#Health Insurance 2023

[accesshealthcarephysicians]

Maximizing Your Health Insurance Benefits in 2023 - Access Health Care Physicians, LLC

Unlock comprehensive health benefits in 2023 with Access Health Care Physicians, LLC. Maximize your insurance for top-quality care and well-being.

[dollarsbag]

Why do you need Health Insurance? Here's the best one!

Why do you need Health Insurance? Here’s the best one!

Why do you choose Health Insurance? Here’s the best one! When it comes to health insurance, there’s no denying its importance. Not only does it provide reassurance that your medical bills are taken care of in the event of any emergency health issues, but it can also be a great way to save money in the long run. But how much does health insurance cost? And what are its uses? Let’s dive deeper and…

[nateconnolly]

In 2023, the top three largest health insurance companies all earned higher net income than they had in 2022. CVS Health’s net profits rose by 4 billion dollars, a 93% increase. That same year, the average premium increased by 7%.

These numbers are not only information about money — they tell a story of blood, bone, and rot.

They also tell a story of vacations, boats, and vintage wine. 

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

President Joe Biden will call for expanding a new cap on insulin prices to all Americans as part of his State of the Union address, the White House said Monday.

During the Tuesday speech, Biden plans to tout his administration’s efforts to make health care more affordable, which included imposing a $35-per-month limit on insulin that took effect in January.

But that price cap, which was passed as part of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, only applied to those beneficiaries covered by Medicare. Biden is now expected to renew his push for the policy to be applied to anyone with an insulin prescription, the White House said in a fact sheet.

“The President will call on Congress to extend this commonsense, life-saving protection to all Americans,” the fact sheet said.

Democrats had originally planned to pass a universal insulin price cap last year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed along party lines last August. But the policy was scaled back after Republicans successfully challenged its inclusion. Democrats since then have vowed to continue to push for its passage, arguing that it’s broadly popular and crucial to ensuring that people can afford essential medicines.

Still, Biden’s fresh support for expanding the price cap is unlikely to result in much concrete progress. Republicans remain opposed to the measure, and are unlikely to even allow a vote on it in the House now that they control the chamber.

Biden during his State of the Union speech is also expected to highlight a handful of other health care accomplishments, including landmark legislation granting Medicare the right to negotiate drug prices and cap certain out-of-pocket pharmacy costs. He will celebrate the three latest states to expand their Medicaid programs, while urging Congress to pass legislation that would close coverage gaps in the 11 holdout states that have yet to expand Medicaid.

The President also plans to call for continuing to lower health insurance costs, pointing to expanded Obamacare subsidies that the administration estimates lowered customers’ premiums by an average of $800 per year and pushed the nation’s uninsured rate to an all-time low.

[sobeautifullyobsessed]

Moving Day ~

Today is what I've come to refer to as Moving Day. My time is up where I've been staying, so I had to pack up my car with all my valuables, clothes, food, and health supplies, then spend several hours in my car, until I can check in somewhere else and unpack everything. It's physically exhausting, and by the time I'm done (around 4pm) I'm gonna end up sleeping on & off until getting up for work on Monday. I really dread Moving Day, but it's my reality for now--and I'm very aware there are many people who don't even have shelter at all.

Normally, Moving Day falls on a Sunday, like today...but it's gonna fall on Wednesday (a workday) again this week, as I only have funds to stay until then (paying my motor vehicle tax has left me broke). After that, I'll be spending the night at work or in my car. So I'm posting this now in the hope of enough help to get me a few more nights before I have to do it all again. I'm left to rely on the kindness of both friends and strangers. Thank you in advance to anyone able to give a little bit of help and for signal boosting this plea!

my ko-fi: ko-fi.com/sobeautifullyobsessed

[sunshineandlyrics]

🚬 FITFWT Hollywood Bowl, 30 June 2023 x

[wreckitremy]

Adulthood is just living in a state of contradictions. Both trick and treat

You can buy the treats yourself, but you also have to do the tricks yourself, like open enrollment, and therapy

[goblinoid-wretch]

holding immense hatred in my heart for/ casting a thousand curses at the foul creature what thought it funny to give my dad's family and me specifically course facial hair that will not shave off completely no matter how hard i try

[maraczeks]

girls when i am literally just a seventeen years old teenage girl

[theghostofashton]

.

