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Post by Darcy Collins on Oct 25, 2016 15:45:33 GMT
Yowzers. If you're using the exchanges you better prepare yourself. The new premiums are out for next year and it's not pretty. In Illinois, 44% increase for the "lowest" cost bronze plans and 55% for the lowest cost gold plan. This article mentions much of this being offset by tax credit for lower income families, but there's no discussion on what that means for taxpayers for the overall cost of ACA. We've started looking at rates as my husband was offered a position at a startup with crappy insurance. www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-obamacare-illinois-insurance--shopping-1025-biz-20161024-story.html |
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Post by Darcy Collins on Oct 25, 2016 16:04:14 GMT
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miyooper2b
Full Member
Posts: 330
Location: Central Indiana
Jun 27, 2014 15:38:05 GMT
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Post by miyooper2b on Oct 25, 2016 16:20:54 GMT
I'm in Indiana and our premiums are going up 25% for our bronze package. We make too much money to get subsidies and last night I was freaking out about how we were going to find an additional $300+ in our monthly budget. Seriously, I was thinking we'd have to cut back on our retirement contributions just to make our health insurance payments. I did see an article today that you could get on the exchange and "window shop", so I did. I found a plan that my doctor will accept for about $100 less per month than what we are paying now. And it includes vision, which we don't currently have. So a little more savings there. Whew! I feel a little better about the situation today. Luckily, DH and I are pretty healthy and I pray we stay that way. But, I am still ticked off that Obama promised that if you liked your health plan, you could keep it. Liar! Our premiums have skyrocketed nearly 130% since we were forced into this. Affordable??? Not in this household.  |
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Post by scrapsotime on Oct 25, 2016 16:22:04 GMT
I was sort of surprised that Indiana's went down a teeny, tiny bit.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Oct 25, 2016 16:28:47 GMT
I was sort of surprised that Indiana's went down a teeny, tiny bit. Me too. Rhode Island is the real outlier going down 14% |
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perumbula
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,439 
Location: Idaho
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Post by perumbula on Oct 25, 2016 19:08:23 GMT
I'm completely freaked out by the insurance situation. My husband works for a company with <10 employees which means we have to buy from the exchange. This year our insurance has been affordable for us because we were getting the tax credits and our income was low enough the kids qualified for the state insurance plan (it's basically medicaid for children from families who actually have an income.) Well our income went up by at least 50% this year. Yea! That's great. Until we have to buy insurance with the new income. I'm very worried about what it's going to do to tax credit and the fact that we make too much for the kids to be on the state plan. dd's counseling is going to get very expensive.  |
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Post by Darcy Collins on Oct 25, 2016 20:17:09 GMT
I'm completely freaked out by the insurance situation. My husband works for a company with <10 employees which means we have to buy from the exchange. This year our insurance has been affordable for us because we were getting the tax credits and our income was low enough the kids qualified for the state insurance plan (it's basically medicaid for children from families who actually have an income.) Well our income went up by at least 50% this year. Yea! That's great. Until we have to buy insurance with the new income. I'm very worried about what it's going to do to tax credit and the fact that we make too much for the kids to be on the state plan. dd's counseling is going to get very expensive. I truly don't want to freak you out, but I did want to warn you that a change in income could mean you have to repay part of the subsidy for THIS year when you do your taxes. That's a pretty big change in income. I hope it all works out for you and you're able to find a plan that works for your family and doesn't disrupt your daughter's care. |
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Post by lbp on Oct 25, 2016 20:24:50 GMT
Not just the exchange! Our company insurance went up 18.9%. For this reason we are going to offer 3 different plans some with very high deductibles, that may have more affordable premiums. I am not sure how much longer we will be able to afford to pay half of our employees insurance. We are a small company (less than 50) and are not obligated to offer insurance. We are looking to see if our employees would be better off in the exchange or with a group policy.
