Note that the ACA didn't ENTIRELY eliminate premium variances, but it dramatically reduced their scope. Premiums can vary by age...but only by a 3:1 range instead of 5 or 6:1. They can vary by geography w/a state (defined rating areas). And smokers can be charged up to 50% more.
Even within the ACA, some states restrict it even more:
--NY & VT don't allow *any* age variance (1:1 range); MA allows 2:1
--Some small states like DE only have 1 rating area anyway
--Some states don't allow a smoker surcharge or have a smaller cap
But really, medical underwriting is the core of the controversy over "pre-existing conditions". You either think that everyone should be able to get quality healthcare treatment regardless of how "high risk" they are...or you don't.
Note that two of the three pricing variances allowed are objectively measurable without digging into a lot of deeply personal info: How old are they and where do they live?
The smoking surcharge is the exception--someone can smoke one cigarette a year or 2 packs a day.
Aside from smoking, however, the ACA doesn't allow for variances based on your profession or hobbies, for instance--you can't be charged more for being an alligator wrestler or working on a nuclear waste cleanup crew or whatever, or for skydiving in your spare time.
Fun fact re. the ACA 50% smoker surcharge:
--CA, DC, MA, NJ, NY, RI & VT don't allow it at all
--AR restricts it to 20%
--CO restricts it to 15%
--KY restricts it to 40%. That's right: On this particular issue, KENTUCKY is actually MORE strict than Obamacare!
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
🧵 People have asked me why I started an organized project to raise money *directly* for Democratic candidates up & down the ballot when there's already so many other organizations out there doing this. There's a couple of reasons. 1/
The first is that most of the existing organizations/PACs/etc seem to (in my view) *either* focus ONLY on the true swing districts *or* they raise money for races which are clearly unwinnable without being up front about how long the odds in those races are. 2/
I try to walk the line between these--for district-level races I cast my net wider than most "tossup only!" advocates, but not absurdly wide; for statewide races I *do* include deep red states but also make it absolutely clear that those races are *very* long shots. 3/
A little fun Die Hard trivia for those who don’t know:
The first Die Hard was based on a 1979 novel called Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp. In the novel McClain’s character was named Joe Leland. This was a sequel to a 1966 novel by Thorp called The Detective. 1/
The Detective had been made into a film starring Frank Sinatra as Joe Leland in 1968.
This means Bruce Willis plays the same character as Frank Sinatra.
In fact, the studio was contractually required to offer the role to Sinatra if he wanted it. Sinatra was 73 at the time.
As for the novel Nothing Lasts Forever (title since changed to “Die Hard”), it follows most of the same storyline and characters, but with a few VERY important differences…
How does the @nytimes know that these are actual federal officials who actually signed it if they did so “anonymously?”
Does that mean the Times is redacting their names? Or does it just say “signed, 400 officials” at the bottom of the letter?
@nytimes I’m not being snarky here—I can’t read the original NY Times article without a subscription; do they clarify how they verified that these 400 people actually are federal officials and that they did in fact sign off on the letter in it?
1. DON'T DELAY; #GETCOVERED BY *DECEMBER 15th* IF POSSIBLE!
#ACA Open Enrollment officially runs from 11/01/23 - 1/16/24, but if you want your coverage to start in JANUARY you only have until December 15th in most states!
Here's a table of the deadlines & when coverage starts for every state +DC (some may be extended at the last minute):