoing medical expenses to file BK once they have coverage. But, I think the number will be small. If somebody still doesn't have enough income to cover their living expenses, getting healthcare coverage isn't going to be enough to make them pull the BK trigger.

[DeadManCrawling]

Do you currently HAVE health issues that will pile up after you filed? If so, that is a good reason to delay.

We delayed filing for about 4 years due to this. I had a number of expensive surgeries and procedures to get through. We almost made it too. But a few things happened after BK and I have a couple CA's chasing me for a couple grand in bills. But I am now on disability, as well, so there is nothing they can collect anyway. I am glad we did it the way we did, it saved us some heartache, I think.

[LadyInTheRed]

Yup, I think about it all the time.
Problem is it's so hard to get an idea of what to do to get this care. Nobody seems to know anything.
Anyway, it's one of the things we are waiting for.

Information on the healthcare act can be found at: http://www.healthcare.gov/

Begining in October 2013, if you are not eligible for medicare, medicaid or an employer-provided health plan, you will be able to log into your state's insurance exchange website where you can find out whether you are eligible for a subsidy and shop for and compare plans offerred by different companies. The plan benefits will be standardized so you can compare apples to apples. The exchanges are supposed to be up and running by October so you can shop for and enroll in a plan that will be effective on January 1, 2014. If your state does not set up an exchange, the federal goverment will make one available.

You can get an estimate of what your premium and subsidy might be using one of the following calculator: http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/ http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/heal...cy/calculator/ The calculators are based on the silver plan, which is the mid-range plan. There is also a more modest bronze plan and more generous gold plan and bronze plans.

Also, medicaid elgibility will be expanded. While eligibility for Medicaid varies by state, adults under 65 with income under 133% of the federal poverty level will be eligible for medicaid. If you don't have children, you no longer have to have a waiver to qualify. There are other areas where eligibility is extended.

[tobee43]

Information on the healthcare act can be found at: http://www.healthcare.gov/

Begining in October 2013, if you are not eligible for medicare, medicaid or an employer-provided health plan, you will be able to log into your state's insurance exchange website where you can find out whether you are eligible for a subsidy and shop for and compare plans offerred by different companies. The plan benefits will be standardized so you can compare apples to apples. The exchanges are supposed to be up and running by October so you can shop for and enroll in a plan that will be effective on January 1, 2014. If your state does not set up an exchange, the federal goverment will make one available.

You can get an estimate of what your premium and subsidy might be using one of the following calculator: http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/ http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/heal...cy/calculator/ The calculators are based on the silver plan, which is the mid-range plan. There is also a more modest bronze plan and more generous gold plan and bronze plans.

Also, medicaid elgibility will be expanded. While eligibility for Medicaid varies by state, adults under 65 with income under 133% of the federal poverty level will be eligible for medicaid. If you don't have children, you no longer have to have a waiver to qualify. There are other areas where eligibility is extended.

excellent post lady, thank you for all that work and effort! this is great information for everyone concerned about the upcoming healthcare changes. (i think it should be redone in a sticky, imho). it's so important that people do not hold off filing bk because of health care issues they are concerned about.

two types of people most effected and a large part of our populations are families working hard to support their children and themselves where their employers may offer health insurance at costs which are prohibited to the employee and their family. so many of these types of situations have caused so many to slip through the cracks on maintaining good health care for their families because there was absolutely no way for them to cover themselves and their children. while most states provided a sliding scale basis medical care plan for children, based on income, the parents were still left standing out in the cold. i'm not for or against obamacare or anything political per se, i'm generally for good and equal health care to everyone that needs it. whatever the cost we need to take care of our children, the elderly and the backbone of this country, which many of those are the working parents. the second type of person is usually single without support and a low paying job not allowing them to maintain health insurance.

[keepsmiling]

I need someone to hold my hand and walk me through the maze lol. Our Gov has opted out so who do I speak to? Do I need to go without insurance for 3 months? Do we have to ante up beforehand and wait for the tax credit? Do I have to wait for 2013 taxes to be done? My head hurts just from trying to ask the q's and I'm reasonably intelligent and familiar with "gotchas" as I have BTDT.

[tobee43]

I need someone to hold my hand and walk me through the maze lol. Our Gov has opted out so who do I speak to? Do I need to go without insurance for 3 months? Do we have to ante up beforehand and wait for the tax credit? Do I have to wait for 2013 taxes to be done? My head hurts just from trying to ask the q's and I'm reasonably intelligent and familiar with "gotchas" as I have BTDT.

i'll hold your hand! here...give it to me

it really is a mess, i know. you (figuratively speaking) want to file, but you need medical help, you know the bills are going to pile up and you know you can't pay them. if you file bk now these bills will not be covered or discharged with your bk as you have not accumulated them as yet. it's a dilemma for certain, no question about it. we had to make the same choice. we had accumulated well over 200k of medical expenses when we filed. i think one of the main reasons we filed when we did, (actually there were a number of reasons), however, one being that the insurance company no longer had "capped" amounts if we were to need them again for a major illness situation. while it did happen, we did have another major situation, we at least NOW had medicare PLUS the horizon bc/bs in place which basically cover everything. i know we have been extremely fortunate.

i am covered under the nj state police plan, however, when he called the state if God forbid my dh didn't make it, what would the policy cost me? the reply was shocking, just over $700 monthly!!!!!!!! no way would or could we do that if we had to. that would mean someone like you and your dh it would cost upwards of $1400 monthly for good health insurance. if one can afford that they almost could be a self pay, if they put it in a saving account they could pay cash for many things. however, not catastrophic illnesses, they run upwards to the millions we unfortunately know

the question is, where will you stand in oct 2013? how much will it cost you for coverage for your family? will the trustees consider all this. what if you increased your medical expenses on your means test and or sch j. although that still doesn't help with any creditors you may have picked up along the way. it's a really difficult situation.

it's a lose lose here! it really backs someone up against the wall.