[aastarions]

i feel like my health insurance keeps randomly telling me i owe them money like "we're not gonna show you in a way you understand why you owe this we also aren't going to remind you of how much you've paid already but give us more money bozo"

[boreal-sea]

Look.

I have made you a chart. A very simple chart.

People say "You have to draw the line somewhere, and Biden has crossed it-" and my response is "Trump has crossed way more lines than Biden".

These categories are based off of actual policy enacted by both of these men while they were in office.

If the ONLY LINE YOU CARE ABOUT is line 12, you have an incredible amount of privilege, AND YOU DO NOT CARE ABOUT PALESTINIANS. You obviously have nothing to fear from a Trump presidency, and you do not give a fuck if a ceasefire actually occurs. You are obviously fine if your queer, disabled, and marginalized loved ones are hurt. You clearly don't care about the status of American democracy, which Trump has openly stated he plans to destroy on day 1 he is in office.

EDIT:

Ok fine, I spent 3 hours compiling sources for all of these, you can find that below the cut.

I'll give at least one link per subject area. There are of course many more sources to be read on these subject areas and no post could possibly give someone a full education on these subjects.

Biden and trans rights: https://www.hrc.org/resources/president-bidens-pro-lgbtq-timeline

Trump and trans rights: https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/trump-on-lgbtq-rights-rolling-back-protections-and-criminalizing-gender-nonconformity

The two sources above show how Biden has done a lot of work to promote trans rights, and how Trump did a lot of work to hurt trans rights.

Biden on abortion access: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/08/politics/what-is-in-biden-abortion-executive-order/index.html

Trump on abortion access: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-trump-republican-presidential-election-2024-585faf025a1416d13d2fbc23da8d8637

Biden openly supports access to abortion and has taken steps to protect those rights at a federal level even after Roe v Wade was overturned. Trump, on the other hand, was the man who appointed the judges who helped overturn Roe v Wade and he openly brags about how proud he is of that decision. He also states that he believes individual states should have the final say in whether or not abortion is legal, and that he trusts them to "do the right thing", meaning he supports stronger abortion bans.

Biden on environmental reform: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/10/07/fact-sheet-president-biden-restores-protections-for-three-national-monuments-and-renews-american-leadership-to-steward-lands-waters-and-cultural-resources/

Trump on environmental reform: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html

Biden has made major steps forward for environmental reform. He has restored protections that Trump rolled back. He has enacted many executive orders and more to promote environmental protections, including rejoining the Paris Accords, which Trump withdrew the USA from. Trump is also well known for spreading conspiracy theories and lies about global climate change, calling it a "Chinese hoax".

Biden on healthcare and prescription reform: https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/06/09/biden-administration-announces-savings-43-prescription-drugs-part-cost-saving-measures-president-bidens-inflation-reduction-act.html

Trump on healthcare reform: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/07/politics/obamacare-health-insurance-ending-trump/index.html

I'm rolling healthcare and prescriptions and vaccines and public health all into one category here since they are related. Biden has lowered drug costs, expanded access to medicaid, and ACA enrollment has risen during his presidency. He has also made it so medical debt no longer applies to a person's credit score. He signed many executive orders during his first few weeks in office in order to get a handle on Trump's grievous mishandling of the COVID pandemic. Trump also wants to end the ACA. Trump is well known for refusing to wear a mask during the pandemic, encouraging the use of hydroxylchloroquine to "treat" COVID, and being openly anti-vaxx.

