Name:   copperline - Subject:   Tell me all you free marketeers Date:   3/8/2015 8:15:09 PM

  My neighbor is in an very difficult pickle.  (No BS, this is really happening next door....).   At 64, he is 2 years away from retirement from a 30 yr career in the construction industry.   He works for a large national company, and is a well-paid manager.   His wife is 10 yrs younger than he is and will need private insurance for about 10 years after he becomes Medicare eligible.

And his company is moving him to Iowa.

With 20 yrs of equity in his home, 2 yrs from retirement... he has no interest in goingto Iowa & is adding up the costs of what is being forced on him:   Should he  take whatever he can get for his home and buy another one in Iowa?  What will be the real costs moving so far away from friends & family?  One thing is for sure, he is being forced to make a life-changing decision ... and soon.

I talked to him about the benefits of buying insurance from the ACA-created insurance pool, but he is opposed right now.   He says he is suspicous of Obamacare, but admits he hasn't researched it.   He hasn't looked into it because he's heard so much talk about how bad it is.  But moving to Iowa solely to keep his medical insurance doesn't make a lot of sense to him either.     If he buys a policy thru the federal exchange, he has the option to change jobs and remain in his home.    If he has a cut in salary (which is very likely to happen), he can get insurance with complete portability.   Hs family's healthcare will not be contingent on the demands of his employer... and he has more options.  

It makes all the sense in the world for this fellow to participate in Obamacare and no sense at all to incur the risks of a forced job transfer if he can avoid it.   There could be lots of advantages to him.  In the event of a drastic change in his income, his premiums could be adjusted by the tax credits.  His wife will be protected until she become Medicare eligible in 10 yrs.   He doesn't have to sell his home and move.  

He is comfortable with employer-group coverage because it has always worked this way, I get that.  Yet he is in a huge bind.   With Obamacare, there are options he wouldn't otherwise have.  

That's why its a good thing.