[LadyInTheRed]

I need someone to hold my hand and walk me through the maze lol. Our Gov has opted out so who do I speak to? Do I need to go without insurance for 3 months? Do we have to ante up beforehand and wait for the tax credit? Do I have to wait for 2013 taxes to be done? My head hurts just from trying to ask the q's and I'm reasonably intelligent and familiar with "gotchas" as I have BTDT.

The Federal goverment will establish an exchange for New Jeresey. The tax credit reduces your monthly premium, so you will only need to pay the difference between the premium and the credit you are eligible for. You are supposed to be able to apply begining in October, so your 2013 taxes won't need to be done. In October, go to www.healthcare.gov and there should be a away to apply for your tax credit and shop for insurance.

I don't understand your question about going without insurance for 3 months. Are you currently without insurance and are you talking about the 3 months between now and October? No coverage under the exchange will be effective until January. October is when you can start the process of shopping for and enrolling in a plan. To see what options you might have between now and January, try using the tool at http://finder.healthcare.gov/

[keepsmiling]

My situation is complicated. I have a son in college for whom I MUST buy MA insurance in order for him to attend school. I went back to school myself to get lower priced but not so great insurance that I only have a short window to buy, and when I buy, it's for a year and all cash up front. So timing is everything.

To get onto Familycare (the NJ plan, my son was on it til they kicked him off at 19) you need to be uninsured three months. That is, if they will be expanding that program again to adults. It's a labyrinth and I am going to get screwed one way or another.

[tobee43]

My situation is complicated. I have a son in college for whom I MUST buy MA insurance in order for him to attend school. I went back to school myself to get lower priced but not so great insurance that I only have a short window to buy, and when I buy, it's for a year and all cash up front. So timing is everything.

To get onto Familycare (the NJ plan, my son was on it til they kicked him off at 19) you need to be uninsured three months. That is, if they will be expanding that program again to adults. It's a labyrinth and I am going to get screwed one way or another.

it would be good if they expanded the familycare. i know they make you submit income and proofs every 3 months. or at least that's what they did with my daughter. she tried to cover her family via work, but it was going to cost them over 1400.00 plus 2k for child care, they couldn't do it. the kids were on nj family care, my daughter covered via her work and her husband nothing. familycare would not pick him up at all. that's why they moved out of nj, he couldn't get any full time teaching jobs with benefits. they finally have them but had to move out of state to do it.

it's so hard, hopefully they will extend familycare to the parents and also to single adults in nj, this is really the issue for the entire country! i also can't believe they kicked off your son at 19, while the state plan itself extended their plan to cover kids until the age of 25. dental is another cost. i thought nj was bad but florida is worse. we have a small policy via the state, barely pays anything and has a max., but my implants were over 5k each in nj, but run closer to the 10k per tooth here in florida from people i have spoken with!! (i couldn't believe it). shoot my mouth is worth the price of a home nowadays!

keepsmiling, hopefully this will all work out one way or another, it just has to. plain and simple, it does! what's a body to do?

[keepsmiling]

I know I have said it before, but health ins is what screwed us from day 1. Was on Family Care, took a part time job, made 4K. Income was then 4k over the limit to qualify for the insurance....got kicked off. Since then a downward spiral since we had to buy it ourselves; in fact it WAS 1400 a month for the two of us a few years ago when we finally cried UNCLE after maxing out our HELOC to keep buying. Bad decisions one after the next. Really really need glasses and dental stuff and just can't do it yet, keep hoping . The clinics near us haven't had dentists in years.

[tobee43]

I know I have said it before, but health ins is what screwed us from day 1. Was on Family Care, took a part time job, made 4K. Income was then 4k over the limit to qualify for the insurance....got kicked off. Since then a downward spiral since we had to buy it ourselves; in fact it WAS 1400 a month for the two of us a few years ago when we finally cried UNCLE after maxing out our HELOC to keep buying. Bad decisions one after the next. Really really need glasses and dental stuff and just can't do it yet, keep hoping . The clinics near us haven't had dentists in years.

i would try the school of medical and dentistry in newark. i ended up having a surgery there that was day surgery that was going to cost over 50k i paid $500 in full for it and i got the teacher not the students. i know they use to have open clinic days, i'm not sure anymore.

i wouldn't be so hard on yourself, you need to stop kicking yourselves over this. it's just one of these things one cannot control or predict. oh! i know it cost the $1400 a month for two, that's basically what the state quoted us. it really is shocking and unfair. come for a visit and i'll get you glasses you have to see!

[One Half Full]

Hi, I haven't been on this site for a while. I am glad to see that there was some interest in my post. I am a veteran, and ended up receiving Veteran's medical for low income vets. It is probably not much. I have a feeling I won't be covered for cancer or anything.