
How Obamacare Could Unlock Job Opportunities - adrianhoward
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/magazine/how-obamacare-could-unlock-job-opportunities.html
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Casseres
As someone in my 20s, when theoretically I can afford the risk of
entrepreneurship (no financial or familial obligations), Obamacare would make
it harder for me. I looked at getting health insurance when I was unemployeed,
it was reasonable. Now the cost for me has doubled for comparable coverage.
That would make it harder for me to afford living expenses while I trying to
be an entrepreneur.

Also, just based on the title:

Perhaps one day there will be Professional Healthcare Navigators. People you
actually pay a fee to so they can find you a plan that will save you thousands
or more a year. Just like professional tax return preparers once the tax
code/law got too crazy.

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jloughry

      ...just like professional tax return preparers once the tax code/law got too crazy.
    

<grin>I love unintended consequences.</grin> What you mention is an important
knock-on effect. There will be entrepreneurial jobs created that are new
because of this. There was a _NY Times_ story on HN recently [can't find it
now] about medical scribes: assistants who follow around physicians all day
and update the electronic health care record-keeping systems. They free
doctors from data entry so the doctors can doctor patients. My PhD thesis was
originally about classified information in the intelligence community---but
you know what? It's not about that at all; it's about health care records
privacy, and insurance companies acting _just like_ competing national
intelligence agencies---and the same security controls work in both
situations.

You think NSA has a file on you? Wait until you see what kind of privacy
violations that Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, and Protective can get up to. There
are new companies to be started in this area.

Edit: explain what medical scribes do

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jloughry
This is an extremely important point; "job lock" has been acting as a brake on
the US economy since at least 2007--8, maybe earlier, and the outlawing of
"pre-existing condition" redlining practices by insurance companies benefits
the vanguard of Gen X at least as much as millennials gain. Have you ever
_tried_ purchasing health insurance as a individual? The difference between
last year and this year is stark.

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andyv
No kidding-- this year it's 30% more expensive, at least for me.

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jloughry
Mine (individual purchased, for a family of three) increased slightly, from
about $850/month to $880/month, but the cost for office visits went down and
the cost of prescription drugs went __WAY __down.

