Every day is a new day and with that, a new opportunity.
EVERYONE is welcome and please join us each morning at 7:30 AM PACIFIC
to tell us what you're working on, share your show & tell, vent, whatever you want...
...this is an open thread. Nothing is off topic.
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Did you get a letter from your private health insurance company regarding what they're going to do since ObamaCare started?
Smileycreek and I are self-employed. We have been for decades. We are in that small group of Americans who must buy our own health insurance policy directly from insurance companies. We know there are only about roughly 11% of us that have to do this, which works out to be 33,000,000 Americans. Since that's been our reality, we had seen the cost of our premium soar year after year. That's because they've always had us by the cojones.
After paying for our policy for decades without ever using it, in July 2011 we finally decided we couldn't pay the nearly $1000 per month it had gone up to...and so we switched to a different policy that cut our monthly premium by half but increased our deductible to $10,000 per year (the deductible has since gone up to $11,000 per year.)
Since the Affordable Care Act was made the law of the land, the increases have continued to go up, but at a much slower rate than they had before. Previously the rates had ratcheted up as much as 39% in one year.
We have been looking into the various plans that are offered under ObamaCare. As you know they are all known by a different metal...bronze, silver, gold and platinum. We decided to wait a little while to see how this all shakes out for us because for those of us who are self-employed, it is most confusing to decide whether to keep our current policy or jump for one offered by ObamaCare.
Yesterday we received a letter from Anthem BlueCross that suddenly made things a lot clearer. In that letter they stated that "because of the requirements of the new laws, [they] can no longer offer [us our] current individual health benefit plan and [we] will need to change to an ACA-compliant health benefit plan, which will become effective January 1, 2014."
Notice how they call what we pay for "a health benefit plan." I find that quite telling because their definition of what we pay them for, which simply allows us to have health care should we need it, is a benefit instead of a basic human right.
They then let us know that if we are interested in a new Anthem plan we'll need to submit our change by completing an enrollment application between October 1, 2013 and December 15, 2013. Then they let us know if we don't do that they will automatically move us to a new suggested Anthem plan. And if we don't make an election by December 15th, 2013 to move to a different plan, the new plan they will automatically move us into will have a new monthly premium of $961.06 pending regulatory review.
Wow! So, it looks like they are prodding us to move onto a policy that complies with ObamaCare standards. If we don't, we'll go back paying what we had been until July 2011 for a much better policy than the current policy we have with them. And yet they didn't state anything about what the policy covers that they will automatically move us into.
In other words, the old policy we felt we couldn't afford anymore...and thus went to a policy that had less coverage with a huge yearly deductible but a lower monthly payment (the trade off)...will be the new price for some policy they'll decide to push us into. We aren't going to be idle and let them push us into a pricey policy.
THIS is really a good thing. We will end up with a better health insurance policy and pay roughly the same amount each month that we've been paying for a junk policy that no longer will be allowed to be sold.
Have you received a similar letter from your health insurance provider?
Hey Minneapolis and St. Paul!
Wednesday, October 9th
Twin Cities Kossacks Happy Hour with navajo!
Drinks will be courtesy of navajo.
Please RSVP.
TIME: 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
LOCATION: The Stone Arch Bar inside The Depot Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel [Bar Menu]
225 Third Avenue South • Minneapolis
ORGANIZER: Send navajo a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. navajo
2. raptavio
3. left rev
4.
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Maybees:
angry marmot
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Latest Updates on Kossack Regional Meet-Up News Below the New Day sunrise cloud
:: COMMUNITY BUILDING UPDATES ::
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Let's build communities!
Every region needs a meatspace community like SFKossacks.
We take care of each other in real life.
I urge YOU to take the lead and organize one in your region.
Please tell us about it if you do and we're here for advice.
•
THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY
>>>Instructions on HOW TO FORM A NEW DAILY KOS GROUP
NEW GROUPS IN THE PROCESS OF ORGANIZING:
Send a Kosmail to the organizers and ask for an invitation to the group.
