UFC Fighter on Obamacare: ‘This Sh*t Is Crazy’
UFC fighter Josh Koscheck did a takedown of Obamacare on Twitter yesterday.
The MMA fighter tweeted that “This Obamacare sh*t is crazy” because his insurance has become so costly in part because of having to pay for mandatory add-ons like maternity care and birth control. “And why would I need that?” he wondered.
Koscheck, a NCAA wrestling champion in college, competes in the welterweight category in the UFC. His overall UFC record is 19-8-0 with wins in five of his last nine bouts, although losing his last three. He lost to Tyron Woodley in a first-round knockout at UFC 167 in November.
He apparently is one of millions of Americans who have already seen their coverage canceled, drastically changed, or renewed with skyrocketing premium, sharply higher co-pays and deductibles, and limited provider networks. This is in part the consequence of forced, one-size-fits all benefits that are often inappropriate to a consumer’s age or gender that are nonetheless required under the Affordable Care Act. Presumably Koscheck, 36, is an independent contractor who is responsible for his own coverage.
When the postponed employer mandate begins kicking in this fall in the run-up to 2015, millions more Americans on employer-based plans will find their coverage similarly disrupted by significant rate increases and so forth. At that time, employers may be tempted to drop health benefits entirely (as some have done already) and send their workers into the exchanges to fend for themselves.
In other Obamacare news, this insurance industry has increasing concerns over what is being called healthcare orphans who signed up on HealthCare.gov (or a state exchange), but insurance companies don’t have any record of them because of back-end problems with the website. There have been reports of patients turned away at healthcare facilities over lack of active insurance documentation. The reverse is also a problem. “The companies also are seeing cases in which the government has assigned the same identification number to more than one person, as well as so-called ‘ghost’ files in which the insurer has an enrollment record but the government does not. But orphaned files — when the insurer has no record of enrollment — are particularly concerning because the companies have no automated way to identify the presumed policyholder.”
According to a Gallup Poll, 59 percent of those uninsured Americans who have visited a health insurance website to sign up for Obamacare said their experience was negative.
This #Obamacare shit is crazy. My #healthcare is so expensive. I am Now paying for maternity & birth control. Annnnnd why would I need that?
— Josh Koscheck (@JoshKoscheck) January 8, 2014
Josh Koscheck has expressed his opinion of Obamacare before on social media:
#Obamacare is now officially more embarrassing than Miley Cyrus.
— Josh Koscheck (@JoshKoscheck) October 24, 2013
So #Obama says he knew nothing about the failure of the #obamacare website, Bengazi, Fast & Furious & the IRS scandle: makes one wonder.
— Josh Koscheck (@JoshKoscheck) October 24, 2013
