<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div>Agreed, Nick. VERY MUCH agreed.</div><div><br></div><div>Anybody who feels that health care is a matter of faith, ought to spend a few days in the waiting room of one of Sacred Heart's intensive care units. I spent five weeks (12/15/2011 - 1/20/2012), 18-20 hours a day, seven days a week in one. </div><div><br></div><div>I shot a short quick video of the waiting room just before leaving . . .</div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_evAn0ZLQfY">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_evAn0ZLQfY</a><br><br><div>After a while, a person develops a relationship with others in the waiting room, like I did with . . .</div><div><br></div><div>- A 90-something man who accompanied his best friend . . . who he knew since high school at Spirit Lake . . . who couldn't afford health insurance . . . who died from internal bleeding (result of an accident almost a month earlier) three days after arriving at Sacred Heart.</div><div><br></div><div>- An 80-something cancer survivor who was there to be with her older brother when he died. 40+ family members (from Minnesota, California, and Montana) showed up in the ICU waiting room, as a surprise and to contribute funds out of their own pockets. It seems the cancer survivor's brother had to cash in his life insurance a few years earlier. He had no health insurance.</div><div><br></div><div>There were others, but these are these are the first that come to mind.</div><div><br></div><div>Affordable health care insurance . . . It is NOT an option. It is an absolute necessity.</div><div><br></div><div>My wife and I are covered by Tri-Care, another one of them government-run health insurance programs. For that we will be eternally grateful. Thank God!</div><div><br></div><div>Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</div><div><br></div><div>"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</div><div><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com">http://www.MoscowCares.com</a></div><div> </div><div><div>Tom Hansen</div><div>Moscow, Idaho</div><div><br></div><div>"<span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">There's room at the top they are telling you still</span><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "> </span></div><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">But first you must learn how to smile as you kill </span><br style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);"><br></span></font></div><div><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);">- John Lennon<br></span></font><div> </div></div><div><br></div></div><div><br>On Oct 24, 2013, at 11:29 AM, "Gier, Nicholas" <<a href="mailto:ngier@uidaho.edu">ngier@uidaho.edu</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>
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Hi Roger,<br>
<br>
Just catching up on this thread. I'm sorry, but health care is not like religion; it is not a matter of faith-except for the 46 million uninsured Americans, many of whom pray to God that they don't get sick.<br>
<br>
The two stories in the Chicago Tribune do not conflict. Obama has said that some premiums will go up, but current analysis,as the second story demonstrates, is that on average premiums will be lower.<br>
<br>
One does not have fall back on faith to know that single-payer universal systems have worked for decades, providing better health results in most instances and for less than half the cost in many countries.
<br>
<br>
With regard to Canada, you again are mixing the anecdotal with the general record. Some elective procedures are rationed in Canada, so if you don't want to wait, you can choose to cross the border for care. Many Americans cross the border for much cheaper
drugs, and many people here in Bellingham cross the border for good and cheaper dental care.<br>
<br>
My daughter, who lives in Edmonton, forgot to bring enough MS shots with her when she visited this summer. They are listed $50 per dose in Canada, but she pays nothing. When we called around in Moscow, the cost was $2,000! She and her husband packed up and
left for home one week earlier. We of course were sad to see them leave for such an outrageous reason.<br>
<br>
MS treatments are not rationed in Canada. One month after diagnosis, my daughter had a neurologist, an MS nurse, and an MS counselor, and access to the current research at a clinic at the University of Alberta. She also had her drugs immediately and without
cost, and she has never received a bill. <br>
<br>
In stark contrast is a Moscow friend of mine, who had to wait three years to qualify for Medicaid and to receive care and drugs. He is now wheel chair bound and has 24-hour care at a cost to society much more than if he had been treated when he should have
been.<br>
<br>
According to a Harvard study, there are 40,000 Americans who suffer preventable deaths each year. We rank 19th in the world for preventable deaths.<br>
<br>
I'll take reason, not faith, for health care any day, and I hope you will change your mind on this.<br>
<br>
Nick<br>
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font style="font-size:11pt" color="#000000" face="Calibri, sans-serif"><b>From:</b> <a href="mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com">vision2020-bounces@moscow.com</a> <<a href="mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com">vision2020-bounces@moscow.com</a>> on behalf of lfalen <<a href="mailto:lfalen@turbonet.com">lfalen@turbonet.com</a>><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, October 18, 2013 10:37 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Nicholas Gier<br>
<b>Cc:</b> vision 2020<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Vision2020] Story in Chicago Tribune Oct.15, 2012</font>
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<p>Very foggy here this morning. My wife just got back from putting on the State Soils Contest at Burley. She said that there was a major wreak just south of Genesee.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On your post. These are two different stories in the same paper. Who is to say which is right. Maybe both to some extent. There are a lot of opposing arguments out there. We will have to wait and see who is right. Maybe neither. It is like religion. Everyone
