MizIndependent
Drama Llama
Quit your bullpoop.
Posts: 5,836
Jun 25, 2014 19:43:16 GMT
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Post by MizIndependent on Oct 26, 2016 21:07:17 GMT
If my DH didn't work for the state, I literally have no idea what we would do. Rate increases in Oregon are as high as 32%!!! Some won't change but it would seem that most have increases and some of those increases are just astonishing.
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Post by scrapaddict702 on Oct 26, 2016 21:07:39 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. But in this country, we don't (or at least shouldn't) accept that it is okay ignore the sick because it costs too much to cover them. In OTHER countries, they pay their sick while they can't work so they can get better. In this country, a serious cancer diagnosis can bankrupt entire families. Are you okay watching your mother, brother, best friend, etc. lose EVERYTHING they have worked their ENTIRE lives for because of a medical diagnosis and subsequent treatment? ACA was supported because it gives people a chance to heal without losing everything just to have a shot at living. Other countries aren't going bankrupt caring for their sick because insurance isn't private. It is government run because their citizens refuse to accept anything else. Medical coverage should and needs to be a government institution, NOT a private one. Profit margins won't be nearly as important. Health insurance should be non profit...make enough to pay the bills, not so the CEO gets to buy a yacht and 17 mansions with blood money.
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Post by mayceesgranny on Oct 26, 2016 21:11:10 GMT
Be grateful if your premium increase was under 20%! My company just got our initial renewal quote from Anthem. Would you believe a 60% increase? This is for a group of 100. We are having our agent market to different providers, but we won't have quotes for weeks yet. This was our first year (and I'm guessing last year) with Anthem. We currently pay 50% of the premium - I have no idea where the money will come from for insurance in 2017, but I'm sure we will have to raise deductibles again and find other places to cut. We are already at a $4,000 deductible for a single.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 12:07:56 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2016 21:24:49 GMT
I think health insurance and pharmaceutical companies have been robbing this country blind for years. They have. And they'll continue for as long as they can get away with it.
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Post by lisae on Oct 26, 2016 21:51:48 GMT
I received my notice yesterday and it is a 30% increase. I have not shopped plans yet. As someone who has been self-employed for the last 18 years and has a pre-existing condition, I see the benefits in the ACA. I've had my own insurance all that time and always paid more than someone who did not have a pre-existing condition. I know this for a fact by comparing my plan to DH's who is 15 years older, had exactly the same plan/deductible/everything and was paying less than I was! This went on for years.
I am paying more now though there are things covered that weren't before. There was a $2000 cap on prescriptions before and that is not allowed anymore. I was paying $1200-$1500 per year above that cap at one time. My upcoming screening colonoscopy is being covered 100%. When DH had his first one under the old insurance, we paid for it as it went against the deductible. I think it was about $700 and that was 10 years ago.
I don't blame the insurance companies. In fact this idea of increasing competition between insurance companies won't work. There is nothing to keep more insurers from offering coverage in my state. They are not because they can not make money. The problem is the source of health care costs. One huge cost problem are prescription drugs and the free market does not self-regulate.
The one medication I take for my condition cost approximately $325 per month about 6 years ago for the only name brand available. The patent should have already expired at that time. Eventually Pfizer irritated the court system enough with all their injunctions and delays that a judge forced them to allow a generic on the market. So what did they do? The generic costs now nearly $400 and they have raised the price of the exact same name brand pill they have sold for over 15 years to nearly $600 per month. These figures are based on my dosage.
The pharmaceutical companies can get by with this because who is going to stop them? I don't really buy the excuse that they need these exorbitant prices for research - some yes, all of it, no. But let's say they do? Why not let people in other countries who get these drugs for a fraction of what we pay foot some of the bill?
DH is on Medicare and when statements come in, I see the prices hospitals are trying to charge, then what medicare actually pays. The hospital bill is usually 10 times what medicare allows. Doctor bills are 3 to 5 times what Medicare ends up paying. Medicare probably doesn't pay enough to really cover the cost for the hospital but they don't need 10x the amount either.
The ACA needs improvement. There is no question about that. The first thing I would do is raise the penalty for not having insurance to what it cost to actually have it. I've always carried insurance no matter what it cost. It is the responsible thing to do and everyone should have at least some level of insurance. Perhaps we need to go back to allowing a larger number of people to just have catastrophic care. While this is unpopular, I also think that the age for children to be off their parents plans needs to drop back to about 24. 26 made sense in 2009 or whenever this was conceived because unemployment was so high for that age group but these numbers have been changing. Younger people need to be buying insurance. This is clearly something the next President must improve. It's not going to be easy but going back to the old system of millions uninsured and those of us who were unlucky enough to inherit something being penalized for it, isn't he answer.
