I want to be clear not to endorse this. And it’s definitely not a replacement for HealthCare.gov. But a few guys out in San Francisco have put together something called thehealthsherpa.com, which really quickly tells you what policies are available in your area, what subsidies you are entitled to based on your income and who to call or what site to go to buy the actual coverage. From what I can tell it seems to be the work not of a commercial entity or even an organization, but just some very public-spirited programmers.
Now we hear from ACA “loser” TPM Reader BW …
Since it’s been estimated that about 3% of the US population will end up “losers” under Obamacare, I thought I’d write in and give you my perspective as a 3-percenter. However, I suspect that I belong to a smaller subset of the 3%, that being people who find it appallingly self-indulgent and shamefully self-pitying to think of ourselves as losers.
House Dems insist their legislative fix to Obamacare is totally different from Obama’s own attempted fix. Here’s more on today’s vote on the separate House GOP proposal.
TPM Reader TZ, an ACA supporter with a very vested interest in the program succeeding, tells us he’s at the end of his tether …
So, I have a huge vested interest in ACA working out. I am self-employed (as a consultant, laid off from pharma two years ago) and when our COBRA at company rates ran out 18 months ago I went onto the open market and sought insurance for me and my family (wife and two kids). Aetna refused to cover me because I am overweight (zoftig!). So, I had to stay on my company insurance but paying full freight, while my wife and kids went onto a crappy Aetna plan. So, one family, two plans. We also purchased dental on our own, it’s not very good, but its not great either. It’s a pain to have the family on two different plans.