Going to the poor house:2015 Inusrance premiums

[eliza61]

Just because you didn't mention it, did you know that you can invest your HSA funds over a $2k balance? It's like a mini bonus 401k, plus you can contribute up to $4500 (I think, can't recall exact number) tax free into the account.

Quite a few near retirees are doing this. They will then use the money when they are medicare eligible. A number use it to pay medicare gap insurance.

 

[HizMinnie2015]

I have a Cigna PPO and I pay $300 per mth just for me, plus I have $1500 deductible which is separate from a $750 hospital deductible should i have to stay overnight.

$560 is really not that bad.

 

[scrapquitler]

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?

Just realize that your employer is likely contributing more than you are to the cost of your coverage. Now imagine being self employed and not having someone else kicking in half or more of the cost of your coverage...my self employed husband pays a bit over $1400 a month for the cost of our plan (with a higher deductile than you have, our deductible is $2000 per person or up to $6000 for the family).

It's only going to get worse.

 

[Disney Dynamite]

I'm insanely fortunate (and soooo grateful to my employer) when it comes to health insurance. My employer covers my health insurance 100% and even puts $2,500 in an HSA to cover my yearly deductible. My DH's employer pays for his health insurance. (We don't have children yet, but family plans through my DH's work are roughly $150/month.)

 

[littleshamrock]

For the first time in almost 12 years, EVERYBODY in my family now has health care, thanks to ACA. I was a full-time student (just graduated in May), and we own a small business, so it was challenging to obtain or afford insurance before. I also work a couple part-time jobs outside of the business, so no health insurance was "offered" to me from any employer. We work very hard, and are thankful that this is offered to us, and is affordable. Individual insurance before ACA was out of reach! It may not work for everybody, but it does work for some of us. I hope that revisions are made so that every American can benefit from the new healthcare laws. It's tough not being insured, or not being able to use the insurance you DO have because you can't afford the co-pays and/or deductible.

 

[eliza61]

Just realize that your employer is likely contributing more than you are to the cost of your coverage. Now imagine being self employed and not having someone else kicking in half or more of the cost of your coverage...my self employed husband pays a bit over $1400 a month for the cost of our plan (with a higher deductile than you have, our deductible is $2000 per person or up to $6000 for the family).

It's only going to get worse.

The self insured have always, always had this same issues. This is not new.
Which is why most small businesses did not offer health insurance. It was always insanely expensive if you didn't have some one kicking in.

It's also the main reason why most civil employees and unions will take pay cuts and forgo raises as opposed to taking cuts to their health insurance.

I agree, it will only get worse because the root of the problem has not been addressed.
Health care cost are rising for some reason at insane rates.

 

[bear_mom]

Alot of companies are moving to high deductibles and next year we are doing spousal carve-out so if your spouse has coverage with their employer they cannot be covered. We also added more tiers if employees have more than 3 children they will pay more. There are so many fees and penalties now with the ACA that changes have to made to make up that money.

My Dh's company has been like this for the 17 years he has worked there. I've always (when working) had to carry insurance through my employer. Plus they really pushed the high deductible plan a few years before the ACA.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

DH & I each have our own individual plans through our employer (works out cheapest that way). My plan went down $2 a month. I have a HDHP. I am currently paying $37.46 a month. I have a $1500 deductible. However, my employer puts $800 into my HSA at the first of the year so I just have $700 OOP.

DH's insurance went up $20 a month and he now pays $75 a month for his plan with $500 deductible.

DH was just complaining when I redid his insurance rates, he's upset we pay $100 a month for all his insurances. That covers; his medical, vision for us 2, dental for us 2, 3x his annual salary for life insurance and 2x his annual salary for life insurance on me. I told him he really has it made.

 

[auger]

Self-employed and we pay $400/month premium for crap insurance for two of us with a $5000/$10,000 deductible. Had to go with a crazy high deductible just to get a premium we could have a prayer of paying each month.

 

[auger]

DH & I each have our own individual plans through our employer (works out cheapest that way). My plan went down $2 a month. I have a HDHP. I am currently paying $37.46 a month. I have a $1500 deductible. However, my employer puts $800 into my HSA at the first of the year so I just have $700 OOP.

DH's insurance went up $20 a month and he now pays $75 a month for his plan with $500 deductible.

DH was just complaining when I redid his insurance rates, he's upset we pay $100 a month for all his insurances. That covers; his medical, vision for us 2, dental for us 2, 3x his annual salary for life insurance and 2x his annual salary for life insurance on me. I told him he really has it made.

I think your DH needs to read this thread and realize how blessed he is!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

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?

$560 a month?! That's more than my husband and I pay for our yearly premium (retired military)!

 

[elgerber]

$560 per month for a family PPO plan isn't bad....i'm not sure what you are complaining about. If it were a high deductible plan, I would agree it is expensive. But for a PPO that probably costs about $25k per year, $560 per month (pretax) is pretty cheap.

Agreed. I have been paying way more than that per month for years, for a High deductible plan, with a $8000 deductible, and $14k out of pocket max. And yes, that was through an employer. I finally got something much better on my own, last year. But still with a higher premium than $560.