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melissa
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,912
Jun 25, 2014 20:45:00 GMT
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Post by melissa on Oct 26, 2016 22:19:41 GMT
Don't go blaming the big, bad insurance companies. Sorry, I still blame insurance companies. Perhaps not as much for the recent increases, but for what has happened up until now. Don't think for a minute that they are not to blame. Yes, costs have gone up, but their profits have not. These are for profit businesses. They operate at a profit and not small profits at that. Large, huge profits. I will never forget the day that some bigwig (medical director) from an insurance company came to speak at our hospital when I was a resident. I remember his Rolex from when I shook his hand. I remember his impeccably tailored suit. More than that, because I met him in person, I remembered his name. So when I saw news articles mentioning his name, I took notice. I remember the articles about how that company was not going to cover the then newer Thin Prep for pap smears because he did not believe it was cost effective or saved lives. When he said that, it was already in widespread use because it had proven to be a better product. Today, liquid based paps are the norm. At the time, you had to check if a patient had that company because they were alone in not covering it. He was wrong and it was clear then. It was about money. And that wasn't the only article I remembered. There were more. The biggest I remember was when his bonuses where published.. and I think his salary as well. Lets just say that I went into the wrong part of medicine. His figures were up there with the very top earners on Wall Street, if not beyond. Millions and millions of dollars. And I am not talking only 7 digits. If I had his job for just 3 months, I would have retired in luxury. A few years later, that company was my insurer. The fight I had to put on in order to get them to cover my breast reconstruction was exhausting. They covered one breast, but not the other. Didn't matter that we reminded them that were 2 were removed. Didn't matter that it is a freaking federal law for reconstruction coverage (thank you Bill Clinton). I learned what they were all about first hand. As much as I dread a single payer system, I would love to see major health insurance reform from the business side. ACA has made my insurance less and less affordable. Imagine if a few of those top executives made, let's say 4 or 5 million dollars each year vs the 14 or 15 million each year most are making today. That's a ton of money that could actually go towards reducing some premium costs.
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Post by terri on Oct 26, 2016 22:38:26 GMT
I don't use the Affordable Care Act for insurance as we get it through my husband's company. We just filled out the information for open enrollment, and it went up a lot. I personally can't complain because I am grateful to still have insurance, but just wanted to share that medical insurance going up is not just for people with Obamacare.
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Post by southerngirl on Oct 26, 2016 22:53:52 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. Oh, I was denied insurance when I was younger because I have asthma. You want to know the total amount I spend each year on my "cost-prohibitive" asthma treatment? One copay for my inhaler. Unless I get really sick and then, get this, I pay another copay or two for a different type of inhaler. Yeah. That's it. I don't think 2 inhalers per year is an astronomical cost being passed on to anyone else, but I was denied insurance due to asthma. And maybe you didn't have an insurance plan that raised prices or denied valid coverage to you before the ACA came along, but I did. I can't tell you how many times we had to fight our insurance to get coverage for things that were clearly covered in our plan. And our premiums were going up and our coverage was going down years before the ACA. These are not poor, pitiful insurance companies just struggling to scrape by at the mercy of the ACA. They have been doing this for a long time and they are making plenty of money at it.
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sassyangel
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,456
Jun 26, 2014 23:58:32 GMT
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Post by sassyangel on Oct 26, 2016 22:56:28 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. This is absolutely true. I could name 50 people I know personally off the top of my head who rationalize that the $300 "penalty" they pay is far cheaper than the starting $300 a month they'd have to pay for single coverage. Although I think deliberately going without insurance is incredibly risky (especially in this country) I can't really argue with that thinking the way its currently set up. The penalty is no real incentive penalty at all.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Oct 26, 2016 23:04:18 GMT
I don't use the Affordable Care Act for insurance as we get it through my husband's company. We just filled out the information for open enrollment, and it went up a lot. I personally can't complain because I am grateful to still have insurance, but just wanted to share that medical insurance going up is not just for people with Obamacare. You may not be on the exchange, but all plans were impacted by ACA, even employer.
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carhoch
Pearl Clutcher
Be yourself everybody else is already taken
Posts: 2,992
Location: We’re RV’s so It change all the time .
Jun 28, 2014 21:46:39 GMT
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Post by carhoch on Oct 26, 2016 23:09:16 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. so what are those people supposed to do if we listen to you we should not insured them , that's a little cold don't you think .