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AmandaA
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,502
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Post by AmandaA on Oct 25, 2016 20:26:39 GMT
I just peeked at my options (in Indiana) and am really disappointed. I have always paid out the nose since we don't qualify for subsidies, so it pisses me off even more. My plan went away this year so no comparing apples to apples for me. I can still get a plan for a similar amount of money with roughly the same deductible, but the catch is the carriers that still participate. We are down to 4 options, and 3 of them do no commercial business and are only contracted in Indiana for state sponsored plans (aka Medicaid). So those are the networks they use for ACA plans which will mean that none of my doctors will be in network with them. We have one option that is a commercial & state sponsored provider... So I am hoping I can keep my doctors with them but will have to check it out. But not holding my breath that they aren't also using their Medicaid providers for this plan. I am too old and attached to my doctors to switch at this point. Going on my husband's plan is an option, but because of my pre existing condition they get to charge me an additional 40% for my premium... But at least they didn't flat out deny me. Just one of the "perks" of being self employed.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 19, 2024 5:07:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2016 20:36:34 GMT
I thought these articles I read were pretty thorough in explaining the increases and it appears that without the ACA, the increases would have been significant more anyway. It also looks like the initial marketplace rates came in below costs and companies set prices too low. I think the insurance companies deserve some of the ire regarding these increases and not blame the ACA by itself. NPRPremiums are lower than you think - HealthAffairs.org |
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perumbula
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,439
Location: Idaho
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Post by perumbula on Oct 25, 2016 21:07:26 GMT
I'm completely freaked out by the insurance situation. My husband works for a company with <10 employees which means we have to buy from the exchange. This year our insurance has been affordable for us because we were getting the tax credits and our income was low enough the kids qualified for the state insurance plan (it's basically medicaid for children from families who actually have an income.) Well our income went up by at least 50% this year. Yea! That's great. Until we have to buy insurance with the new income. I'm very worried about what it's going to do to tax credit and the fact that we make too much for the kids to be on the state plan. dd's counseling is going to get very expensive. I truly don't want to freak you out, but I did want to warn you that a change in income could mean you have to repay part of the subsidy for THIS year when you do your taxes. That's a pretty big change in income. I hope it all works out for you and you're able to find a plan that works for your family and doesn't disrupt your daughter's care. oh, yes, that is also part of my freak out. My husband doesn't believe me about it though. He thinks once you get your tax credit award, that's it. Sadly, the government has no issue with taking money back from people once they hand it out. |
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melissa
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,912
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Post by melissa on Oct 25, 2016 21:13:12 GMT
Dh's went up 12% and the deductible went up by about $400.
Mine did not go up at all.. sort of. My health insurance company will no longer be offering plans in my state. I am so ticked that we have to begin this research process all over again. We've always had to go for a more expensive plan for me because I am a bigger healthcare consumer than anyone else in my family and because I need name brand drugs. Why in the world there are no generic combination long acting asthma inhalers and no more generic albuterol inhalers at the moment is beyond me!!! As mush as I dislike government interference in healthcare, I'd much rather see pharmaceutical controls than some of the nonsense shoved into Obamacare that is increasing costs.
I'm sorry but "premiums are lower than you think" does not apply to those of us who saw significant increases with the institution of the ACA and are now continuing to see increases. I find it so ironic that as a healthcare provider I have not seen ANY increase in my income in the last 13 or so years. Not a dime. I make exactly what I made in 2002 or 2003 as I do today. With inflation, that means I make less. Yet, my healthcare out of pocket costs have pretty much doubled for less coverage than I had back then.
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Post by pierkiss on Oct 25, 2016 21:16:09 GMT
I fucking hate this.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 19, 2024 5:07:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2016 21:16:56 GMT
I am pretty sure this news will surprise no one
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Post by scrapaddict702 on Oct 25, 2016 21:35:34 GMT
I think ACA is a great idea...but I recently read an article about the demand for Lasik going down and a lot of the comments were like, 'duh, demand didn't exist when Lasik wasn't an option, so of course people flooded offices when it did and as time goes on, fewer and fewer people will need it' and I feel like this issue is a lot like that. Many people haven't had insurance and therefore haven't been getting regular check ups, so when mandatory coverage became law, more people are going to see doctors for a neglected health issues. My idea on how ACA was intended to be was that it would likely be more expensive the first few years while people without coverage caught up on neglected issues and then it would decrease as the demand leveled off and became more predictable.
I was also under the impression that the government mandating coverage for everyone also meant that they would regulate the prices. For instance, my state has a legal monopoly for electricity that is regulated by the government (meaning, they have to ask to increase rates and there are limits on how much they can even ask to adjust rates)...but even with that and keeping our house 5-8 degrees warmer than most other homes in the summer, we can have electric bills upwards of $400 a month. I wouldn't consider more than double your premium to be a reasonable increase from one year to the next. That's ridiculous...I can completely understand why people who have to pay out of pocket are upset.
Clearly there needs to be more done. I don't think this is the government's fault, though...I think health insurance and pharmaceutical companies have been robbing this country blind for years. It takes time to do that, but damn, that's a big jump for some states.
I hope you all are able to find policies that are actually reasonable for you and your families.
