Questions about Obamacare? Chat with someone who can help!

From www.healthcare.gov

The bolding of certain text, and the words in blue, are my additions to the transcript.

[12:28:00 pm]: Thanks for contacting Health Insurance Marketplace Live Chat. Please wait while we connect you to someone who can help.
[12:28:05 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people.
[12:28:39 pm]: Please be patient while we're helping other people.
[12:28:46 pm]: Welcome! You're now connected to Health Insurance Marketplace Live Chat.

Thanks for contacting us. My name is Diana. To protect your privacy, please don't provide any personal information, like Social Security Number, or any other sensitive medical or personal information.
[12:28:58 pm]: Diana
How may I help you?
[12:29:59 pm]: CALLER
It says to not provide any personal information to protect my privacy. Why? Can I not trust you?
[12:30:36 pm]: Diana
thats just how it is. How may I help you?

"thats just how it is."

 Indeed.  If we cannot trust our government to protect our privacy, then who can we trust?

[12:31:32 pm]: CALLER
I am trying to get a quote for my family. Will the quote be an estimate, or an actual quote?
[12:32:07 pm]: Diana
estimate
[12:33:07 pm]: CALLER
Do I have to buy the insurance to know what it actually costs?
[12:33:51 pm]: Diana
no you will have to do an application then it will let you know the prices.
[12:34:26 pm]: CALLER
How long does that take?
[12:35:26 pm]: Diana
if you do an application today over the phone they will be able to let you know the results the same time.
[12:35:54 pm]: CALLER
Can I do an application today online?
[12:36:10 pm]: Diana
yes
[12:36:15 pm]: Diana
Is there anything else that I may help you with?
[12:36:37 pm]: CALLER
How long if I do it online?
[12:36:51 pm]: Diana
the same

[12:37:05 pm]: Diana
Do you have any other questions that I can help you with?
[12:38:22 pm]: CALLER
If I wait until someone in my family gets sick, will I still be able to apply?
[12:38:46 pm]: Diana
You can enroll in a Health Insurance Marketplace plan from October 1, 2013, until the end of open enrollment. Open enrollment closes on March 31, 2014. During open enrollment, you can begin your Marketplace application and start shopping for health insurance plans. Your coverage will not begin until you make your first payment. If you enroll in a Marketplace plan and pay your first premium by December 23, 2013, your coverage will begin January 1, 2014.
[12:39:51 pm]: CALLER
Thanks, but that does not answer my question.
[12:40:23 pm]: Diana

Do you have any other questions that I can help you with?
[12:42:03 pm]: CALLER
Yes. The Blue Advantage Bronze HMO 006 Plan shows a $6,000 per person per year deductible. What is the co-insurance rate?
[12:42:33 pm]: Diana
i cant pull up that information im sorry

[12:43:59 pm]: CALLER
There is no pre-existing condition exclusions anymore, correct?
[12:44:28 pm]: Diana
yes correct
[12:44:36 pm]: Diana
Do you have any other questions that I can help you with?
[12:45:13 pm]: CALLER
So, I should just wait until someone gets sick, then apply, correct? And I cannot be turned down, correct?
[12:45:34 pm]: Diana
no
[12:45:43 pm]: Diana
thats not what i said
[12:46:16 pm]: Diana
there is a deadline to apply if you dont apply by that time there will be a fee. The fee in 2014 is 1% of your yearly income or $95 per person for the year, whichever is higher. The fee for uninsured children is $47.50 per child. The most a family would have to pay is $285. Amounts go up after 2014.  In 2015, the fee per person rises to $325 per person or $975 per family, or 2% of income, whichever is higher. For 2016, the fee per person will increase to $695 per person or $2,085 per family, or 2.5% of your household's income, whichever is higher. The fee for children will be half that amount, and there will be an overall cap for family payments. From 2017 on, the fee will rise each year with inflation. You will also have to pay the entire cost of all your medical care if you do not get health insurance.
[12:46:24 pm]: Diana
Is there anything else that I may help you with?
[12:47:34 pm]: CALLER
So, if I pay the fee, then I can wait until someone gets sick to apply, and I cannot be turned down?
[12:52:24 pm]: CALLER
Are you still there?
[12:53:16 pm]: Diana
yes you can do that if you would like but when you decide to enroll there will be a waiting period to apply
[12:53:35 pm]: CALLER
How long is the waiting period?
[12:54:18 pm]: Diana
I don't know yet you will have to wait until they say that open enrollment then you will be able to apply.

yes you can do that if you would like but when you decide to enroll there will be a waiting period to apply

For an illness, I can afford to wait.

What if I have an accident?  No Insurance?  No money?  No identification? 

No problem...

In 1986, Congress enacted the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) to ensure public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay. Section 1867 of the Social Security Act imposes specific obligations on Medicare-participating hospitals that offer emergency services to provide a medical screening examination (MSE) when a request is made for examination or treatment for an emergency medical condition (EMC), including active labor, regardless of an individual's ability to pay. Hospitals are then required to provide stabilizing treatment for patients with EMCs. If a hospital is unable to stabilize a patient within its capability, or if the patient requests, an appropriate transfer should be implemented.

http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EMTALA/index.htm...