has their version of the gospel. Kind of like the Canadian system. Some swear by it, but a lot of those with money come to the states for treatment.</p>
<p>Roger</p>
<p>Incidentally I am mostly in agreement with Saundra's last two posts. For your information I also supported Otter's Heath Insurance Exchanges.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
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-----Original Message-----<br>
From: "Nicholas Gier" <<a href="mailto:ngier006@gmail.com">ngier006@gmail.com</a>><br>
To: lfalen <<a href="mailto:lfalen@turbonet.com">lfalen@turbonet.com</a>><br>
Cc: "Sunil Ramalingam" <<a href="mailto:sunilramalingam@hotmail.com">sunilramalingam@hotmail.com</a>>, "vision 2020" <<a href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</a>><br>
Date: 10/17/13 10:53<br>
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Story in Chicago Tribune Oct.15, 2012<br>
<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">Hi Roger,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><b><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif"><br>
</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="Georgia, serif">With your example of the one nurse I believe that you have committed the fallacy of generalizing from a very small sample. See the story from the Chicago
Tribune appended below. Premiums in Illinois under Obamacare will be lower than the national average.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="Georgia, serif"><br>
</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="Georgia, serif">You speak of employers who will cut their workers hours but do not condemn them. There will be only one whammy, and it won't be Obama's fault. If they
had a union they would be protected from such arbitrary actions. And your second whammy would be avoided by subsidies, which could be avoided if employers didn't cut their hours in the first place.</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="Georgia, serif"><br>
</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="Georgia, serif">You forgot to mention that many poor single people will not be eligible for Medicaid in those states where the GOP has refused to take fed's offer of
extended Medicaid for three years paid at 90%. The result will be that the Red States will fall further and further behind in general health, eventually to Third World levels. We are already below Cuba in infant mortality rates. </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="Georgia, serif"><br>
</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="Georgia, serif">Yours for better facts and better arguments,</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="Georgia, serif"><br>
</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="Georgia, serif">Nick</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="Georgia, serif"><br>
</font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><b style="line-height:150%"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">Illinois insurance exchange rates lower than U.S. average</span></b><br>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><b><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">Plans under health care law expected to provide 'fairly competitive prices'</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:2pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">September 25, 2013</span><span style="color:rgb(102,102,102); font-family:Georgia,serif">|</span><span style="padding:0in; border:1pt windowtext; color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">By
Peter Frost, Chicago Tribune reporter</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">Illinois residents will pay slightly less than the national average for
<a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-25/business/ct-biz-0925-health-rates-20130925_1_health-care-law-health-insurance-federal-tax-credits">
<span style="color:rgb(0,153,0); text-decoration:none">health</span><span style="padding:0in; border:1pt windowtext; color:black; text-decoration:none"><img alt="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" border="0" width="10" height="10" src="cid:"></span></a>
insurance offered under President Barack Obama's health care law, according to rates released Tuesday by state and federal officials.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">The snapshot provides an early yet incomplete look at how much consumers might pay in premiums and comes a week before the launch of new insurance
exchanges, the online marketplaces in which individuals, families and small businesses can compare and buy coverage, often with the help of federal tax credits.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">While state and federal officials released broad details on how much those plans might cost in certain areas, they did not release exact figures
for each of the 165 health plans being sold in Illinois, explaining that <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-25/business/ct-biz-0925-health-rates-20130925_1_health-care-law-health-insurance-federal-tax-credits">
<span style="color:rgb(0,153,0); text-decoration:none">rates</span><span style="padding:0in; border:1pt windowtext; color:black; text-decoration:none"><img alt="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" border="0" width="10" height="10" src="cid:"></span></a>
will not be final until Tuesday. They also did not reveal the specific copays and deductibles that most consumers will face when they see a doctor, visit an emergency room or undergo surgery.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">Despite that missing information, the new data provide an important overview of the kind of options consumers will have. The report also demonstrates
that many consumers will likely find an affordable option, though some may face higher premiums, as critics are quick to point out.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">"We are seeing, across the board, fairly competitive prices," said Caroline Pearson, vice president of Avalere Health, a consulting firm closely
