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Post by lbp on Sept 3, 2014 16:44:15 GMT
Looks like I will be looking for a 2nd job! My policy covers my son and I and went from $476.00 to $953.34 per month!! My husband is on a separate policy and his went from $232.00 per month to $476.02 per month. That is $17,000.00 per year for medical insurance for 3 people. Un- fing -believable! I have no idea how I am going to break this information to the rest of the employees. Some of theirs went up over $500.00 per month! They can't afford it! I can see the company dropping health insurance for employees now. There are less than 50 employees, so they can. The total percentage change for the group was a 69% increase!
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Post by tiffanyannhulsey on Sept 3, 2014 16:47:56 GMT
There are no words...that is just unbelievable. How will anyone adjust to that?
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Post by Fidget on Sept 3, 2014 16:57:35 GMT
Can you look around for a new carrier?
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Post by lucyg on Sept 3, 2014 16:58:11 GMT
Did the company look at other options before renewing with the same insurance provider?
I don't know how things work with employer-provided insurance, but I know lots of individual people got a wide range of price quotes from insurance companies on the open market. They had to shop around to find the best price and provisions.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 1, 2024 11:28:34 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2014 17:06:08 GMT
What a bummer. Even if the employees can shop on the open market, what a hassle. Plus doesn't that shift the cost to them instead of the employer covering it? OP, I'm sorry you have to get a 2nd job and I feel so bad for your fellow employees. That shouldn't be the situation  |
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Post by shevy on Sept 3, 2014 17:06:21 GMT
I work for a local county and for once, our rates didn't jump. My increase for family plan with high deductible only increased by $17. The previous 2 years in increased by 20$ and 30%.
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Post by lbp on Sept 3, 2014 17:22:26 GMT
The company is definitely looking into other plans. Unfortunately, they suck. The plan we have always had every employee was charged the same amount per month, regardless of their age. The plan was base on an overall age and experience. Now, we can no longer do that per the ACA rules. The plans are all age based. We have an aging group of employees.
Plan A- The deductible doubles what we currently have. The cost per office visit goes up $10.00 and prescriptions go up $10.00. This plan is about a 48% increase. I am leaning toward going with this one if we stay with the same provider, I need to get all the costs from our insurer to make sure I'm not missing anything. We have more employees who just have regular Dr. visits, than employees who go to the hospital.
Plan B - The deductible is only 22% higher. The deductible is raised 2/12 time what we currently have, however all Dr. visits and prescriptions go toward the deductible. This plan is not an option. There are too many employees who will not be able to afford their meds.
Plan C- HMO- Not all Dr's participate, no coverage if you are out of the state. This one actually has a lower premium.
So much to think about! I am also getting quotes from other carriers as well but in the past our current provider has always come in less expensive. |
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Post by gailoh on Sept 3, 2014 18:19:17 GMT
This is so scary and so wrong on many levels...
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Deleted
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Jun 1, 2024 11:28:34 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2014 18:19:54 GMT
We are in the process of doing this too and it makes my stomach turn because of the increase. The insurance company we have is actualy pulling out of California so we have to look for a new one all together. I have already been warned any plan we get will be at least a 25% increase. Yuck!
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Post by cmpeter on Sept 3, 2014 18:25:49 GMT
Yikes!
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Post by kristalina on Sept 3, 2014 18:26:31 GMT
ugh, I'm so sorry! We haven't received our new rates yet but I'm sure they'll be pretty shocking too.
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calgal08
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,519
Jun 27, 2014 15:43:46 GMT
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Post by calgal08 on Sept 3, 2014 18:36:31 GMT
We are in the process of doing this too and it makes my stomach turn because of the increase. The insurance company we have is actualy pulling out of California so we have to look for a new one all together. I have already been warned any plan we get will be at least a 25% increase. Yuck! I'm guessing you have SeeChange. The cost of comparable insurance is through the roof - at least a 20% increase, oh plus a higher deductible. Scary. The whole health insurance thing is a nightmare. |
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Post by straggler on Sept 3, 2014 18:38:26 GMT
Anyone seen "Affordable" lately? Haven't seen her in this neck of the woods? |
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Post by lbp on Sept 3, 2014 19:06:48 GMT
"Affordable" has left the building! I just spoke with the head of HR in a company that we deal with and he is facing this same situation. His premium went up 54%. His broker has told him that they will be sending many of their employees into the exchange because there is no way our employees are going to be able to afford it. We have one employee who is 60. Currently her weekly insurance deduction is $42.00. With the new rates, her weekly deduction will be $110.00. There is no way she can afford that. If I had to guess, I would bet that over half of the employees on our policy will end up dropping their insurance and just paying the fine.