Biden on student loan forgiveness: https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-additional-77-billion-approved-student-debt-relief-160000-borrowers

Trump on student loan forgiveness: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamminsky/2024/06/20/trump-knocks-bidens-vile-student-loan-forgiveness-plans-suggests-reversal/

Trump wants to reverse the student loan forgiveness plans Biden has enacted. Biden has already forgiven billions of dollars in loans and continues to work towards forgiving more.

Infrastructure funding:

I'm putting these links next together because they are all about infrastructure.

In general, Trump's "achievements" for infrastructure were to destroy environmental protections to speed up projects. Many of his plans were ineffective due to the fact that he did not clearly outline where the money was going to come from, and he was unwilling to raise taxes to pay for the projects. He was unable (and unwilling) to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill during his 4 years in office. He did sign a few disaster relief bills. He did not enthusiastically promote renewable energy infrastructure. He created "Infrastructure Weeks" that the federal government then failed to fund. Trump did not do nothing for infrastructure, but his no-tax stance and his dislike for renewable energy means the contributions he made to American infrastructure were not as much as he claimed they were, nor as much as they could have been. Basically, he made a lot of promises, and delivered on very few of them. He is not "against" infrastructure, but he's certainly against funding it.

Biden was able to pass that bipartisan bill after taking office. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan that Trump tried to prevent from passing during Biden's term contains concrete funding sources and step by step plans to rebuild America's infrastructure. If you want to read the plan, you can find it here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/build/guidebook/. Biden has done far more for American infrastructure than Trump did, most notably by actually getting the bipartisan bill through congress.

Biden on Racial Equity: https://www.npr.org/sections/president-biden-takes-office/2021/01/26/960725707/biden-aims-to-advance-racial-equity-with-executive-actions

Trump on Racial Equity: https://www.axios.com/2024/04/01/trump-reverse-racism-civil-rights https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-37230916

Trump's racist policies are loud and clear for everyone to hear. We all heard him call Mexicans "Drug dealers, criminals, rapists". We all watched as he enacted travel bans on people from majority-Muslim nations. Biden, on the other hand, has done quite a lot during his term to attempt to reconcile racism in this country, including reversing Trump's "Muslim ban" the first day he was in office.

Biden on DEI: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/25/executive-order-on-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-accessibility-in-the-federal-workforce/

Trump on DEI: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-tried-to-crush-the-dei-revolution-heres-how-he-might-finish-the-job/ar-BB1jg3gz

Biden supports DEI and has signed executive orders and passed laws that support DEI on the federal level. Trump absolutely hates DEI and wants to eradicate it.

Biden on criminal justice reform: https://time.com/6155084/biden-criminal-justice-reform/

Trump on criminal justice reform: https://www.vox.com/2020-presidential-election/21418911/donald-trump-crime-criminal-justice-policy-record https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/05/trumps-extreme-plans-crime/678502/

From pardons for non-violent marijuana convictions to reducing the federal government's reliance on private prisons, Biden has done a lot in four years to reform our criminal justice system on the federal level. Meanwhile, Trump has described himself as "tough on crime". He advocates for more policing, including "stop and frisk" activities. Ironically it's actually quite difficult to find sources about what Trump thinks about crime, because almost all of the search results are about his own crimes.

Biden on military support for Israel: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/biden-obama-divide-closely-support-israel-rcna127107

Trump on military support for Israel: https://www.vox.com/politics/353037/trump-gaza-israel-protests-biden-election-2024

Biden supports Israel financially and militarily and promotes holding Israel close. So did Trump. Trump was also very pro-Israel during his time in office and even moved the embassy to Jerusalem and declared Jerusalem the capitol of Israel, a move that inflamed attitudes in the region.

