Going to the poor house:2015 Inusrance premiums

[luvavacation]

My family of four's insurance is going from $179 per week to $300 per week, with a higher deductible. Supposedly my husband's employer's contribution is $10,000 per year, on top of what our weekly contribution is.

Under ACA, at least our yearly visits are covered. Unfortunately, the way my doctor codes things, my blood tests that I have to do ever 4 months are considered "diagnostic", not covered, and I am never given my results over the phone, only when I go in and pay for an office visit. I hate this, hate this policy, but that is how the doctor office here runs things and as much as I would like a new doctor, it is who I have that takes out insurance.

I looked at the ACA plans, and they will cost us less. Unfortunately, DH's company won't release us because of the contract with the insurance company for the set number of employees (shortening this up because it is long and irritating). So, we can leave the insurance, but we will still be charged our weekly fee if DH works there.

I don't blame ACA, Obamacare, whatever you want to call it. There have been many good changes under this plan, but then I am also from a country where Socialized medicine is the norm, so I see that as a good thing.

What I do blame are the money grubbing insurance companies that want larger and larger profits because, ohmygosh, they now have to pay for well-care and can't deny anyone and, yes, my DH's company, that just bought all new pick-ups for the three brothers that are the bosses (family owned small business), the golf outings the three bosses go on, the "scouting" trips they take to nice destinations in winter, and so on and so on. DH has been with this company since the beginning 28 years ago, when it was started by the father of the three brothers, so we have seen many changes.

Those three bosses and the greedy insurance companies are the reason our family's insurance is doubling. But, we have been told that next year, the company will drop insurance so we can all sign up for ACA, and it will be cheaper for the company to pay a penalty for not offering insurance than it will be to offer it. I don't think that was what ACA was designed for, but when you aren't your own boss, you don't have much choice.

 

[Eastern]

I am in a high deductible plan for my son and me. We rarely go to the doctor for illness but now my son is on a prescription for acne medication. We do not have any prescription coverage until we meet our deductible and we never even come close. The plan we are on is the one that is recommended for us based on our past medical history. Well, in a year, my son's medication has tripled. I voiced my concern with the dermatologist and she said there was an article recently that some medications that have increased 6000%! And that is not a typo. Oh, and our medication is generic, so there is no other choice. I signed up for a FSA so I will have money taken out each paycheck pretax to help cover these expenses. I have never had to do thsi before.

I don't have a prescription plan. I was paying ~$120 per month for a generic drug. I got a price from this website, and now I pay $16.

http://www.goodrx.com/?gclid=CIb2sbXCz8ECFUsV7AodP1EAqw

http://www.goodrx.com/blog/is-goodrx-legit/

I still am not sure why I qualify, but I keep getting that cheap price at Target. They will give you a list of places and the price on a coupon that you can print out. I brought the coupon in once and they always give me the price now. I sound like an infomercial.

btw I called other pharmacies and the prices vary widely. It's crazy out there. Even on the goodrx site, CVS comes up at $75 for my drug and Target is $16. Same amounts and all. Who knows.

ps make sure you put in the correct dose and choose one of the amounts listed to get your price.

 

[Irin997]

My healthcare is pretty affordable. $450 a month for the family plan PPO. It went up $5 whole dollars this year. No deductible unless you go out of network then it $1000 per person/$2500 per family. Some co-pays but under $20 for most doctors. Oh and $5/$10/$25 for prescriptions.

Oh since your asked, they are getting several thousand more of my dollars since instead of 1 trip every other year, I will be taking 3 trips in 12 months.

Ours is very similar but I'm lucky to be a state gov't employee. I pay $250 a month in premiums, no deductibles, $15/$30 copay, no co-insurance, and $10/$25/$50 copay for prescriptions.

Now if we had to go on my husband's we'd have to choose from a PPO or HSA (we'd go with HSA) and pay $550 a month in premiums, $3,000 deductible, 10%-20% co-insurance, some copays, and I think $10/$25/$50 prescriptions. Good thing we are sticking on mine for a while longer.

 

[kymom99]

I don't have a prescription plan. I was paying ~$120 per month for a generic drug. I got a price from this website, and now I pay $16.

http://www.goodrx.com/?gclid=CIb2sbXCz8ECFUsV7AodP1EAqw

http://www.goodrx.com/blog/is-goodrx-legit/

I still am not sure why I qualify, but I keep getting that cheap price at Target. They will give you a list of places and the price on a coupon that you can print out. I brought the coupon in once and they always give me the price now. I sound like an infomercial.

btw I called other pharmacies and the prices vary widely. It's crazy out there. Even on the goodrx site, CVS comes up at $75 for my drug and Target is $16. Same amounts and all. Who knows.

ps make sure you put in the correct dose and choose one of the amounts listed to get your price.

