But I wonder about the long-term care thing. My wife has Rheumatoid Arthritis (under control) but I bought long term care insurance years ago because I didn’t want either of us to end up the crappy nursing home my mother and stepfather died in, or at the VA where my father died. (If the Va is a foretaste of Obamacare, we’re truly screwed)

What’s going to happen with the long term care insurance I bought? Am I going to end up in the crappy nursing home anyway. Did I piss away thousands of dollars only to end up a ward of the government anyway.

I do not have a warn and fuzzy feeling about this. But my military service should have prepared me for this. BOHICA!

You’re on the right track. Insurers get a huge new group of customers, and there are really no limits on premium hikes (only on total profit margin). Their revenues will increase, profit margins likely not change much at all, and you can bet your bottom dollar that within a decade, there will be some serious regulatory capture (if there isn’t already, judging by the immediate stock price jumps).

Welcome to corporatism.

That is the dumbest idea – DO YOU REALIZE HOW LONG IT TAKES NOW TO GET AN APPOINTMENT? With 30+ million more folks going to the doctor, we can’t possible get in often enough to make your plan work…

Good point though.

“Free” unlimited preventive care? Be at the clinic 5 times a week for a checkup. Ya know, just in case.

Unlimited insurance benefits? Insist on the most exotic, costly remedy for anything that ails ya. Actually ask the doctor “What is the most conceivably expensive manner in which to treat my malady?” Then insist on even more.

Let’s face it, we’ve become a completely socialist society. The only way to ever be truly free again is to completely bankrupt the country. Then we can air out our differences, um, properly and rid ourselves of the thieves.

We’ve got four years before the High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) go away. I’m going to fight for them. I have to — we self insured.

The bad press for High Deductible Health Plans is mostly bunk “Only good for the healthy, wealthy and wise”. With the premium savings and the tax savings for medical expenses they can actually wind up a much better deal for the chronically ill. The low premiums benefit for the non-wealthy don’t need explaining.

Having a HDHP does make you think about unnecessary medical testing ($700 Billion a year at last count) — but that is good for EVERYONE.

Yep. They’ve eliminated new HSAs (which they never liked) without explicitly repealing the enabling legislation. When asked I expect them to deny they’ve done so by claiming the enabling legislation wasn’t repealed.