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QueenoftheSloths
Drama Llama
Member Since January 2004, 2,698 forum posts PeaNut Number: 122614 PeaBoard Title: StuckOnPeas
Posts: 5,955
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Post by QueenoftheSloths on Oct 26, 2016 13:15:53 GMT
I think health insurance and pharmaceutical companies have been robbing this country blind for years. YES. |
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 19, 2024 5:07:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2016 13:54:25 GMT
Our small group plan only went up 12%, but that's because we are still grandfathered under our 2010 plan coverage (price increases, but we don't have to pay for some things that PPACA plans require now but we also can't make any changes at all, even the slightest will make us ineligible for that grandfathered plan). If we went with a mirrored PPACA plan, our increase would be close to 60%! I don't know yet what my boss (the owner) will decide about how much (if any) the employee portion will go up. But I do know that I am pretty happy with 12%, which is about what our decrease was last year. I am just hoping enough employers stay on our grandfathered plan for it to be profitable for BCBS to keep it. If they decide to take it away, we are screwed.
I honestly can't imagine being in the individual marketplace trying to figure this all out.
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Post by anonrefugee on Oct 26, 2016 13:59:24 GMT
Our premiums are going up 25% for our plan through work. I don't think we're alone in the corporate / private world. melissa I appreciate your comments! In addition to pharmaceutical costs, we need to start getting angry at insurance companies...it's not just those with ACA//Obamacare being affected. |
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Post by annabella on Oct 26, 2016 14:15:21 GMT
See the problem is that the government creates plans to make healthcare accessible and affordable to all. Then the insurance companies counter with hiking all the prices. We need to find a way to control the insurance companies so they don't keep finding some way to counter every effort we do. I'm lucky my employer doesn't charge us anything.
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Post by Kymberlee on Oct 26, 2016 15:07:46 GMT
See the problem is that the government creates plans to make healthcare accessible and affordable to all. Then the insurance companies counter with hiking all the prices. We need to find a way to control the insurance companies so they don't keep finding some way to counter every effort we do. I'm lucky my employer doesn't charge us anything. What does that mean? Are you saying that the insurance companies are purposely sabotaging the government healthcare plans? |
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Post by Darcy Collins on Oct 26, 2016 15:14:52 GMT
I think ACA is a great idea...but I recently read an article about the demand for Lasik going down and a lot of the comments were like, 'duh, demand didn't exist when Lasik wasn't an option, so of course people flooded offices when it did and as time goes on, fewer and fewer people will need it' and I feel like this issue is a lot like that. Many people haven't had insurance and therefore haven't been getting regular check ups, so when mandatory coverage became law, more people are going to see doctors for a neglected health issues. My idea on how ACA was intended to be was that it would likely be more expensive the first few years while people without coverage caught up on neglected issues and then it would decrease as the demand leveled off and became more predictable. I was also under the impression that the government mandating coverage for everyone also meant that they would regulate the prices. For instance, my state has a legal monopoly for electricity that is regulated by the government (meaning, they have to ask to increase rates and there are limits on how much they can even ask to adjust rates)...but even with that and keeping our house 5-8 degrees warmer than most other homes in the summer, we can have electric bills upwards of $400 a month. I wouldn't consider more than double your premium to be a reasonable increase from one year to the next. That's ridiculous...I can completely understand why people who have to pay out of pocket are upset. Clearly there needs to be more done. I don't think this is the government's fault, though...I think health insurance and pharmaceutical companies have been robbing this country blind for years. It takes time to do that, but damn, that's a big jump for some states. I hope you all are able to find policies that are actually reasonable for you and your families. I think your Lasik example misses the most powerful driver - it's a competitive market with price transparency and people pay for it directly. The price will naturally move to where the people purchasing it feel that the value matches the price they pay. The US health care market has seen astronomical increases for decades as the consumer does not see the price for services. I actually saw it up close just last week when I went in for a mammogram. My doctor had mentioned me being a good candidate for the 3D mammogram technology as I have dense breast tissue and it might save me from the very typical follow up ultrasound. I went to schedule and inquired about the difference in price. Literally 3 HOURS later, after talking to two insurance company reps, and no fewer than 5 people at the imaging center, I determined the price difference. Person after person at the imaging center had no idea how much this procedure was going to cost. That's utterly and completely ridiculous. Now sure there's a percentage of health care spending that is emergency in nature and price transparency probably doesn't matter as you're not going to be comparing during your heart attack. But there's huge chunks of spending that ARE routine or certainly non-emergency and we are paying 5-10x other developed nations. |
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Post by threegirls on Oct 26, 2016 17:47:54 GMT
Wait a minute, I thought every family was supposed to save $2,500 a year. Guess it's just another lie.