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 12:07:56 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2016 23:13:43 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. I've said from the very beginning that this was never a fix. This was going to simply transfer the problem of being unable to afford medical coverage and medical care from the poor to the working, middle class...those who previously could afford, and pay for their coverage. I don't recall the numbers we were hit with years ago (seems like a lifetime ago...and I was married then and part of a family of 5) but it was a huge hit. I then posted that I wondered how many peas could find an extra $300 - $400 in their budget for increased cost for medical insurance premiums. (and that didn't even take into account the increased out of pocket expenses to simply go to the doctor or fill a prescription) In Jan 2016, I enrolled (through the "exchange" but also through the Georgia Bar...so honestly, I'm not sure if I'm part of Obamacare or not??) and my monthly cost for coverage for me alone is $411 per month for medical only. (high deductible plan...here we are the end of October and I'm no where near my deductible) I got a letter a month or so ago from Aetna telling me that my plan will no longer be offered effective Jan 2017. I've not yet looked to see (or have rec'd any other mail) to indicate just how much more I'm going to pay to simply cover myself. It was never a fix. Jonathan Gruber claimed that the American people were too stupid. Democrats passed this monstrosity all on their own...without even reading the details.
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carhoch
Pearl Clutcher
Be yourself everybody else is already taken
Posts: 2,992
Location: We’re RV’s so It change all the time .
Jun 28, 2014 21:46:39 GMT
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Post by carhoch on Oct 26, 2016 23:15:47 GMT
in my town a little 10-year-old died eight years ago, he had a cavity that was not treated because his mom could not afford the dentist ,after that he got an abscess on that tooth and he died when is Body went to septic shock his mom brought him to relate to the emergency room she had no health insurance .
And that is not acceptable everybody deserves health scare !
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Post by Darcy Collins on Oct 26, 2016 23:15:58 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. so what are those people supposed to do if we listen to you we should not insured them , that's a little cold don't you think . I'm not snowsilver who can obviously speak for herself. At the time, I advocated for strengthening the existing state run pools for uninsurable patients - all states had them with varying quality and there was certainly room for improvement. I did feel it would be better to fix what wasn't working for people directly instead of simply mandating that they'd be unsured with the misguided notion that young healthy people would be willing to pay for them - particularly when they did away with catastrophic policies.
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Post by papercrafteradvocate on Oct 26, 2016 23:45:08 GMT
The insurance companies should be thrashed for continually raising the costs, premiums, reducing care, refusing treatments and prescriptions.
It pisses me off to no end that they are doing it now, and it's being used as a guise for political gains/bashing.
The ACA did not raise premiums--the insurance companies did.
And the salaries of the upper management keep getting raises and bonuses. They are just like and no better than what Wells Fargo was doing.
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Post by papercrafteradvocate on Oct 26, 2016 23:48:03 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 would unequivocally say this! The insurance companies are in control of what they charge, not the government!!
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Post by papercrafteradvocate on Oct 26, 2016 23:52:02 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. But in this country, we don't (or at least shouldn't) accept that it is okay ignore the sick because it costs too much to cover them. In OTHER countries, they pay their sick while they can't work so they can get better. In this country, a serious cancer diagnosis can bankrupt entire families. Are you okay watching your mother, brother, best friend, etc. lose EVERYTHING they have worked their ENTIRE lives for because of a medical diagnosis and subsequent treatment? ACA was supported because it gives people a chance to heal without losing everything just to have a shot at living. Other countries aren't going bankrupt caring for their sick because insurance isn't private. It is government run because their citizens refuse to accept anything else. Medical coverage should and needs to be a government institution, NOT a private one. Profit margins won't be nearly as important. Health insurance should be non profit...make enough to pay the bills, not so the CEO gets to buy a yacht and 17 mansions with blood money. EXACTLY!!! The insurance companies are making a shit ton of money. They use the ACA as reasoning for increases. And, it's not like it's a freebie that is being given away--people are PAYING for insurance.
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Post by ruralgirl on Oct 26, 2016 23:53:23 GMT
The healthcare situation is out of control. We received our new statement and insurance will go up $300/mth for our family of 5 and deductible went up $400. Neither my husband or I have employer-provided insurance so we are paying 100% of the cost. Our deductible is so high we ended paying for all our dr visits this year, which included an expensive MRI. Before the NOT affordable ACA we had a BCBS smartsense plan without maternity for $530/mth with a better deductible. Feeling hopeless about the high costs. It is seriously having a negative impact on our quality of life.
