within a year?

I disagree. It couldn't be worse.

if they're dead.

What then?

Fucking evil Christians.

All I can say is, don't get sick and avoid medical care to the extent you can.
You're at risk of paying for it, not to mention unintended side-effects, misapplication
of medicine, unintended addiction (do they have to dose so large?), infections,
recovery complications.

It's not worth it to me. I'm becoming more of a Christian Scientist as I grow older.
Surely this will catch up with me, sooner or later, but at least I'm not offering my
body to the medical and insurance cartel for profit.

'We've bled you all life long, would you like to add $200,000 in medical care as a donation
to the Overlords before you pass?'

looked like pre ACA. Remember those COBRA's that were worthless if you moved from one State to Certain other States. How about those wonderful Plans for a Hundred Bucks a month,really really great,yah right,10k dollar deducible(plans based out of Texas by Companies tied to the Bush Family).

Excuse the language,Same Shit just a new day my friends. And Cigna will do their Merger with Humana or what ever. 13 Billion Dollar deal,and you wonder why McConnell is so gung ho.

I'm terrified. I'm 56 and self-employed. With last year's jump, my premiums went up to about two-thirds the price of my mortgage. I managed to pay those premiums by borrowing, so now I'm in a hole. Because Trump the the Republicans have sabotaged the ACA, premiums are going to skyrocket regardless of whether the new bill passes. And in September, I'm going to get a notice telling me that my premiums will now be higher than my mortgage.

I simply won't have the cash. No matter how I slice and dice it, even if I reduced my food bills to $50 a week and didn't turn on the electric at all, even if I gave up my phone completely... I just can't afford two mortgage payments. Not when I'm already scraping by month to month just to pay everything and pay my taxes (self-employed, so there's functionally an extra tax to pay).

I'm 56 -- so nobody's going to hire me. At least, not at more than I'm making now, month to month. And any less, and I can't pay the bills.

Round and round it goes... And I have to just sit back and let myself find some sort of peace with the fact that no matter how many draconian penalties they attach to this monstrosity, I just won't have the cash. Period. So it can be six months, or twelve months, or two years -- I can't pay it.

Luckily, I've been healthy. I haven't actually even been to a doctor for about six years (because I can't afford the co-pays and deductibles, either).

First time in my life: no insurance. I've never collected a dime of unemployment, despite layoffs that decimated a once-secure industry. And to think that a dirtbag like Mitch McConnell is now basically saying I'm some sort of a grifter... it's really, really disheartening. And it really doesn't matter whether the thing passes or not. Many, many of us are screwed regardless.

FUCK YOU, you evil assholes. FUCK YOU for stealing my country. Honestly, if there was anything I could do to make sure no Republican EVER held office in America again, I'd sign on the dotted line.

regardless what happens, looks like.

The ins. cos. are the main problem, IMO. They take billions of dollars out of our health care system as profit.

It was for far less money, but if you have a field, a skill or profession, there are employers who would want you (unless you have a lot of medical conditions or look unhealthy...employers like to hire healthy workers).

But those jobs didn't have good health ins. The first job had so-so insurance. The other offer(s) I got later didn't offer insurance (gave a stipend to use to buy a private individual Obamacare policy).

we need a thread where people tell us their real-life stories

it is people like you who don't have to wonder what will happen, because you ALREADY KNOW

on edit, I don't think they EXPECT to get blood from a stone - they know older people have more healthcare needs so they charge them ridiculous rates in the hope they will drop out - repukes think it is fine for insurance companies to only cover HEALTHY YOUNG PEOPLE

They need to have names of victims of these cuts.

And I'm so sorry. Ive called by senators, not that it will do any good.

I chose to go with the ACA and the subsidies since it was beneficial financially. Since then I have been diagnosed with two more chronic conditions (I couldn't even get insurance before the ACA). Now, 4 years later, I have been told I can't get the expensive teacher plan at any price since I opted out. I have a disease that will kill me, no cure, and so extremely painful that 50% of people with it kill themselves due to the pain within 7 years of being diagnosed. There are surgeries that I could get to reduce the pain until I die but that is out of the question now. I guess jumping out of a window will make the GOP happy. I'll video record it for them to show at parties. Ya gotta love the the good 'ol GOP! Yippee!

By the way, I have called all 100 senators at least three times each since Jan and have attended 6 protests. I am doing what I can while I can. Half of the calls caused me to break down and cry while talking to the staffers. Is there a word that is more hateful than "hate"? If there is I need to add it to my vocab.

This isn't exactly a mandate. It's a consequence. You can only enroll during a certain time period. If you don't, you can't enroll until next year. The ACA had enrollment periods, too, and you couldn't enroll after that, unless your situation changed (like you moved, lost your job, etc.).

The Republicans are convinced lots of people gamed the system by joining only after they got sick. Some did that, but I don't think many did. I think it was mainly INS. COS. that games the system, but they are doing nothing about that (requiring them to have robust provider networks, big drug lists).

The direct murder of poor people. (Hey, that's what it seems they're leading up to!)

You don't need no hospitals, anyway.

They have a committee to give crapola laws a fancy name so the gullible will think it benifits them, like "Right to Work" essentially a bill that allows employers to fire anyone they want without cause, now the "Better Care Act" another piece of crap legislation and the "American Health Care Act" it's got to be great cause it has "American" in it. NOT! Wake up America, the GOP only cares about the 1%. No wonder they accept so much special interest lobby money 💰

I now believe that the GOP wants to turn us into a third world country with an over bearing elite that doesn't give a damn about the other 95%.

People need to freaking wake up and vote them out.

That will mean more hospitals will go broke caring for the uninsured.

That's what everyone keeps forgetting: We pay for healthcare one way or the other: O'Care actually funded hospitals. and since it's a right to have healthcare in america, all americans have to fund it. So simple.

People didn't think the government could impose seat belts, no-smoking indoors or vaccinations, either. but we did for the health of the nation and for financial stability.

So that penalty is bad, but this one is good?