President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

LOL. Yes. I was waiting for this.

What news organization was he with again?

 

Did Obama react to this "disrespect" by suggesting we violate and/or disregard the Constitution?

 

Did Trump on this instance?

 

The sitting Republican congressman did.

You're the one who brought up Obama.

And, let's not pretend that Trump hasn't already proposed rewriting laws to make it easier to punish the press for unfavorable coverage.

 

Perhaps this has been discussed here before but would love to hear from anyone who can tell me what individual health insurance was like before Obamacare. Apologies for my ignorance.

I had insurance through work from the time I graduated college in 1997 until I moved to NYC in 2004. Got married and we went without insurance until 2007, when I again got it through work. We fortunately during that time didn't have a major sickness.

In late 2013, I left my job to work freelance. My wife is self-employed from home as well. The move was primarily made because: 1. Traveling to family is very important to us as all my family is in MN and my wife is from South Africa so we travel for 6 weeks there and multiple trips to see my family. My 3 weeks of vacay were not cutting it. 3. I was able to pursue some possible dream projects, which actually came to fruition once I started working freelance. 3. I couldn't stand my job any longer.

2014 of course was first year of Obamacare so we signed up. The first year, silver plan for a couple, was 850. The next year it was 1,000, this past year 1,100. And in 2017 it was going to go up to 1300. So we switched companies and got a platinum plan (top one) for 1280.

I tell my wife that Obamacare's not necessarily the best thing for people in our income bracket. We make too much to qualify for a subsidy but not so much that we don't feel 1100 (and up) a month. But, at the same time, we can afford it, even if it hurts a bit and was going up and up. But Obamacare has been lifesaver for people like my one aunt, who makes about 12,000 a year as a daycare provider in a town of 800. Before ACA, she paid like 400 a month for a garbage plan. With subsidies now, she pays like 20 a month for a good plan. Huge, huge deal for her and millions like her.

I have of course become much more knowledgeable about insurance although parts still baffle me. But, for instance, until I bought our own I didn't really know what it meant when they'd say insurance doesn't pay until you reach your deductible. I thought that meant that insurance covered NOTHING until deductible, which on our silver plan has been 4,000. But as I've learned, if you're in network, there are negotiations that cover certain procedures so we pay a portion of treatment, even before the deductible. This year I had to have a colonoscopy and endoscopy and some other treatments that ended up costing 14,000. It was in-network hospital and total we ended up having to cover about 1,000, and that was without our deductible being met. If we'd met our deductible, we would have paid 30 percent of that 1,000. Probably basic knowledge to most of you but it's the type of thing I've learned past three years. Again, I was a bit ignorant.

Between us, we get treatment for high blood pressure and depression. I'm assuming those are/were/will be again pre-existing conditions.

So my questions for those who bought their own insurance before 2014 (or for people who know this field):

* What were the premiums and deductibles like (whether individual or if you bought for couple, etc.).
* If there were pre-existing conditions, how did that affect coverage. Could you be denied outright? Much higher premiums?
* How many companies did you have to choose from when purchasing insurance? Obviously in many states a lot of companies have dropped out of ACA. In NY we still have a decent number, which was good this year when I was able to switch us up.But pre 2014, what type of numbers were there as far as companies that offered it.

Thanks.

 

George W. did the same thing.

 

In other words, he did them just like Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter and just about every other POTUS in the modern era.

Of course, they ran a professional press conference where staffers weren't brought in to clap and/or boo depending on the question being asked.

 

Yeah. Obama has been a real advocate for press freedoms.

 

There's a week left to go after him.

FTC to Crack Down on Paid Celebrity Posts That Aren’t Clear Ads

 

I think that presidential press conferences aren't nearly as on track since the Helen Thomas locomotive flew off the rails.

 

That's totally the same!

 

I would so love to think that Cigna, Humana, Aetna, et al, aren't just standing there rubbing their hands waiting to shove it up our asses upon official repeal of the ACA. I would love to think that. But I've got three kids, one of whom is 22 and another of whom has a pre-existing condition, and I don't see any situation under which they don't get absolutely screwed by this somehow.