I hate health insurance changes

[Callie]

My mom is a public school teacher. Aka, she is under-paid and overworked. What kept her going was the health insurance. Due to the new laws, they had to change their plans.
All our prescriptions have tripled in price. Some have gone up times 12!
A visit to a urgent care clinic is now $40, when it was free after the deductibles.
Regular doctor is $20 co-pay. Same as above, free after deductible.
Our deductible also got MASSIVE!
Not to mention this new plan costs about 21% more than the old one.
She hasn't seen a pay raise in 5 years either.
But this really fits my family hard. I personally have a ton of health issues. Mental Health is going to be a killer, but I can't not seek the treatment.

Sorry had to vent.

 

[mad madam mim78]

My mom is a public school teacher. Aka, she is under-paid and overworked. What kept her going was the health insurance. Due to the new laws, they had to change their plans.
All our prescriptions have tripled in price. Some have gone up times 12!
A visit to a urgent care clinic is now $40, when it was free after the deductibles.
Regular doctor is $20 co-pay. Same as above, free after deductible.
Our deductible also got MASSIVE!
Not to mention this new plan costs about 21% more than the old one.
She hasn't seen a pay raise in 5 years either.
But this really fits my family hard. I personally have a ton of health issues. Mental Health is going to be a killer, but I can't not seek the treatment.

Sorry had to vent.

Sound like you have a pretty average health plan to me.

 

[tvguy]

My hat is off to all the hard working teachers out there. But I think you have to realize that for many of us, the salary and benefits you are complaining of are more generous that what we get.

 

[allison443]

My mom is a public school teacher. Aka, she is under-paid and overworked. What kept her going was the health insurance. Due to the new laws, they had to change their plans.
All our prescriptions have tripled in price. Some have gone up times 12!
A visit to a urgent care clinic is now $40, when it was free after the deductibles.
Regular doctor is $20 co-pay. Same as above, free after deductible.
Our deductible also got MASSIVE!
Not to mention this new plan costs about 21% more than the old one.
She hasn't seen a pay raise in 5 years either.
But this really fits my family hard. I personally have a ton of health issues. Mental Health is going to be a killer, but I can't not seek the treatment.

Sorry had to vent.

What "new laws" made the health plan change? We haven't seen any changes-will the laws affect everyone?

Sorry you are having a tough time.

 

[Nancy]

what new laws forced them to change the plan?

 

[Nancy]

What "new laws" made the health plan change? We haven't seen any changes-will the laws affect everyone?

Sorry you are having a tough time.

we must have been typing at the same time

 

[DisMN]

My various meds (diabetes, high blood pressure, attention deficit disorder and stomach acid reducers) began to take a toll on our budget so might I suggest something I discovered? Use Target, Walmart or another large pharmacy for any of their $4 prescription programs. This has made a HUGE difference in what we pay....of course we have to make sure we're prescribed meds that are available at those prices but so far it hasn't been an issue at all.
The difference between what our insurance covered and how cheap Target pharmacy is made the decision a no brainer.

Good luck.

 

[Hannathy]

Welcome to what the rest of us have been experiencing for the last 5-10 yrs. So no sympathy here.

Your plan is still better than ours and my DH works for a large company. And I'd be willing to bet a months salary that we pay more for it from his pay.

 

[Zooshoveller]

All our healthcare costs have gone up also. And I also am maxed out on "raises". (Just under 7 years until I retire!) We were told by the guy in charge it was because of some of the new health care laws.

But I will not complain. We still have great coverage that cost less than others. Our family just had to adjust where our money went. We cut out movie theaters, now we have family movie night on the couch. We stopped going to the car wash and now have way too much fun with bubbles and waterhoses in our driveway. We ended up bonding more as a family.

 

[LisaR]

Welcome to what the rest of us have been experiencing for the last 5-10 yrs. So no sympathy here.

Your plan is still better than ours and my DH works for a large company. And I'd be willing to bet a months salary that we pay more for it from his pay.

Better than ours, as well. I wish our office calls were $20!

I didn't realize public school teachers have had such great insurance all of these years.

 

[Zooshoveller]

Better than ours, as well. I wish our office calls were $20!

I didn't realize public school teachers have had such great insurance all of these years.

My sister is a teacher. I *think* the insurance is so cheap because of the union(s).

When I started 13 years ago, health insurance with dental for singles was FREE. Copays and meds where also really really cheap. Ahh... the good old days!

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

My girlfriend pays $50 a dr's visit! She has triplets! So if something like strep goes through her house she is out $150! I think she would be more than happy to pay a $20 co pay.

 

[sbell111]

Recognizing that 'the new laws' didn't cause your mm to get a new insurance plan, the rest of the OPs post is not dissimilar than what most of us have been seeing for several years now. Insurance premiums are up. Copays are increasing. Deductibles are huge. It stinks, but it is what it is.

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

I am Canadian. I am lucky to live in a place where my health care is very well done. If I go to the doctors or the hospital all I do is show my Yukon health care card. We don't have any monthly payments unless you have extra insurance to cover prescriptions or something.
But if you need to go to er or have a baby or get your child into the doctor, all that stuff is covered by government health care.
There are a lot of myths about long line wait times, and quality of care, most of which are untrue.

 

[SAHDad]

Recognizing that 'the new laws' didn't cause your mm to get a new insurance plan, the rest of the OPs post is not dissimilar than what most of us have been seeing for several years now. Insurance premiums are up. Copays are increasing. Deductibles are huge. It stinks, but it is what it is.

No, it is possible due to new laws - if OP lives in a state where laws were changed regarding collective bargaining of public sector workers, then yeah, new laws would have meant changes to the health insurance.

The plan looks about average. We have a pretty good plan - no copay on the kids annual wellness (IIRC), $20 or so for other visits. Decent dental - not sure about vision, since I don't need glasses yet. Rx can be be pricey, so I try to get generics when possible.

 

[ferris198]

Well said Phil.
People complain about our system but I take comfort knowing that it is there when I need it

 

[Styx Fan]

Hate to say this...but welcome to the world of health care that most of us live in. And what you describe is still much better than many people have. Take some solace in all the $$ that you mom has saved over the years when the coverage was cheaper.

 

[indimom]

OP, I have to agree with the others. That sounds about average to me. We had copays back in 1995 ($10 for gen practitioner and $20 for a specialist). They've gone up since then and so have deductibles, premiums, etc. There is usually some change every year that increases our medical costs in some way. That said, I'm not complaining, there are plans that are alot worse.

Since teacher's were mentioned, I have to add that teachers' benefits around here suck. (I've got a couple friends who are teachers.) They pay 50% more out of pocket for a family (similar in size to mine) and I was shocked to find out they don't even have a dental plan. Nada, nothing. Sheesh, DH works for a small local factory (about 300 employees, no union) and we have better benefits than they do.

 

[Tinkerdreams]

Just wait until teachers, state and federal workers are told that there will be no health care benefits after retirement. The private sector has already started this a few years ago and within the next few years, I doubt there will be any of those benefits at retirement.

At the company I'm at, you retire with no health care benefits - that will be one factor in EVER retiring at all. People I've spoken to are paying anywhere from $1000 and up per month on premiums after retirement.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

While a lot of people has suffered a lot of increases in insurance, the biggest problem is the combination of prices going up, coverage going down, AND not getting a pay raise in 5 years.