This is just crazy! |
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back to *pea*ality
Pearl Clutcher
Not my circus, not my monkeys ~refugee pea #59
Posts: 3,149
Jun 25, 2014 19:51:11 GMT
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Post by back to *pea*ality on Sept 3, 2014 19:14:33 GMT
Our premium increase 30% this year now that we have the Obamacare compliant policy. We have a high deductible plan and we've exhausted the deductible and things we expected to be covered (as they were last year) are not and everyone in the company is complaining.
DH works for a small company (under 50 employees) and it they shopped the policy but we are getting hammered because we are a small aging group.
From what I've read due to the executive orders Obama has put into effect granting delays to his special interest groups that it was cause yet another increase in premiums next year too. So, as I have posted before the rich will have insurance and the poor will have it and the middle class will lose yet again.
I hope everyone remembers this when they enter the voting booth.
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Post by my2apps2 on Sept 3, 2014 19:14:57 GMT
That is just awful.  Nothing "affordable" about it at all, is there? We are very blessed that my husband's company provides full medical for our family, I think our total out of pocket cost per month for medical, vision and dental is around $120.00. My hubby really wants to get a day job (he has worked graveyard for 11 years) but the thought of losing this benefit keeps him right where he is. I am so sorry so many are having to deal with this, it has to be just awful to try to wrap your brain around the whole thing. Best wishes to you. |
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Post by chances on Sept 3, 2014 19:17:02 GMT
I'm so sorry about the increases! That sounds like a horrible situation. I really hope that insurance coverage is separated from employment sometime during my lifetime.
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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 Sept 3, 2014 19:23:36 GMT
We got to keep our plan for one more year (this year 2014). Next year our monthly premium will be more than our house payment. Also I am sure it will go up even more since the hubs and I are both turning 50. We NEED to have insurance, two of our three kids have a genetic liver disease.
We are currently paying a little more than $1,000.00 and it is slated to go up to about $1,700.00 with less coverage and higher deductibles.
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Post by cynipidae17 on Sept 3, 2014 19:29:05 GMT
Oh my this is completely insane. I can not imagine the choices that will have to be made. I guess I will just thank my lucky stars that our insurance is covered by our employer.
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Deleted
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Jun 1, 2024 11:28:34 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2014 19:35:57 GMT
I've been told by my broker that any plans for small groups under 50 would cost the same for comparable plans regardless of the insurance company because they are all rating on the same things (age and claims rating for your whole area). So your only choice is things like deductible/copays/etc. It is crazy. We wont' hear our rates until end of October or so. I am not ready for it. But suspect it will be in the 30-40% range because I do think more has to be covered under minimum essential benefits in 2015. I am hoping we can stay grandfathered which has helped us some of the premium cost. But that means we can have very few changes and have to eat any increase since our employees pay very little (less than 10%) of their premiums.
I hate being the one who has to analyze and in the end give the recommendation to the board. A lot of employees think this is just one way for employers to screw them by passing on the increased premiums, but honestly what employer can afford to add $5k to the cost of each employee? Not mine!
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Post by kimpossible on Sept 3, 2014 19:39:47 GMT
There is a whole formula for what the employer is required to pay for percentage wise - but it still does not make it very affordable.
We too are in the midst of getting quotes. 3 insurers want all of our employees to fill out health history questionnaires before even quoting. Ummm...no thanks. We have 2 other insurance companies willing to quote without the health history requirement.
They are making that requirement as another way to boost premiums - justify the higher premiums.
