The ACA, JPS & The VA

As most of you know, the deadline is coming up for the Open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act (more commonly known as Obama Care).  I mention this because my eligibility for health care at JPS runs out at the end of the month.  To re qualify for this year, I had to sign up for the Affordable Care Act coverage.  Earlier this week I had gone to Healthcare.gov and navigated pretty easily to get to the steps to get coverage.  In my particular situation, in order to help pay for the premiums, I queried the Marketplace on assistance where prompted.  After answering a few questions, the response was that I qualified for a tax credit of $465 per month (some $5580 yearly) of which part or all could be used to pay for the monthly premium for a Market Place plan.  I then viewed the various plan options, selecting one which gave me basic overage with no co pays after meeting the $6000 deductible through Blue Cross.  The premium for this plan minus my tax credit turned out to be only $15.87 per month.  

Friday morning after having filled out all the paperwork and gathered all the other documentation I needed, I headed over to JPS for the financial screening process.  When it was my turn, the lady who was processing me was ecstatic because I had everything all in order and which made for a quick process.  She also told me that JPS would then pick up the deductible cost of the Blue Cross plan leaving me just having to pay the co-pays I would need to under the JPS plan.  I ended up needing one more piece of paper to complete the process, a letter from the VA (Veterans Administration) stating that I was ineligible for coverage from them.  The lady said it was a simple thing and would mean a quick trip to the VA for the letter which I could then just drop off to her and I would be set for another year.  As you know a trip to any government agency (local, state or federal) is never as simple and easy as it should be because government and logical processes don't belong in the same universe much less the same sentence.  

To get this simple letter of ineligibility, I first had to apply for coverage under the VA plan.  This entailed a raft of paperwork which I then dutifully filled out.  When I took it back up to the counter, the lady said to give her a few minutes to look up my records which would then yield the answer as to whether or not I was eligible for health care at the VA.  When she called me back to the counter, she said they were able to retrieve my service record and that because of my income, even with my SSRB as well as my veteran status, I was indeed eligible for coverage from the VA.  Could she make me an appointment to see what will be my new primary care physician?  This means that my JPS coverage is not necessary and I do not have to pay for a Blue Cross plan as the VA is a fully funded healthcare provider whose benefits exceed any federally mandated insurance coverage requirements.  The end result of this is of course, I will get healthcare from the VA at government expense with no out of pocket expenses on my part, including prescription medicines. This will be a huge savings to me on a monthly and yearly basis.

I guess the moral of this story would have to be that the ACA program and web site worked for me producing an affordable healthcare plan.  However the VA is an even more affordable plan as it is free to me.  This bothers me not!  And a bonus is that I do not have to re qualify on a yearly basis, I am set now for the rest of my life.  I won't have to mess with medicare or medicaid, JPS or Blue Cross ever again.  This definitely works for me.  

This week your Saturday at the Symphony features a live recording from the Musikverein in Vienna with Leonard Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in their performance of the Symphony Number 88 in G Major by Franz Joseph Haydn. The symphony was completed in 1787 and it is one of Haydn's best-known works, even though it is not one of the Paris or London Symphonies and does not have a descriptive nickname.  The post of an alternative listening experience over on my tumblr as well as a Hottie of the Day! will be suspended for the time being until tumblr fixes the problem which is giving me an error when I attempt to do so.  

Then following today's video is this weeks yummilicious gathering simply edible men who are Naked or Nearly So for you to cruise, peruse and pant over on your way down the page.  Thanks for sharing a part of your weekend with me.  I will see you again on Monday for another week of Music, Men and More!  Until next time as always, Enjoy!