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Post by Merge on Oct 27, 2016 0:16:58 GMT
Costs would go down exponentially if we took the middleman - the insurance company - out of it. We're paying billions to people who provide no actual benefit, mostly for the profit of executives and company shareholders.
Healthcare should not be a for-profit commodity any more than education is or should be.
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The Birdhouse Lady
Drama Llama
Moose. It's what's for dinner.
Posts: 7,192
Location: Alaska -The Last Frontier
Jun 30, 2014 17:15:19 GMT
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Post by The Birdhouse Lady on Oct 27, 2016 0:40:59 GMT
I've been trying not to think about all this but now I am forced to.
We currently pay $2,455.00 per month for 3 of us. My dh, me, and my dd (who has a pre-existing condition) Our current insurer is no longer offering plans in AK next year. We will only have Blue Cross Plans to choose from. I heard on the news that premiums are going up 25%. That means that next year we will be paying at least $3,068.75 per month.
How is that even going to be possible???
My son (22) also has a pre-existing condition. He is insured through his job.
My other son (27) currently is not insured. He is taking the penalty.
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loco coco
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,662
Jun 26, 2014 16:15:45 GMT
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Post by loco coco on Oct 27, 2016 1:25:37 GMT
I'm scared to see the numbers for next year. My DH and are in our early 30s and both make a good living but between this and the cost of daycare for our 3 month old it's going to be hard
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Post by gale w on Oct 27, 2016 4:39:02 GMT
I just went to the marketplace to see what costs might be and they have nothing that would be accepted by any of our doctors. None in the town at all. So we can save $$ (maybe-there's no way to find out unless I choose a doctor that isn't even near us) and drive hours for every visit or spend extra $$ on regular insurance.
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Post by jumperhop on Oct 27, 2016 4:47:59 GMT
We have Obama care. Last year our rates increased by a 1/3 this year we got a letter that Blue Cross is canceling us because they will no longer offer plans in our zipcode.
I am scared half to death. We pay $700 a month for my DH and I with a $8,000 deductible.
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luvnlifelady
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,428
Jun 26, 2014 2:34:35 GMT
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Post by luvnlifelady on Oct 27, 2016 4:53:01 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. This is what I "worry" about from the "worried thread." We're divorcing (ages 51 and 50) but even still before that, we were paying quite a bit even with a subsidy through out state plan. We got notice that it would double. We need to reapply for the subsidy but I asked STBXH to see what the situation is at work is what they offer there. We hadn't gone with them before because the rates were so high and the coverage so dismal. We were on CA's bronze plan so basically it was for catastrophic but it was still very expensive and co-pays are high along with a $5000 deductible. I am fighting a tooth/jaw infection and really don't have the money to deal with but I'm making it happen anyway. We still have a 16 yo and are paying for the 19 yo while she's in school. I may go on Medicaid once we final since my income is so darn low. It sucks when you qualify for help but then when you do something to improve your income, you're really no better off because you lose the help. Healthcare if the cause of many families going bankrupt. Many are just one medical crisis away from financial ruin.
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luvnlifelady
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,428
Jun 26, 2014 2:34:35 GMT
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Post by luvnlifelady on Oct 27, 2016 4:58:28 GMT
I've been trying not to think about all this but now I am forced to.
We currently pay $2,455.00 per month for 3 of us. My dh, me, and my dd (who has a pre-existing condition) Our current insurer is no longer offering plans in AK next year. We will only have Blue Cross Plans to choose from. I heard on the news that premiums are going up 25%. That means that next year we will be paying at least $3,068.75 per month.
How is that even going to be possible???
My son (22) also has a pre-existing condition. He is insured through his job.
My other son (27) currently is not insured. He is taking the penalty. How in the heck are people supposed to be able to afford that? Wow! That is crazy. I don't blame your son for taking the penalty. Young people cannot afford this! (Hell, nobody I know can).
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luvnlifelady
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,428
Jun 26, 2014 2:34:35 GMT
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Post by luvnlifelady on Oct 27, 2016 5:02:46 GMT
The healthcare situation is out of control. We received our new statement and insurance will go up $300/mth for our family of 5 and deductible went up $400. Neither my husband or I have employer-provided insurance so we are paying 100% of the cost. Our deductible is so high we ended paying for all our dr visits this year, which included an expensive MRI. Before the NOT affordable ACA we had a BCBS smartsense plan without maternity for $530/mth with a better deductible. Feeling hopeless about the high costs. It is seriously having a negative impact on our quality of life. Same here. I don't know how we're going to do it. After the divorce, I may be able to go on Medicaid (soooo don't want to. Maybe the kids too although DD is 19 and may have to go in our own since she doesn't earn much). I paid out of pocket last year for an MRI and had to shop around for the cheapest place that would accept cash. We used to have full paid insurance through STBXH's job when he worked for his dad. Having to get our own has been a shock.