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Post by lbp on Sept 3, 2014 19:47:28 GMT
I've been told by my broker that any plans for small groups under 50 would cost the same for comparable plans regardless of the insurance company because they are all rating on the same things (age and claims rating for your whole area). So your only choice is things like deductible/copays/etc. It is crazy. We wont' hear our rates until end of October or so. I am not ready for it. But suspect it will be in the 30-40% range because I do think more has to be covered under minimum essential benefits in 2015. I am hoping we can stay grandfathered which has helped us some of the premium cost. But that means we can have very few changes and have to eat any increase since our employees pay very little (less than 10%) of their premiums. I hate being the one who has to analyze and in the end give the recommendation to the board. A lot of employees think this is just one way for employers to screw them by passing on the increased premiums, but honestly what employer can afford to add $5k to the cost of each employee? Not mine! This is our problem!!! Our employee group is aging. We have very little turnover and these employees have been here a long time. Our company pays half the premium, but in the case of the employee that I state above, $110.00 per week is half the premium! There is no way we will have the employees pay a larger percent of their premium. They can't afford the increase and the company can't afford the increase. This is a no win situation. We are going to have to go with a higher deductible. I want the employees to he able to go to the Dr. and get their prescriptions. That is my main concern. We have only had 1 employee meet their deductible this year. Analyzing this crap is going to drive me insane. But I need to be armed with all the information I can get before I can present it to our employees. I am not going to be their favorite person, you know, shoot the messenger syndrome! |
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Deleted
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Jun 1, 2024 11:28:34 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2014 19:51:10 GMT
We've been paying an additional $600 per month for premiums since January. In addition, all of our costs to date have been out of pocket because we've not yet met the deductible.
We are getting eaten alive by medical costs. |
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back to *pea*ality
Pearl Clutcher
Not my circus, not my monkeys ~refugee pea #59
Posts: 3,149
Jun 25, 2014 19:51:11 GMT
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Post by back to *pea*ality on Sept 3, 2014 19:58:35 GMT
Just an observation. Many of the refugeepeas that post on the political threads as conservatives are getting the screws with premium increases while liberal refugeepeas are not seeing their premiums go up. So, what's up with that?
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Post by Zee on Sept 3, 2014 20:07:39 GMT
Not sure. Ours did go up, but not to these levels. I think the total increase was $70 a month for our family plan.
Insurance companies make money...LOTS of it. Their cries of Obama-induced poverty make me angry. If more companies would start up and get competitive, as with the auto insurance industry, we'd not feel forced to choose between substandard care and paying an arm and a leg. The whole medical industry on this country is money-driven bullshit...I say that as a nurse. The prices for medical care, medicines, and insurance are all insane. Yet like everyone else,I don't want to work for free.
I have no words of wisdom or thoughts on how to fix it, but it's broke fur sure. No one side is innocent in this mess.
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Post by anxiousmom on Sept 3, 2014 20:19:33 GMT
I am unemployed and am paying for my own policy-and it is just me, the kids are on their dad's insurance. I just received my new rate and it went up $100 from the previous amount. I am now paying over $500 for an insurance policy for a single person. I almost cried-I simply can not pay that amount anymore.
I have tried the exchange, but I fall in between some cracks and any policy I qualify for are almost the same monthly premium with higher deductibles and significantly higher co-pays. So...what is the solution?? I haven't the foggiest notion. All I know is that I can not afford to pay this amount anymore.
You try to do the right thing and have health insurance like I was taught to do, but it feels like I am being punished.
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Post by anxiousmom on Sept 3, 2014 20:20:40 GMT
Just an observation. Many of the refugeepeas that post on the political threads as conservatives are getting the screws with premium increases while liberal refugeepeas are not seeing their premiums go up. So, what's up with that? I would probably be considered liberal and my insurance rates are screaming up the cost ladder. |
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iowgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,144 
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Post by iowgirl on Sept 3, 2014 20:22:05 GMT
LOL - I am firmly in the middle and mine goes up every year.
We finally switched providers when ours was reaching $16K a year. Now we are back down to about 12K a year. 5K deductable. NOTHING is covered until that point. No prescriptions or anything. We haven't met our deductible since I was having babies (and it was a lot lower then).
It's just freakin' crazy.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 1, 2024 11:28:34 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2014 18:04:12 GMT
Yup! That's what we have. I'm glad they are leaving CA cause their coverage is horrible. It's so bad that we (our company) is actually reimbursing our employees for any out of pocket costs. I'm not looking forward to see what my broker brings us next week for a "comparable" plan. |
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loco coco
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,662
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Post by loco coco on Sept 4, 2014 18:19:05 GMT
wow, that is crazy and very concerning Im sorry you have to be the messenger of that VERY bad news. My employer has under 50 employees so he has never offered insurance. My husband works for a large company and in general it has been good and reasonable, Im close to his HR lady and she said that could be changing soon. What do they expect people to do?? People cannot afford that! It makes me angry and sad |
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Nothing "affordable" about it at all, is there? We are very blessed that my husband's company provides full medical for our family, I think our total out of pocket cost per month for medical, vision and dental is around $120.00. My hubby really wants to get a day job (he has worked graveyard for 11 years) but the thought of losing this benefit keeps him right where he is. 