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scrappinspidey2
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,511
Location: In the Parlor with the Fly
Mar 18, 2015 19:19:37 GMT
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Post by scrappinspidey2 on Oct 26, 2016 17:51:50 GMT
Im worried about this up coming year for insurance. My daughters plan is being discontinued, and I have a bad feeling mine is about to get to a point I can't afford it. No job on the horizon for me till July and for the first time since this all started, Im seriously considering not getting insurance and taking the penalty at tax time for this year. We haven't used our insurance this year at all anyway so I paid money for nothing. Its a mess
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 19, 2024 5:07:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2016 18:02:37 GMT
The actual cause of much of the rise in costs is that the coverage is going to the sickest people are the ones utilizing this insurance. They are not paying the full cost as they are likely subsidized. Their costs are outpacing the premiums, even with the subsidies paid by the taxpayers. The healthy people who should be counterbalancing the sick ones with their premiums are NOT signing up. The 20 somethings and early 30 somethings are choosing to pay the fine instead of paying for the premium because it's cheaper and they're more risk tolerant.
Not to mention that those of us not in the exchanges but utilizing company sponsored plans are seeing tremendous increases in both premiums and deductibles for lesser services.
We were warned about it from the beginning. While some are getting improved health care, many are foregoing medical care because they can't afford the deductible they had to choose in order to afford the premiums. So they skip getting checkups, skip getting med refills because the doc won't enter another Rx without a visit. Then they risk getting sicker instead. And when they finally give in, it's because they have ended in the ER due to a catastrophic event that should have been mitigated by proper routine care. That they can't afford now.
I don't know what the answer is but this isn't it.
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Post by originalvanillabean on Oct 26, 2016 18:08:16 GMT
Although ours has increased significantly, it is still far less than most, considering the coverage. I was expecting a large increase the last couple years and now it is materializing.
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Post by bigbundt on Oct 26, 2016 18:10:43 GMT
Clearly there needs to be more done. I don't think this is the government's fault, though...I think health insurance and pharmaceutical companies have been robbing this country blind for years. It takes time to do that, but damn, that's a big jump for some states. Exactly. Consumers can't keep up with these increases and many health providers aren't making any more money than they were before. Who is? Follow the money. I'm nervous to see what my DH's company is going offering next year. We should hear something in the next few weeks. |
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Post by gale w on Oct 26, 2016 18:14:00 GMT
I'm in Indiana and our premiums are going up 25% for our bronze package. We make too much money to get subsidies and last night I was freaking out about how we were going to find an additional $300+ in our monthly budget. Seriously, I was thinking we'd have to cut back on our retirement contributions just to make our health insurance payments. I did see an article today that you could get on the exchange and "window shop", so I did. I found a plan that my doctor will accept for about $100 less per month than what we are paying now. And it includes vision, which we don't currently have. So a little more savings there. Whew! I feel a little better about the situation today. Luckily, DH and I are pretty healthy and I pray we stay that way. But, I am still ticked off that Obama promised that if you liked your health plan, you could keep it. Liar! Our premiums have skyrocketed nearly 130% since we were forced into this. Affordable??? Not in this household. Ours have more than doubled with no increase in benefits. Our deductible actually went up a little. I'll have to do some window shopping. I don't think we can afford even a 25% increase at this point. |
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Post by southerngirl on Oct 26, 2016 20:39:23 GMT
See the problem is that the government creates plans to make healthcare accessible and affordable to all. Then the insurance companies counter with hiking all the prices. We need to find a way to control the insurance companies so they don't keep finding some way to counter every effort we do. I'm lucky my employer doesn't charge us anything. What does that mean? Are you saying that the insurance companies are purposely sabotaging the government healthcare plans? I think she is saying that the insurance companies are trying to make as much money as they can, to maximize their profits. Which is to say they are doing what for-profit companies always have done and always will do. Medical providers are making less and patients are paying more...that money is going to the insurance companies (and pharmaceutical). |
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Post by snowsilver on Oct 26, 2016 20:49:15 GMT
For those of you blaming insurance companies--just what are they supposed to do? They are now required to accept pre-existing conditions and the previously uninsurable. Do you know why they were uninsurable? Because their care would be so cost prohibitive that in order for the companies to remain solvent, they would have to pass those astronomical costs on to everyone else. Just like those of use who were opposed to Obamacare warned. It was always as plain as the nose on your face that this was going to be the result. Don't go blaming the big, bad insurance companies.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 19, 2024 5:07:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2016 20:57:07 GMT
Part of the problem is that the gov was banking on the younger, healthier citizens signing up. They are taking the penalty instead. Even with a $700 penalty, it's cheaper than paying for the insurance. Without those premiums, the plans cannot absorb the higher costs of older, sicker citizens.
I pay $340/week for my family coverage. That's $17k a year for health insurance. It's insane and I am looking at alternatives this month.
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