• Northern Indiana Area: Kosmail Tim Delaney
• Long Island: Kosmail grannycarol
• Northern Michigan: Kosmail JillS
• Nebraska: Kosmail Nebraska68847Dem
• Westburbia Chicago Kossacks: Kosmail Majordomo
• New York Hudson Valley Kossacks: Kosmail boran2
• North Carolina Triangle Kossacks: Kosmail highacidity
• Caprock Kossacks (Panhandle/Caprock/Lubbock/Amarillo area) : Kosmail shesaid
• West Texas Kossacks (including Big Bend Region and El Paso) : Kosmail Yo Bubba
Note to the above new leaders: Feel free to leave a comment any day reminding readers about your new group. Also, tell us about your progress in gathering members. Kosmail me when you've chosen a good name for your group and have created a the group. Then I'll move you to the NEW GROUPS LIST. When you've planned a date for your first event I'll make a banner for you to highlight your event in our diaries and your diaries.
These are the groups that have started since * NEW DAY * began. Please Kosmail navajo if you have started a group before that.
NEW GROUPS LIST:
• California Central Valley Kossacks - Formed: Jul 29, 2012, Organizer: tgypsy
• New England Kossacks - Formed: Aug 6, 2012, Organizers:
Clytemnestra for Lower New England (Conneticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island)
nhox42 for Upper New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont)
• Houston Area Kossacks - Formed: Aug 7, 2012, Organizer: Chrislove
• Kossacks in India - Formed: Aug 14, 2012, Organizer: chandu
• CenTex Kossacks - Formed: Sep 9, 2012, Organizer: papa monzano
• Central Ohio Kossacks - Formed: Sep 26, 2012, Organizer: VetGrl
• Kansas City Kossacks - Formed Oct 15, 2012, Organizer: [Founder stepped down]
• Phoenix Kossacks - Formed Oct 16, 2012, Organizer: arizonablue
• Chicago Kossacks - Formed: Oct 31, 2012, Organizer: figbash
• Koscadia the Pacific Northwest coast from Northern California to Alaska
- Formed Oct 17, 2012, Oganizer: Horace Boothroyd III based in Portland, OR
• Boston Kossacks - Formed: Nov 7, 2012, Organizer: GreyHawk
• Motor City Kossacks South East Michigan (Detroit) Area - Formed: Nov 10, 2012, Organizer: peregrine kate
• Pittsburgh Area Kossacks - Formed: Nov 12, 2012, Organizer: dweb8231
• Salt Lake City Kossacks - Formed: Nov 17, 2012, Organizer: War on Error
• Twin Cities Kossacks - Formed: Nov 17, 2012, Organizer: imonlylurking
• Dallas Kossacks North Texas - Formed: Nov 21, 2012, Admins: Catte Nappe and dalfireplug. Please contact them to join the group. An Event Organizer needed.
• The Southern California Inland Empire Kossacks - Formed: Dec 3, 2012, Organizer: SoCaliana
• Los Angeles Kossacks - Formed: Dec 17, 2012, Organizer: Dave in Northridge
• Northeast Ohio Kossacks - Formed: Jan 16, 2013, Organizer: GenXangster
• Kansas & Missouri Kossacks - Formed: Jan 17, 2013, Organizer: tmservo433
• I-77 Carolina Kossacks who live from Columbia, SC to north of Winston-Salem, NC. - Formed: Jan 30, 2013, Organizers: gulfgal98 and eeff
• Indianapolis Kossacks - Formed: Feb 6, 2013, Organizer: CityLightsLover
• Southwest Ohio Kossacks - Formed: May 10, 2013, Organizer: Dr Erich Bloodaxe RN
• Northern Arizona Kossacks - Formed: Jul 5, 2013, Organizer: Sam Sara
• Mexican Kossacks - Formed: Apr 14, 2013, Organizer: roberb7
ESTABLISHED GROUPS LIST: (List will grow as we discover them)
• SFKossacks Founded by navajo, Formed: May 2, 2005
• Maryland Kos Founded by timmyc, Formed: Feb 23, 2011. Contact: JamieG from Md for a group invite.