 

[danygirl]

FYI "wellness" can mandate a lot more than stop smoking and loose weight. And it gets tricky to get the paperwork in to meet the requirements

For example DH gets a mandated flu shot free at work each year. Since it doesn't go thru ins they now say he did not meet what was mandated for wellness. Lots of headaches to get that reversed. So many other similar things. The wellness case mgr likes to call during the work day. DH can not use his cell at work - so they mark him as uncooperative because he sunlit available to speak when it is convenient for them. More headaches to get it on file that he can only communicate outside work hours. It goes on and in

 

[Buzzsgramma]

DD (48) works for a private college...ins for just her from BCBS....her premium each month has DOUBLED!!
to about $140 i believe she said...

 

[Trixie Belden]

Our premiums have stayed the same (about $800 a month for family coverage) but our deductibles have gone up and copays went up $5 a month. My husband works for a smallish company though, so our premiums and benefits haven't ever been the greatest. I am, however (realizing I'm in the minority here) happy for the ACA changes because some of the benefits we utilized the most are now covered when they weren't before and we paid quite a bit out of pocket. My husband's company pays 75% of his premium share and 50% of the premiums for the rest of us, which is why our monthly premiums are so high. We have a BCBS PPO plan.

danygirl, I haven't heard anything about nurse case management being part of the ACA. My husband's company actually is involved in health care billing and reimbursements (in a software/IT capacity) so he got to know the ACA inside and out while working on his company's software designs. I'll have to ask him about it. We don't have that type of condition with our health insurance.

 

[aprilchem]

We just got our rates; they went up by 3% after two years of no increases. But I'm moving our family to a high-deductible plan at $100 cheaper per month; since the ACA our out of pocket expenses have gone down to $0 (we pretty much do well-child and well-adult visits).

So I'll pay ~$320 a month for a family of 5.

 

[photos_101]

We just got our rates; they went up by 3% after two years of no increases. But I'm moving our family to a high-deductible plan at $100 cheaper per month; since the ACA our out of pocket expenses have gone down to $0 (we pretty much do well-child and well-adult visits).

So I'll pay ~$320 a month for a family of 5.

This is what we are looking at doing too. Moving from PPO to HD plan.
Right now we pay $143 ever 2 weeks for a PPO plan (family of 4). The new HD plan will be $95 ever 2 weeks with $20 being reimbursed back to us each paycheck since my DH received a yearly physical (an incentive program just started in 2015).

So we will be saving apx $50 per payday on Ins PLUS $20 incentive. My plan is to go with this HD plan which puts $400 in a HSA, I will then contribute an extra $50 per paycheck into the HSA. That right there equals what we are paying now. The extra incentive will then go into our personal savings acct to help boost that as well.
It has taken me awhile to get used to this new HD type of insurance. It was offered last year and I was just not willing to take the risk. I think I have finally resigned myself to the fact that before long this will be the ONLY ins. offered.
So far this year we have only used our health ins for preventative care (which is payed at 100% regardless..knock on wood).

However we DID have to pay $4000 oop last month for my son a new implant/crown which was NOT covered by our Dental. This could have possibly fallen under guidelines for use of our HSA had we had that plan, not sure though. lol

Anyways, we will go with this new plan and hope for the best! Savings is not where we want it to be so it is very scary for me. Hoping to take care of that issue soon, that $4000 was a bit of a hit.

Good luck to everyone in the new year!!

 

[kamik86]

Alot of companies are moving to high deductibles and next year we are doing spousal carve-out so if your spouse has coverage with their employer they cannot be covered. We also added more tiers if employees have more than 3 children they will pay more. There are so many fees and penalties now with the ACA that changes have to made to make up that money.

How does that work if the spouse has a very different open enrollment period? My husband is on my insurance. Work now charges me over 1000 a year because he could be on another insurance. However I can't move him to his own insurance becasue my open enrollment is in Nov, his is in March. So either we keep him in mine in a few days and then in March he picks up his and we are paying double until next march or we get tax penalties and he has no insurance from Nov. to March. So last year we just got stuck with the dumb fee. However if they said he couldn't be covered at all, yet he isn't in open enrollment at his job and with no qualifying event... It makes no sense at all.

 

[kymom99]

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.

When I started working 26 years ago, we had HMOs and I paid at the most $10 for doctor visits and prescriptions. For a single, my premium was 0. Times sure have changed.

 

[kymom99]

How does that work if the spouse has a very different open enrollment period? My husband is on my insurance. Work now charges me over 1000 a year because he could be on another insurance. However I can't move him to his own insurance becasue my open enrollment is in Nov, his is in March. So either we keep him in mine in a few days and then in March he picks up his and we are paying double until next march or we get tax penalties and he has no insurance from Nov. to March. So last year we just got stuck with the dumb fee. However if they said he couldn't be covered at all, yet he isn't in open enrollment at his job and with no qualifying event... It makes no sense at all.

If they dropped his coverage, it would be a qualifying event.