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Post by leftturnonly on Oct 27, 2016 5:08:52 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. 3 companies to choose from! What a luxury these days.
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luvnlifelady
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,428
Jun 26, 2014 2:34:35 GMT
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Post by luvnlifelady on Oct 27, 2016 5:09:43 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. This is absolutely true. I could name 50 people I know personally off the top of my head who rationalize that the $300 "penalty" they pay is far cheaper than the starting $300 a month they'd have to pay for single coverage. Although I think deliberately going without insurance is incredibly risky (especially in this country) I can't really argue with that thinking the way its currently set up. The penalty is no real incentive penalty at all. What happens if they need care though? Where do they go? Are ER's required to take care of them?
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Post by leftturnonly on Oct 27, 2016 5:13:41 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. I am beyond tired of hearing this excuse. Obama did not get elected promising to keep the rate of skyrocketing health care costs to less than they could be. Hillary isn't running on such promises of decreasing the rate of inflation for health care either.
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luvnlifelady
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,428
Jun 26, 2014 2:34:35 GMT
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Post by luvnlifelady on Oct 27, 2016 5:18:18 GMT
I received my notice yesterday and it is a 30% increase. I have not shopped plans yet. As someone who has been self-employed for the last 18 years and has a pre-existing condition, I see the benefits in the ACA. I've had my own insurance all that time and always paid more than someone who did not have a pre-existing condition. I know this for a fact by comparing my plan to DH's who is 15 years older, had exactly the same plan/deductible/everything and was paying less than I was! This went on for years. I am paying more now though there are things covered that weren't before. There was a $2000 cap on prescriptions before and that is not allowed anymore. I was paying $1200-$1500 per year above that cap at one time. My upcoming screening colonoscopy is being covered 100%. When DH had his first one under the old insurance, we paid for it as it went against the deductible. I think it was about $700 and that was 10 years ago. I don't blame the insurance companies. In fact this idea of increasing competition between insurance companies won't work. There is nothing to keep more insurers from offering coverage in my state. They are not because they can not make money. The problem is the source of health care costs. One huge cost problem are prescription drugs and the free market does not self-regulate. The one medication I take for my condition cost approximately $325 per month about 6 years ago for the only name brand available. The patent should have already expired at that time. Eventually Pfizer irritated the court system enough with all their injunctions and delays that a judge forced them to allow a generic on the market. So what did they do? The generic costs now nearly $400 and they have raised the price of the exact same name brand pill they have sold for over 15 years to nearly $600 per month. These figures are based on my dosage. The pharmaceutical companies can get by with this because who is going to stop them? I don't really buy the excuse that they need these exorbitant prices for research - some yes, all of it, no. But let's say they do? Why not let people in other countries who get these drugs for a fraction of what we pay foot some of the bill? DH is on Medicare and when statements come in, I see the prices hospitals are trying to charge, then what medicare actually pays. The hospital bill is usually 10 times what medicare allows. Doctor bills are 3 to 5 times what Medicare ends up paying. Medicare probably doesn't pay enough to really cover the cost for the hospital but they don't need 10x the amount either. The ACA needs improvement. There is no question about that. The first thing I would do is raise the penalty for not having insurance to what it cost to actually have it. I've always carried insurance no matter what it cost. It is the responsible thing to do and everyone should have at least some level of insurance. Perhaps we need to go back to allowing a larger number of people to just have catastrophic care. While this is unpopular, I also think that the age for children to be off their parents plans needs to drop back to about 24. 26 made sense in 2009 or whenever this was conceived because unemployment was so high for that age group but these numbers have been changing. Younger people need to be buying insurance. This is clearly something the next President must improve. It's not going to be easy but going back to the old system of millions uninsured and those of us who were unlucky enough to inherit something being penalized for it, isn't he answer. I think the age for kids to stay on should remain at 16. Many times it's hard to finsih their education isn that time, let alone find a full-time job that pays half-way decently and that includes benefits. Times are not like what they were. Employers are looking for the lowest cost employees and trying to get them for few if any benfits. My DD is 19. I do not see her ready to support herself even in 5 years (she is currently in school). With rising rents and costs of everything else, I just don't see how young people have room in their budgets to self-pay these kinds of prices and employers are getting more stingy with benfits.
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