following the rollout of the marketplaces. "The health plans are convinced that people will buy based on price, and they are working very hard to put low-cost products in the markets."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">The federal analysis also includes specific data only from the 36 states that have elected to have the federal government run their marketplaces,
including Illinois, which is operating in a federal partnership. (Premium information from the 14 states operating their own insurance marketplaces, including California, Maryland and Connecticut, in most cases is available through state websites.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">In Illinois, the average consumer will be able to choose from 58 health plans offered by as many as five insurance companies. In all, eight
<a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-25/business/ct-biz-0925-health-rates-20130925_1_health-care-law-health-insurance-federal-tax-credits">
<span style="color:rgb(0,153,0); text-decoration:none">insurers</span><span style="padding:0in; border:1pt windowtext; color:black; text-decoration:none"><img alt="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" border="0" width="10" height="10" src="cid:"></span></a>
will offer plans in the state, though not all will sell coverage in each region.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">State officials were hesitant to release even a broad overview of rates until now because federal regulators were working with insurance companies
to tweak plans and rates as late as last week, said Andrew Boron, director of the Illinois Department of Insurance.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">"We decided to take a conservative approach," Boron said. "But today, what we're all really excited to announce is that consumers in Illinois
are going to have robust options and affordable options."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">According to state and federal data:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">•A single 30-year-old who lives in Cook County and has annual income of $23,000 will be able to buy coverage for as little as $69 a month next
year with the help of $67 in federal tax credits.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">•A Cook County couple, both age 55 and with household income of $40,000, can buy<a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-25/business/ct-biz-0925-health-rates-20130925_1_health-care-law-health-insurance-federal-tax-credits"><span style="color:rgb(0,153,0); text-decoration:none">health
insurance</span><span style="padding:0in; border:1pt windowtext; color:black; text-decoration:none"><img alt="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" border="0" width="10" height="10" src="cid:"></span></a> for $70 a month after a $463 tax credit.
If that same couple lived in Peoria, their monthly premium would be free.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">•A family of four in Illinois with household income of $50,000 will be able to buy coverage for $84 a month after a $400 tax credit.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:black; line-height:150%; font-family:Georgia,serif">The </span><a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-25/business/ct-biz-0925-health-rates-20130925_1_health-care-law-health-insurance-federal-tax-credits" style="line-height:150%; font-family:Georgia,serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,153,0); text-decoration:none">health
care</span><span style="padding:0in; border:1pt windowtext; color:black; text-decoration:none"><img alt="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" border="0" width="10" height="10" src="cid:"></span></a><span style="color:black; line-height:150%; font-family:Georgia,serif"> law
established four broad categories of coverage - platinum, gold, silver and bronze - where premiums vary based on the amount of out-of-pocket health care expenses consumers are required to pay.</span><br>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">The above rates are based on a bronze plan, the least expensive, which requires policyholders to cover 40 percent of the cost of their health
care. A platinum plan has much higher monthly premiums, but the patient share is only 10 percent.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">Illinois insurance officials expect most consumers to choose plans in either the silver or bronze category.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">All plans offered on the exchanges require insurers to cover 10 basic services called essential health benefits, including maternity care,
prescription drugs, emergency services, mental health, laboratory services and hospitalization. Insurers also must offer plans to all applicants, even if they have a pre-existing medical condition like cancer, diabetes or hypertension.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">"There have been a lot of products on the market where people would find out that they thought they had health insurance, but then they would
find out that it wouldn't cover hospital visits, for example," said Gary Cohen, who oversees the online marketplaces for the federal Department of Health and Human Services. "It's important to understand that, because of the Affordable Care Act, the health
insurance that people will be buying will actually cover them in the case of them getting sick."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">Premiums also vary by family size, income, where people live and whether they smoke.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="text-align:center; color:black; line-height:150%; font-family:Georgia,serif">Some plans offered in Chicago, for example, are less expensive than identical coverage in Peoria and other
parts of Illinois, largely because Cook County has more so-called narrow-network plans, which limit the number of doctors and hospitals available to consumers and tend to be less expensive, state officials said.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">A 40-year-old tobacco user in Cook County would pay $196 for the lowest level of coverage, versus $152 for a nonsmoker.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">Illinoisans who make between 138 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level - up to $94,200 for a family of four - and aren't offered qualified