Biden on a ceasefire: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2024/06/05/gaza-israel-hamas-cease-fire-plan-biden/73967659007/

Trump on a ceasefire: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-israel-gaza-finish-problem-rcna141905

Trump has tried to be quiet on the issue but recently said he wants Israel to "finish the problem". He of course claims he could have prevented the whole problem. Trump also openly stated after Oct 7th that he would bar immigrants who support Hamas from the country and send in officers to American protests to arrest anyone supporting Hamas.

Biden meanwhile has been quietly urging Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal for months, including the most recent announcement earlier in June, though it seems as though that deal has finally fallen through as well.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

A new law that was signed on Aug. 11 will help guarantee all Illinois residents get the hearing aids they need.

According to a news release from State Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria), House Bill 2443 requires all insurers to provide coverage to Illinois residents if their doctor prescribes a hearing instrument, which can cost up to $4,000.

“Prescription medication is covered by your insurance, so why aren’t hearing devices that our hearing professional prescribes?” said Koehler. “This law makes these devices accessible for everyone and eliminates the chance that someone would not be able to afford them.”

This helps expand on a bill signed in 2018 that required insurers to cover hearing aids for children under the age of 18.

House Bill 2443 will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

[sidras-tak]

Accessibility takes too goddamn fucking long.

My brother was paralyzed in October 2023. We got him home from the hospital (in Texas, when we live in Iowa) in a clunky old hospital chair. He hated it. He was scared and angry and in pain and his life had just changed forever and he couldn’t do anything for himself in that wheelchair. His first goal (aside from learning how to transfer) was to get a wheelchair. My family was lucky enough to afford one so we thought it would be easy enough. Nope.

We couldn’t buy him a wheelchair. He needed a prescription. For a wheelchair. A doctor had to examine him and declare him in need of a wheelchair. It wasn’t good enough that he had scans and tests showing tumors cutting off his spinal cord. He needed his primary care doctor to examine him during a physical and write a prescription. He was making 2-4 transfers a day, tops. He had no energy to get to a doctor. Home health was in and out every day. He had no time to get to a doctor. He didn’t get a prescription for almost a month. Then it had to go through insurance.

We asked if we could skip insurance and just buy a wheelchair for him. Nope. They wouldn’t sell us one, not even at full sticker price. It needed to be approved by Medicare. We ordered a wheelchair, a nice one, a good shade of green, sporty, small. It would let him move around the house. He would be able to cook, to reach drawers and get stuff from the fridge and brush his teeth and put his contacts in at a sink. We were told it would take awhile, maybe two months. Silently we all hoped he would be around to see two more months.

He went on hospice care on a Saturday in March. On Monday, I was calling his friends to come see him before he died. I got a call on his phone. It was the wheelchair company. They were about to order his wheelchair, she said, but there was an issue with insurance— had he stopped being covered by Medicare? Well, yes. When he started hospice care, he got kicked off Medicare. The very nice woman I talked to told me to call her if he resumed Medicare coverage so she could order his wheelchair. He died less than 12 hours later.

We ordered that chair for him in early December. Medicare didn’t approve the order until March. He was dead before they got around to it. He wanted that fucking wheelchair so badly. The only reason he had any semblance of independence and any quality of life for the last five months of his life was because the wheelchair company lent him an old beater chair, a very used model of the chair he ordered. If I could go back and change one thing about his end-of-life, I would get him his dream wheelchair. He told me again and again he couldn’t wait to get it, so that he could feel like a person again. He made the best of what he had with that old beater chair, but it still makes me mad to this day. He was paralyzed. He needed a chair that afforded him dignity. We had the money for it. And yet, we were left waiting for five months, for a chair that wouldn’t even get ordered until the day he died.

[sunshineandlyrics]

🚬 basically this, FITFWT Hollywood Bowl, 30 June 2023 ✅

[something-of-a-hermit]

Why is O Superman (Laurie Anderson) so incredibly comforting but also I’m sobbing my eyes out at 12am over the line “and when force is gone, there’s always Mom (hi, mom!)”?