So, if every uninsured person in America is entitled to receive emergency treatment at any major hospital, and can sign up for Obamacare for major illness after the onset of the major illness (like cancer), then it seems obvious that paying the one-time annual penalty, and not the monthly premium, will be the best economic option (especially considering the high deductibles like $6,000) for many young and healthy people in America (notice I did not say Americans or citizens) that are unlikely to get sick or injured, because even if they do, Uncle Sam is going to take care of them!

[12:54:51 pm]: Diana
Do you have any other questions that I can help you with?
[12:56:29 pm]: CALLER
We are a very healthy family. We don't get sick, and are in good condition, medically and physically. Are we entitled to a discount?
[12:57:48 pm]: Diana
you will have to do an application to find out
[12:57:55 pm]: Diana
Do you have any other questions that I can help you with?
[12:59:01 pm]: CALLER
So, the premiums are based on our health?* That is good news! 

*True.  Fat people and smokers pay more...

Overweight and obese employees may now face staggering financial penalties of up to 30% of the cost of their health plan, and up to 50% of the cost of their health plan if they smoke.

http://ebn.benefitnews.com/blog/ebviews/do-obamacare-wellness-incentives...

[12:59:21 pm]: Diana
Do you have any other questions that I can help you with?
[1:00:18 pm]: CALLER
How much can the premium go up next year? IS it limited?
[1:01:12 pm]: Diana
I don't know you will have to wait and see.
[1:02:09 pm]: CALLER
If I like this insurance, will I be able to keep this insurance?
[1:03:05 pm]: Diana
it depends what offered next year.
[1:03:48 pm]: Diana
Do you have any other questions that I can help you with?
[1:04:50 pm]: CALLER
I don't understand. What if I like my current insurance plan. Can I keep it?
[1:05:41 pm]: Diana
it all depends if its still offered next year.
[1:05:45 pm]: Diana
Do you have any other questions that I can help you with?
[1:06:42 pm]: CALLER
No, my current plan I have had for several years. Can I keep it, or do I need to change to an ACA plan?
[1:07:20 pm]: Diana
you will need to see if they still offered it for next year.
[1:07:26 pm]: Diana
Do you have any other questions that I can help you with?
[1:08:20 pm]: CALLER
Just a moment. You are very helpful, and this is confusing stuff.

[1:10:19 pm]: CALLER
Is there a medical savings account option, so if we don't use the coverage, then some of the money we pay rolls into next year?
[1:11:00 pm]: Diana
you will need to contact the insurance directly to see if they offer that.
[1:11:49 pm]: Diana

Do you have any other questions that I can help you with?
[1:12:14 pm]: CALLER
Is it true that I will have to pay a fine to the IRS if I don't sign up for 2014, but the big businesses will not?
[1:13:38 pm]: Diana
i sent you the fees sir if you dont sign up.
[1:13:46 pm]: Diana
Do you have any other questions that I can help you with?
[1:15:02 pm]: CALLER
That does not answer my question, but I think that is the case. That is all for now. Merry Christmas!
[1:15:22 pm]: Diana
Thank you for contacting Health Insurance Marketplace Live Chat. We are here to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
[1:15:23 pm]: 'Diana' has left the chat session.
[1:15:25 pm]: Your chat session is over. Thanks for contacting us, and we hope we've answered your questions. Have a great day.
[1:15:25 pm]: 12/17/2013

"i sent you the fees sir if you dont sign up."

We must pay a fee to not sign up; they don't even have the balls to call it what it is, a tax.   

Finally, 'Diana' refers to CALLER as, "sir."  It is a chat session, not a phone call.  How does she know the sex of CALLER?

Comments

[Clycntct]

Vellly intaresting."I am not saying people should do any of this"

[CUGuy]

Duh... She called you Sir because you haven't put tape over your webcam yet.

[remain calm]

Great to know, I am going to masturbate when I chat and see if Diane gives me a better rate

[knukles]

if she ...

.... nevermind... Mrs K is calling me ...

[nmewn]

The guy compiling the transcript should have asked "Diana" if she was even real...lol.

http://io9.com/freakishly-realistic-telemarketing-robots-are-denying-t-1481050295

But after answering, I guarantee "her" next response would be...

"Do you have any other questions that I can help you with?"

All the charm, compassion & usefulness we've come to expect from a .gov bureaucracy.

[booboo]

"It was this absurd, self-contained ecosystem of worthlessness.”

I am stealing this quote from the HAMP article from last night because it's a keeper and it amazingly applies to everthing .GOV. Who coulda thunk.

[acetinker]

Yes, I'm thinking I should have that phrase tattooed on the backside of my retina.

[linniepar]

If you like your BOHICA you can keep your BOHICA.

[Drunken Ecnonomist]

Lessee: Unisex "Sir" plus:

To protect your privacy, please don't provide any personal information, like Social Security Number, or any other sensitive medical or personal information.

That tells me this 'Navigator' is worse than an AI.... like everything else, they're probably offshore. 

Eliza, no. Indira, most likely. Now do figure out WHOSE data retention laws we are subject to....

[Urban Roman]

Eliza, is that you?