insurance through their employer are eligible for federal tax credits to help offset the cost of insurance premiums.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">To receive those subsidies, which vary on a sliding scale based on income and age, they must buy a plan offered on the exchange.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">Those whose income falls below that range will be newly eligible for Medicaid, the state-federal
<a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-25/business/ct-biz-0925-health-rates-20130925_1_health-care-law-health-insurance-federal-tax-credits/2">
<span style="color:rgb(0,153,0); text-decoration:none">health insurance</span><span style="padding:0in; border:1pt windowtext; color:black; text-decoration:none"><img alt="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" border="0" width="10" height="10" src="cid:"></span></a>
program for the poor and disabled.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">The marketplace, or exchange, is scheduled to open Oct. 1; coverage begins Jan. 1 for those who buy plans before Dec. 15. Open enrollment lasts
until March 31. Consumers who do not have <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-25/business/ct-biz-0925-health-rates-20130925_1_health-care-law-health-insurance-federal-tax-credits/2">
<span style="color:rgb(0,153,0); text-decoration:none">health</span><span style="padding:0in; border:1pt windowtext; color:black; text-decoration:none"><img alt="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" border="0" width="10" height="10" src="cid:"></span></a>
insurance in 2014 will pay an income tax penalty next year, starting at $95 or 1 percent of household income, whichever is greater.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">Of nearly 1 million in the state eligible for federal tax subsidies to help offset the cost of buying insurance, state officials expect only
about 337,000 to purchase subsidized coverage in 2014.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">While both reports lay out the broad strokes of how much coverage will cost, the data do not include the size of an
<a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-25/business/ct-biz-0925-health-rates-20130925_1_health-care-law-health-insurance-federal-tax-credits/2">
<span style="color:rgb(0,153,0); text-decoration:none">insurer's</span><span style="padding:0in; border:1pt windowtext; color:black; text-decoration:none"><img alt="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" border="0" width="10" height="10" src="cid:"></span></a>
network of providers like doctors, specialists, health centers and hospitals.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">"Everyone wants to do the political thing and talk about
<a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-25/business/ct-biz-0925-health-rates-20130925_1_health-care-law-health-insurance-federal-tax-credits/2">
<span style="color:rgb(0,153,0); text-decoration:none">rates</span><span style="padding:0in; border:1pt windowtext; color:black; text-decoration:none"><img alt="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" border="0" width="10" height="10" src="cid:"></span></a>,
but no one knows what you're buying yet," said Rich Fahn, president of Excell Benefit Group in Northbrook. "Just providing the premium is giving an incomplete picture."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">Fahn and Jim Smith, a senior vice president at the
<a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-25/business/ct-biz-0925-health-rates-20130925_1_health-care-law-health-insurance-federal-tax-credits/2">
<span style="color:rgb(0,153,0); text-decoration:none">health care</span><span style="padding:0in; border:1pt windowtext; color:black; text-decoration:none"><img alt="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" border="0" width="10" height="10" src="cid:"></span></a>
consulting firm The Camden Group, said the lower premiums on the exchange-based insurance products likely indicate consumers will have more limited access to certain physicians and hospitals than those covered under more expensive, employer-based plans.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">"Carriers are putting together smaller networks to squeeze bigger discounts out of providers," Smith said.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">While state and federal officials acknowledge those concerns and said some of the plans offered on the exchanges will have narrow networks,
they say all plans were subject to state and federal requirements that ensure an adequate selection of providers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">"We feel comfortable, as do the feds, that the networks are sufficient," Boron said.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><i><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">Tribune Newspapers reporters
<a href="http://bio.tribune.com/ameetsachdev"><span style="color:black; text-decoration:none">Ameet Sachdev</span></a> and Noam Levey contributed.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:0pt"><i><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif"><a href="mailto:pfrost@tribune.com"><span style="color:black; text-decoration:none">pfrost@tribune.com</span></a></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%; margin-bottom:4pt"><i><span style="color:black; font-family:Georgia,serif">Twitter @peterfrost</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif"></span> </p>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Oct 17, 2013 at 10:24 AM, lfalen <span dir="ltr">
<<a href="mailto:lfalen@turbonet.com" target="_blank">lfalen@turbonet.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; padding-left:1ex; border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204); border-left-width:1px; border-left-style:solid">
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<p>Sunil</p>
<p>I think you are right. All government employees(Federal, State and local) have employer sponsored health insurance. So do most of those who work for larger companies. Obamacare would cover those who cannot afford insurance and those in the low income brackets.