Thanks, I saw this site and wasn't sure if it was for real. $200 for a tube of acne cream is insane. I'll have to look at it again.

 

[kydisneyfans]

My family of four's insurance is going from $179 per week to $300 per week, with a higher deductible. Supposedly my husband's employer's contribution is $10,000 per year, on top of what our weekly contribution is.

Under ACA, at least our yearly visits are covered. Unfortunately, the way my doctor codes things, my blood tests that I have to do ever 4 months are considered "diagnostic", not covered, and I am never given my results over the phone, only when I go in and pay for an office visit. I hate this, hate this policy, but that is how the doctor office here runs things and as much as I would like a new doctor, it is who I have that takes out insurance.

I looked at the ACA plans, and they will cost us less. Unfortunately, DH's company won't release us because of the contract with the insurance company for the set number of employees (shortening this up because it is long and irritating). So, we can leave the insurance, but we will still be charged our weekly fee if DH works there.

I don't blame ACA, Obamacare, whatever you want to call it. There have been many good changes under this plan, but then I am also from a country where Socialized medicine is the norm, so I see that as a good thing.

What I do blame are the money grubbing insurance companies that want larger and larger profits because, ohmygosh, they now have to pay for well-care and can't deny anyone and, yes, my DH's company, that just bought all new pick-ups for the three brothers that are the bosses (family owned small business), the golf outings the three bosses go on, the "scouting" trips they take to nice destinations in winter, and so on and so on. DH has been with this company since the beginning 28 years ago, when it was started by the father of the three brothers, so we have seen many changes.

Those three bosses and the greedy insurance companies are the reason our family's insurance is doubling. But, we have been told that next year, the company will drop insurance so we can all sign up for ACA, and it will be cheaper for the company to pay a penalty for not offering insurance than it will be to offer it. I don't think that was what ACA was designed for, but when you aren't your own boss, you don't have much choice.

Insurance company profits are capped now, greedy insurance companies are not the reason.

 

[pryncess527]

My rates remain unchanged from last year. I'm quite happy with my insurance. i have a high deductible plan, but because preventative care is covered at no-cost, my medical costs this year have been substantially lower than at any time in the past.

 

[FireflyTrance]

Our premiums went up so much last year (around 33%) that we had to switch to a crappier plan. Unfortunately DD1 was in the hospital so we have had to pay thousands of out of pocket expenses for that, we are still getting bills 6 months later. ACA seems about the same as our employer's insurance. The one good thing I can say is that wellness checks are covered.

 

[aprilgail2]

Starting next month for the first time ever I will be paying into medical. We just settled a new contract and that was part of it. I will be paying 20.00 a week but my insurance is good- I have a 20.00 co-payment, no deductible. prescriptions cost anywhere from 3.00-25.00 (its only 25 if its name brand and generic is available but you choose to get name brand). I will only be paying in for 6 months though because I am retiring in May and once you retire you get full medical coverage but don't have to pay anything into it.

 

[missbrooke06]

Starting next month for the first time ever I will be paying into medical. We just settled a new contract and that was part of it. I will be paying 20.00 a week but my insurance is good- I have a 20.00 co-payment, no deductible. prescriptions cost anywhere from 3.00-25.00 (its only 25 if its name brand and generic is available but you choose to get name brand). I will only be paying in for 6 months though because I am retiring in May and once you retire you get full medical coverage but don't have to pay anything into it.

Yeah, we hate you.

 

[aprilgail2]

Yeah, we hate you.

From the time I was looking for my first job my father drilled into my head - benefits and a pension- so that was a big part of what I looked for in a company. In February I will have 30 years at mine.

 

[Tinkerdreams]

Starting next month for the first time ever I will be paying into medical. We just settled a new contract and that was part of it. I will be paying 20.00 a week but my insurance is good- I have a 20.00 co-payment, no deductible. prescriptions cost anywhere from 3.00-25.00 (its only 25 if its name brand and generic is available but you choose to get name brand). I will only be paying in for 6 months though because I am retiring in May and once you retire you get full medical coverage but don't have to pay anything into it.

Aprilgail2, just curious, the contract you speak about, was it union? Our union contract is coming up for renewal next month and am nervous about the outcome. It sounds as if yours was no big deal. I wonder though if it's still considered "cadallac" coverage? I know that as of 2018 the government is going to begin charging insurance companies huge fees for cadallac coverage.

My uncle used to work for GM (union) and retired many years ago and even though he had fantastic health benefits then, their coverage has degraded tremendously since and his wife now has to have her own coverage.

I truly believe that the current trend will lead to universal health care.

 

[Eastern]

From the time I was looking for my first job my father drilled into my head - benefits and a pension- so that was a big part of what I looked for in a company. In February I will have 30 years at mine.

