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Early in 2009, my boss directed me to become an expert on the ongoing negotiations in Washington, D.C. that eventually became the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed into law on March 23, 2010.
Early in 2009, my boss directed me to become an expert on the ongoing negotiations in Washington, D.C. that eventually became the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed into law on March 23, 2010.
As I sit here in mid-April, I can’t help but think of all the times in the past four years I’ve been confronted by folks who got HUGE tax bills at the end of the year because they bought their health insurance on healthcare.gov, made some errors computing their income and got hit with a surprise bill. This is a great time to review how the Advanced PremiumTax Credits on healthcare.gov work and how to avoid getting nailed with a huge tax bill at the end of the year.
Age is a big factor in how much medical care people are expected to use. But the ACA made the ratio between how much we are allowed to charge a 64-year-old versus a 21-year-old too small. Mike Bertaut breaks it down in this new video that helps explain why young people are being priced out of the market and driving up costs for everyone else.
How many times have you seen something in the news and been surprised?
Today, my phone was ringing, and the display showed a phone number in Menomonie, Wisconsin. “Computer-driven sales call” was my first thought. I don’t know anyone in Menomonie. But the call kept coming, twice a day. Finally, after sending it to voicemail three times, out of sheer frustration, I just went ahead and answered it:
You’ve got to love America. We have a long history of love/hate relationships with mood-altering substances, which we have often described as having “medicinal value” until science stops us cold. Of course, these scientific studies in medicine often never catch up to folklore, which exists everywhere in our culture in the form of things we “know” but cannot prove.