The potential problems are that some companies will convert some employees to part time. They will be hit with a double whammy. Getting insurance on their own will is most cases cost them more and they will have a reduced income to pay for it because they
are now part time. Older folks and the disabled can get Medicare. the Indigent get Medicaid. Some of the money to pay for Obamacare is to come out of Medicare. Just how or where, I do not know.<em>
</em>I pay a little over $100.00 per month for Medicare and $66.33 to the University for Part D and Dental, which Medicare does not cover. My doctor and has just quit taking Medicare. I assume this means I will have to change doctors.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Roger</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
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<blockquote dir="ltr" style="padding-left:1em; font-family:tahoma,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:13px; margin-left:1em; border-left-color:blue; border-left-width:2px; border-left-style:solid">
<hr size="1">
-----Original Message-----<br>
From: "Sunil Ramalingam" <<a href="mailto:sunilramalingam@hotmail.com" target="_blank">sunilramalingam@hotmail.com</a>><br>
Cc: "vision 2020" <<a href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com" target="_blank">vision2020@moscow.com</a>><br>
Date: 10/15/13 17:27<br>
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Story in Chicago Tribune Oct.15, 2012<br>
<br>
<div dir="ltr">Wayne,<br>
<br>
If they are not covered under the Act, isn't it because their insurance is covered as an employment benefit? Isn't the same true for University of Idaho employees?<br>
<br>
Or am I wrong about this?<br>
<br>
Sunil<br>
<br>
<div>
<hr>
From: <a href="mailto:bear@moscow.com" target="_blank">bear@moscow.com</a><br>
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 17:15:59 -0700<br>
To: <a href="mailto:lfalen@turbonet.com" target="_blank">lfalen@turbonet.com</a><br>
CC: <a href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com" target="_blank">vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Story in Chicago Tribune Oct.15, 2012<br>
<br>
<div>Roger,</div>
And this is a surprise ?
<div>Why do you seriously think that neither the White House nor Congress is part of "Affordable Health Care"?</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Wayne</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
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<div>
<div>On Oct 15, 2013, at 5:08 PM, lfalen wrote:</div>
<br>
<blockquote>
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div><span style="text-transform:none; text-indent:0px; letter-spacing:normal; word-spacing:0px; white-space:normal; border-collapse:separate"><br>
Adam Weldzius, A Nurse Practitioner is privately insured. His monthly insurance premium of $233(deductible of $3,500) will more than double. For the same coverage his deductible will be $12,500.</span></div>
<div><span style="text-transform:none; text-indent:0px; letter-spacing:normal; word-spacing:0px; white-space:normal; border-collapse:separate">A Tribune analysis shows that 21 pf the 22 lowest plans on the Illinois health exchange for Cook County would have
annual deductibles of over $4,000 for individuals and $8,000 for family coverage.</span></div>
<div><span style="text-transform:none; text-indent:0px; letter-spacing:normal; word-spacing:0px; white-space:normal; border-collapse:separate">People who have health insurance threw their employer have an average deductible of $1,100 according to The Kaiser
Family Foundation.</span></div>
<div> </div>
<div><span style="text-transform:none; text-indent:0px; letter-spacing:normal; word-spacing:0px; white-space:normal; border-collapse:separate">This is from a story in the Chicago Tribune. They are not my figures.</span></div>
<div><span style="text-transform:none; text-indent:0px; letter-spacing:normal; word-spacing:0px; white-space:normal; border-collapse:separate">Roger</span></div>
</div>
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