President Trump

It has always been my understanding that with the ACA your premiums are based on your income levels (i.e. the more you make the more you pay).

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"This is that human freedom, which all boast that they possess, and which consists solely in the fact, that men are conscious of their own desire, but are ignorant of the causes whereby that desire has been determined." -Baruch Spinoza

I don't think this is true, no.

The only thing I can think of even remotely like this is that people below a certain income level qualify for subsidies.

You don't hear this in the stump speeches too often.

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Letterboxd

The law is just too obtuse.

Just chiming in. I'm getting health insurance coverage through the ACA.

Last year, I decided to leave my high-stress job to pursue a freelance career, which meant giving up a health insurance plan through my employer and replacing it with an individual one. Where I live (Kentucky), there are really only two players in the health insurance market: Anthem and Humana. Both are very cost-prohibitive if you want to buy an individual plan outright.

So I checked Kynect, the state's exchange market for ACA health insurance plans, and found those to be more affordable by the month (albeit with high deductible costs). Earlier this year, however, Kentucky's governor shuttered Kynect, so I had to move to the federal exchange. The plan I picked is actually a little cheaper with slightly better coverage. So the ACA option has been favorable for me.

That said, I have a high co-pay for specialists, and there's a lot my plan doesn't cover. But the plan I previously had through my employer (pre-ACA), while exceptionally inexpensive for regular checkups and preventative care, carried high costs for various tests/treatments and some procedures that I needed weren't covered at all.

I'm glad it's working for people, truly. Sounds like there are still a lot to fix in terms of deductibles and accessibility. Further evidence that the left and right need to stop taking an all or nothing approach and work through these things bit by bit. I digress thanks for sharing your experiences Mofos.

My greatest hope is that if the ACA is repealed that the Republicans choke their administration with replacing it. It could easily eat up a good portion of their first two years. Insurance is tricky business. I don't like the idea of government getting involved with it but the insurance companies have royally screwed a lot of people, so I am glad to see some type of oversight come to the industry. Now only if it wasn't a bunch of rich old white men.

Ok, I'm jumping back in despite myself. This is the kind of double talk I hear so much that bothers me. I will start here, if oversight is meant to get the rich white men in line, but instead raises premiums and deductibles, how has oversight helped alleviate the middle to lower class? Sounds strangely like the imaginary trickle down economics that republicans warn us about.

Because not everyone has high premiums: that's a boon for the middle and lower class, especially manual laborers.

I'm not sure I am following this logic. So if my premiums and deductible go way up it doesn't matter as long as yours don't?

I know nothing about politics, but Trump is pretty non political so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. He is sloppy and very outspoken, but I've heard of engineers building compounds on water and hillsides so...sometimes chaos brings about a good change. I don't agree with everything the guy yaps about, and do find him funny and scary...but I have a soft spot for him. He's not as dumb as people may think, certainly not as tactful, and I didn't vote for anyone, so I guess I'm a scumbag but...I'm giving him a chance. I'm actually surprised at how ugly people have gotten lately now that social media is the new arcade or shopping mall place to be for talking smack. Scary stuff. But America has been heading for bufoonery for a long, long time, and now here we are. I'm hoping for the best, will do what I can, and without a doubt, enjoy my time here. Not gonna get in the way or lay down. If the internet didn't exist, I wouldn't even think about it. Can I afford gas? How about groceries? A date? Couple toys? I'm all set. Not as greedy as I sound, but essentially, everyone has their own cross to bear, why start ripping up the lawn?

I'd also add that 1) the ACA isn't "oversight," and 2) healthcare is already one of the most heavily regulated industries in the United States.

I know this isn't topical but I figured I'd post this update here since I already mentioned my wife's citizenship application earlier in this thread:

Big news--My wife's biometrics are scheduled for this month!

For anyone unfamiliar, that's the final step in the background check/application process. We've been through these three different times in the past as she applied for her Visa/Green Card/etc. That means that there were no issues with her application and that the next step after this should be her test.

We're very excited. My wife is approaching the conclusion of her citizenship process!

Still hard to believe--TEN years of immigration here. Fiance Visa to Green Card and now, almost a decade later, her approaching US citizenship! We're very happy an excited!

Congrats, dt and Mrs dt. Hopefully the paper pushing is soon over.

Thanks, Dani! YES, we're almost finished with all that jazz! I shudder think of all the paperwork we BOTH had to fill out/file over the years for this entire process. All the pictures an personal emails we had to give them for proof of relationship--all that preliminary stuff.

All those years and it's about to pay off!

I'll party down here for you, buddy.

I was curious about where Trump stands on gun control and generally I stay out of that debate over there living here with the strictest gun control in the world, so I googled. OK so this time I'll weigh in just because I am quite confused about his reasoning - he rescinded Obama's gun control legislation re background checks? Can someone explain to me, just out of curiosity, why this is a good thing?

This is the exact rule Trump eliminated:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...rule/98484106/

I don't see how it's a good thing, and I'm very pro-gun rights.

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I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

I'm just curious because we have that rule here. It's in place to stop people under treatment from first and foremost blowing their brains out, not to stigmatise mental illness. Care to elaborate on why you dont think it's a good thing? No judgment from me. I'm just interested.

Fantastic! All the best to you and your missus xxx