Covered California: Pay for Health Care at 7-Eleven and Dollar stores–not a joke

Burger King told customers “we do it your way”. Obama tells Americans, regardless of the law, the Constitution or basic human rights, “you will do it my way.” So millions of Americans are stuck buying high prices/mediocre health care while unable to afford the deductibles, so the health care is worthless to them. Some folks just say no and are willing to pay an average of $1100 in fines to the corrupt IRS. That saves them at least $10,000 in premiums. But, they do have health care—when needed, as needed and what they want, not Hillary wants them to have.

Now Obama is trying to steal directly from the poor. These are folks without credit cards or bank accounts—mostly because they have no money. But Barack wants every nickel and dime he can take from Americans.

“Starting Monday, customers of L.A. Care Covered, one of the health plans for sale on Covered California, the state’s insurance marketplace, can pay monthly premiums in cash at more than 680 locations, including 7-Eleven and Family Dollar Stores. At the register, customers scan a bar code sent to their smart phone and hand over their cash.   The payment posts to L.A. Care within 24 hours, and the service is free to customers.”

Yup, go to a 7/11 and pay for Obamacare—what a joke.

Covered_California_logo

Cash-And-Carry Health Insurance For Some In Los Angeles

By Sarah Varney, kaiser Health News, 4/20/15 

The largest publicly run health plan in the nation, L.A. Care, will allow customers who do not have traditional bank accounts to pay their health insurance premiums with cash.

One in four Americans who were previously uninsured and eligible for federal insurance subsidies do not have a bank account, relying instead on pre-paid debit cards, money orders and cash to pay bills, according to a study by Jackson Hewitt Tax Service.

After advocates for low-income consumers raised concerns to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over how so-called ‘unbanked’ households would pay their monthly insurance premiums, the Obama administration ordered health plans to accept payment methods that didn’t require a credit card or checking account.

Starting Monday, customers of L.A. Care Covered, one of the health plans for sale on Covered California, the state’s insurance marketplace, can pay monthly premiums in cash at more than 680 locations, including 7-Eleven and Family Dollar Stores. At the register, customers scan a bar code sent to their smart phone and hand over their cash.   The payment posts to L.A. Care within 24 hours, and the service is free to customers.

“It’s as quick as buying a Slurpee,” said Danny Shader, PayNearMe’s founder and CEO, the for-profit company that established the electronic cash transaction network.

L.A. Care, like most health insurers around the country, pays fees to Visa, MasterCard and banks to process debit and credit card transactions. Laura Jaramillo, Director of Commercial and Group Plan Operations at L.A. Care, said the health plan negotiated a similar surcharge to PayNearMe for cash payments.

This KHN story can be republished for free (details).

“It should not increase our administrative costs,” Jaramillo said. L.A. Care estimates up to 25 percent of its marketplace customers mail in money orders each month. Now, members who don’t have a bank account can pay in cash, said Jaramillo, “instead of sending us money orders.”

Some low- and moderate-income households shun bank accounts, researchers find, because checking account and overdraft fees can wreak havoc on their precarious finances. These same households, however, rely heavily on cell phones—68 percent of unbanked households have mobile phones.

L.A. Care is the first health plan to use the PayNearMe network, although the company’s method of cash collection is already in use in other ways elsewhere: By Nebraska parents who owe child support, Pittsburgh water customers and bike share riders in Philadelphia who can pay cash at local convenience stores to settle bills.

“What goes in is cash, and what comes out is an electronic payment,” said Shader. “We think everybody ought to do it.”

 

About Stephen Frank

Stephen Frank is the publisher and editor of California Political News and Views. He speaks all over California and appears as a guest on several radio shows each week. He has also served as a guest host on radio talk shows. He is a fulltime political consultant.

Speak Your Mind