• New York City Founded by Eddie C - Contact the group organizer for meet-up events: sidnora
• Baja Arizona Kossacks, Event Organizer: Azazello
• Three Star Kossacks Tennessee, Founded by maryKK, Formed: Apr 8, 2011
• Nashville KosKats, Founded by ZenTrainer Formed: Jan 30, 2012
• Virginia Kos Founded by JamieG from Md, Formed: May 3, 2011
• Kos Georgia Founded by pat208, Formed: Feb 13, 2011
• Colorado COmmunity Founded by Leftcandid, Formed: Feb 13, 2011
• New Mexico Kossaks Founded by claude
• Philly Kos Founded by mconvente Formed: Aug 29, 2011
• DKos Florida Founded by ThirstyGator, Formed: Feb 14, 2011, Currently organizing: Kosmail Vetwife to be included in next event.
• Oklahoma Roundup Founded by BigOkie, Formed: Feb 13, 2011, Currently organizing: Kosmail peacearena to be included.
• DKos Asheville Founded by davehouck, Formed: Feb 13, 2011 - Organizing Assist by: randallt
:: Events Currently on the Books for ALL Kossacks ::
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Wednesday, October 9th
Twin Cities Kossacks Happy Hour with navajo!
Drinks will be courtesy of navajo.
Please RSVP.
TIME: 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
LOCATION: The Stone Arch Bar inside The Depot Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel [Bar Menu]
225 Third Avenue South • Minneapolis
ORGANIZER: Send navajo a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. navajo
2. raptavio
3. left rev
4.
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Maybees:
angry marmot
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Saturday, October 19th
DKos Asheville Kossacks Meet-up
TIME: 1:00 PM
LOCATION: The Bywater
796 Riverside Dr. • Asheville
ORGANIZER: Send randallt a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. randallt
2. davehouck
3. Joieau
4. Gordon20024
5. gulfgal98
6. DawnN
7. Sandy on Signal
8. Mr Sandy on Signal
9. Munchkin
10. Alecia
11. Mr Alecia
12. cultjake
13. flwrightman
14. Otteray Scribe
15. Burns Lass
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Maybees:
people power granny
One Pissed Off Liberal
Christian Dem in NC
SteelerGrrl
SteelerGuy
polecat
Audri
Phil S 33
emmasnacker
bobwilk
Elaine
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Latest diary: DKos Asheville - Weekly Open Thread
Sunday, October 20th
MEGA Philly/NJ/NYC Kossacks Meet-up!
TIME: Noon
LOCATION: Stuff Yer Face
49 Easton Avenue • New Brunswick, NJ
ORGANIZER: Send mconvente a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. mconvente
2. belinda ridgewood
3. thankgodforairamerica
4. gchaucer2
5. sidnora
6. rubyr
7. mattc129
8. hayden
9. mallyroyal
10. Avilyn
11. blue jersey mom
12. ericlewis0
13. Rogneid + husband
14. aoeu
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Maybees:
aravir and son
ask
Cinnamon
No Exit
andgarden
asterkitty
pfiore8
joanneleon
renzo capetti
MRA NY
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Latest diary: Philly/NJ/NYC Mega Meetup! Additional Call for People Interested in Attending!
Friday, October 25th
LAKossacks & SoCal Inland Empire See Lewis Black!
TIME: 9:00 PM
LOCATION: Agua Caliente Casino Resort & Spa
32-250 Bob Hope Dr. • Rancho Mirage
ORGANIZER: Send 714day a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. 714day
2. jakedog42
3. susans
4. Otoelbc
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Maybees:
Shockwave
SoCaliana
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Latest diary: L.A. Kossacks, Lewis Black Fans in So Cal
Friday, October 25th
Meet the Daily Kos Editorial Staff!
TIME: 6:00 PM
LOCATION: Daily Kos HQ
Address given privately to RSVP'ers • Berkeley
ORGANIZER: Send navajo a kosmail to attend.
You will need to bring Potluck.