Different world today. What worked for you probably won't be available to today's workers.

 

[Eastern]

My rates remain unchanged from last year. I'm quite happy with my insurance. i have a high deductible plan, but because preventative care is covered at no-cost, my medical costs this year have been substantially lower than at any time in the past.

You must be young. Easy to love a plan like that when you're 20-49. Once you turn 50 it's a different matter. Things start to go wrong

 

[nunzia]

We have no company plans so pay 100% out of pocket. Have received the 'your insurance is cancelled as of December 31' letter and cannot even check to see how horrendous the rates will be until open enrollment November 15, but am pretty concerned. Our current plan was $450 a month for 2 people, with $5,200 deductible. I continue to be disgusted. As of now, insurance and taxes eat up a huge percentage of our income and are our biggest bills. This will only continue to get worse.

 

[disney1990]

So our 2015 benefit guide just came out. I have BCBS PPO. I know working PT and needing a family plan is expensive. I am paying $560/month!!!! I am sure to many this is cheap,but health care reform is here to stay. My family deductible is $3,0000. 80/20 max $9,000. Hopefully we will not need to use it this next year. How about everyone else?

Do you have an HMO or PPO option available? You will have less out of pocket expenses if you.

 

[Marionnette]

We have no company plans so pay 100% out of pocket. Have received the 'your insurance is cancelled as of December 31' letter and cannot even check to see how horrendous the rates will be until open enrollment November 15, but am pretty concerned. Our current plan was $450 a month for 2 people, with $5,200 deductible. I continue to be disgusted. As of now, insurance and taxes eat up a huge percentage of our income and are our biggest bills. This will only continue to get worse.

Losing your coverage is considered an "event" that allows you to seek coverage 30 days prior to being terminated. That means that you can begin pricing coverage on Nov. 1 instead of waiting for the open enrollment period. We have also received the "thanks for playing Aetna Roulette, now get out before you start costing us money" letter. I've already checked rates on the BC/BS website by entering an earlier termination date online just so that I can see what we're facing.

 

[LONES]

We just got our information at work for open enrollment. We no longer have any option at all for an HMO or PPO. We can only choose high deductible plans. The closest plan to compare is a plan where the deductible is $1500 more ($7000 instead of $5500). For that, the premiums went up 15% for family coverage. The big kicker is that for the first time ever, they have a "spousal surcharge". If I put my husband on our family coverage, there will be a $100.00 per month "surcharge" since he could get insurance through his own employer. If he was a stay at home dad... I could still cover him on the family plan without the surcharge. So with the new surcharge... If we keep our same family coverage (but with a higher deductilble)... our premiums will effectively go up 75%.

I'm still trying to figure out what makes that more "affordable"!

 

[aprilgail2]

Aprilgail2, just curious, the contract you speak about, was it union? Our union contract is coming up for renewal next month and am nervous about the outcome. It sounds as if yours was no big deal. I wonder though if it's still considered "cadallac" coverage? I know that as of 2018 the government is going to begin charging insurance companies huge fees for cadallac coverage. My uncle used to work for GM (union) and retired many years ago and even though he had fantastic health benefits then, their coverage has degraded tremendously since and his wife now has to have her own coverage. I truly believe that the current trend will lead to universal health care.

Yes it is a union contract-we have actually been without one close to 4 years so they owe us a ton of retroactive pay. I thought we were going to get killed on the paying into medical but it's not to bad. The new employees starting now will have to pay twice that amount but the still have the same benefits and nice pension plan. What coverage I retire with is what I will keep-if the negotiate better coverage next contract I still keep the other.

 

[Dakota731]

Lots of winners and losers with ACA

Sad thing is that the winners are riding on the backs of the losers because of the subsidies, the only way you can pay less is if someone else is paying more (but that was the idea wasn't it?). Our deductible went up to $10,000 for our family this year which was a 100% increase.

 

[Gracie09]

We just got our information at work for open enrollment. We no longer have any option at all for an HMO or PPO. We can only choose high deductible plans. The closest plan to compare is a plan where the deductible is $1500 more ($7000 instead of $5500). For that, the premiums went up 15% for family coverage. The big kicker is that for the first time ever, they have a "spousal surcharge". If I put my husband on our family coverage, there will be a $100.00 per month "surcharge" since he could get insurance through his own employer. If he was a stay at home dad... I could still cover him on the family plan without the surcharge. So with the new surcharge... If we keep our same family coverage (but with a higher deductilble)... our premiums will effectively go up 75%.

I'm still trying to figure out what makes that more "affordable"!

Complain to your HR department about the surcharge. They are the ones charging it not the insurance company or govt. They pocket the money.