HQ will be providing the main course; an assortment of Salvadoran vegetarian and meat-filled pupusas (Thick corn masa tortilla stuffed with fillings and served with curtido & salsa.)
Please sign up for a beverages or side dishes below.
- POTLUCK SIGNUP -
Beverages:
20 bottles of wine [11 down, 9 to go]
16 six-packs of beer [5 down, 11 to go]
8 six-packs soft drinks
6 six-packs bottles of water
Appetizers:
5 appetizers, anything goes here. Whatcha' got? [3 down, 2 to go]
Side Dishes:
4 green salads needed, each to feed 10 [4 complete]
3 black bean side dishes needed, each to feed 10 (need Salvadoran inspiration?)
3 rice side dishes needed, each to feed 10 (need Salvadoran inspiration?)
Desserts:
6 desserts, a dozen hand-held desserts each [5 down, 1 to go]
RSVPs:
1. Markos
Editorial Staff:
2. Susan Gardner
3. Meteor Blades
4. Joan McCarter
5. Hunter
Staff:
6. Faith Gardner
7. Will Rockafellow
8. Jen Hayden
Activism Team:
9. Paul Hogarth
10. Chris Bowers
11. Rachel Colyer
12. Michael Langenmayr
SFKossacks:
13. navajo + large ice chest with ice + 4 bottles of red wine
14. Lusty + dessert
15. side pocket + two 6pks beer + 2 wines + stuffed mushrooms appetizer
16. paradise50 + two 6pks beer
17. smileycreek + 2 wines
18. citisven + beer + beet dip
19. norm + pumpkin bars
20. Lorikeet + big bowl of fruit
21. kimoconnor + appetizer
22. remembrance and TLO? + 1 wine
23. Glen the Plumber + Pasta Mystery Dish
24. madhaus
25. dharmasyd + brownies
26. ceebee7 + green salad
27. lineatus
28. Dave in Northridge + 2 bottles of wine
29. linkage
30. LinSea + bottled water
31. Shockwave
32. Eyesbright
33. catilinus
34. FogCityJohn
35. justiceputnam + grilled balsamic veggies
36. zmom
37. exlrrp + souvenirs ;) !
38. shanikka + salad
39. DAH
40. BroadBlogs
41. jpmassar + dessert
42. PatG + dessert
Maybees:
Cedwyn
LaughingPlanet
Saturday, October 26th
New England Kossacks Meet-up
TIME: 10:30 AM
LOCATION: Silly’s
40 Washington Avenue • Portland, ME
ORGANIZER: Send nhox42 a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. nhox42
2. rebereads
3. Portia Elm (a potential mileage winner!)
4. bjedward
5. nailbender
6. Bill in Portland Maine
7. Common Sense Mainer
8. mdevine
9. theMarti
10. patmoshimer
11. commonmass
12. Actbriniel
13. LoreleiHI
14. mayim
15. Jane in Maine
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Maybees: |
Latest diary: C+J Kossack Fall Meetup (Updated 9/25/13)
Saturday, November 2nd
SFKossacks BBQ in the Wine Country
TIME: TBD
LOCATION: Andrew McGuire's home in the Wine Country
Address to be given privately to RSVPs • Windsor
ORGANIZER: Send navajo a kosmail to attend.
Andrew McGuire is Executive Director of California One Care
RSVPs:
1. Andrew McGuire
2. navajo
3. Shockwave
4. Hunter
5. elfing
6. Hunter/elfling offspring
7. smileycreek
8. paradise50
9. dharmasyd
10. maggiejean
11. norm
12. Lusty
13. dksbook
14. Mr. dksbook
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15. kimoconnor
16. jpmassar
17. side pocket
18. Mrs. side pocket
19. ceebee7
20. ceebee7's sister
21. leema (will carpool from Marin)
22. Meteor Blades
Maybees:
Glen The Plumber
remembrance
TLO™
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Send navajo a kosmail if you post a diary about an event so we can update our round-up.
Okay. Floor's open.
Tell us what you are doing on this NEW DAY?