How much is YOUR Ins. going up in January?

[newtodcl]

HHS spent $1.5M in fiscal 2012 on TV studio used to promote ObamaCare

By Elizabeth Harrington
Published October 15, 2013
Washington Free Beacon
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is promoting Obamacare through its $1.5 million television studio, which is currently being upgraded for a more “cinematic look.”

The agency has five broadcast studios, known as “HHS-TV,” that are tasked with communicating with the public in times of emergency, such as a pandemic. HHS-TV is also used for public service announcements and press conferences.

However, the studio’s operations in recent months have been almost exclusively devoted to promoting Obamacare.

HHS-TV released a video of Secretary Kathleen Sebelius hyping the opening of the health insurance exchanges as “exciting news” on the first day of enrollment on Oct. 1.

“If you’re uninsured, if you thought that good health insurance would never be within your reach, help is on the way,” she said. The studio also provided b-roll for media outlets of the Obamacare Marketplace on its first day.

 

[AquaDame]

Ours will be costing us exactly the same as before.

Edited to add, yes it is through our employers.

 

[wendow]

Quoting myself here because I was "offered" another option...insurance through DH's employer jumps from about $600 to just over $1000 now. That's impossible! That's practically 50% of our income right now!

This is all just pretty crazy. We'll figure something out (pretty sure we're going with Samaritan), but like I said, the frustrating thing for us is that we've paid for our own insurance for our 10 years of marriage/4 kiddos and only rarely used it. The insurance companies were definitely proffiting off of us. So it's just hard to be forced to pay MORE for something we don't really use much of anyway. But I guess that works out daintily for the other end.

I'm just trying my darndest to find aspects of this whole fiasco to be thankful for. Thankful DH will be FINALLY be making more a little money- even if it IS all going to health insurance costs now- because now that this is all "required", at least we can hopefully work it into the budget now. Thankful that my family and myself are fairly healthy and HAVEN'T needed to deal with insurance much. Thankful that, even though they aren't great, we DO at least have options to chose from. Thankful that I'm not alone in dealing with this. (not that I am HAPPY others are!)

We are in the same boat. Pay $800 a month for bad insurance so we still pay out the nose *if* we ever even have to go to the doctor or get a med. We rarely, rarely see a doc. And we don't know next year's premiums yet but pretty sure it's gonna go up. It frustrates me big time. We are considering Samaritan's also. We have for years but I just wanted to hang in there with traditional medical insurance. I think I'm done though.

Like someone else mentioned, I think all this is actually just going to increase the number of uninsured. Way to go, Obama

 

[newtodcl]

Ours will be costing us exactly the same as before.

Edited to add, yes it is through our employers.

Just make sure you check your total deductible and percentages OOP...ours appears to be a few dollars lower, but has a much higher deductible and the OOP percentage went up 5%.

 

[disneyfab]

Ours will be costing us exactly the same as before.

Edited to add, yes it is through our employers.

Us too

 

[bdcp]

Ours will be costing us exactly the same as before.

Edited to add, yes it is through our employers.

That means your employer is absorbing the increase, for now. My DH's company pays for 100% of our insurance coverage but their costs went up 9% for next year and they expect it to keep climbing. The worst part is because it's considered a "cadillac" plan, the company also has to pay a higher tax. Nice, huh? We get great insurance because the employer wants to provide it, but then is penalized for it.

 

[Gracie09]

That means your employer is absorbing the increase, for now. My DH's company pays for 100% of our insurance coverage but their costs went up 9% for next year and they expect it to keep climbing. The worst part is because it's considered a "cadillac" plan, the company also has to pay a higher tax. Nice, huh? We get great insurance because the employer wants to provide it, but then is penalized for it.

Not necessarily. Our insurance went up $5 a pay period. The percent that the employer pays remained the same. But the employer is huge into safety and preventative measures. They work with employees to nip things in the bud including providing unlimited sick time for people to go to the doctor and encouraging exercise at every opportunity. They even do group stretching every morning which has been shown to reduce back and other injuries.

 

[blessedone03]

We're getting a 5% increase that the company is going to pass directly to the employees (company has absorbed last few years increase so understandable). The problem is our plan isn't going to be available next year so we're going from $2000.00 per person deductible to $5000 per and max out of pocket for family from $6000 to $12,000 and get to pay more for it.

Thanks to our highly intelligent elected officials who passed this horrible bill without even reading it!

 

[mistysue]

That means your employer is absorbing the increase, for now. My DH's company pays for 100% of our insurance coverage but their costs went up 9% for next year and they expect it to keep climbing. The worst part is because it's considered a "cadillac" plan, the company also has to pay a higher tax. Nice, huh? We get great insurance because the employer wants to provide it, but then is penalized for it.

People I have spoken to locally have all seen their rates stay the same or go down for next year. The plans on the exchange all cost less than rates I have gotten in past years while trying to find insurance while DH is unemployed.
I suspect that rates are going up in areas where they were lower before- I saw a girl on national TV saying how her plan used to be $75/month... that does NOT exist here, even for catastrophic plans. I don't know what sort of plan that was, but in the last 5 years it's been an issue for me I've never seen a policy for an individual for less than $300/month. Even when DH was a grad student the "student policies" offered through the university designed to be cheap and limited were more than that.

 

[johde]

I suspect that rates are going up in areas where they were lower before- I saw a girl on national TV saying how her plan used to be $75/month... that does NOT exist here, even for catastrophic plans. I don't know what sort of plan that was, but in the last 5 years it's been an issue for me I've never seen a policy for an individual for less than $300/month. Even when DH was a grad student the "student policies" offered through the university designed to be cheap and limited were more than that.

Those type of policies are available around here at least until the end of the year. In general they have a $10,000 deductible and at most 2-3 office visits for a copay, and a prescription "discount card". It's not the type of insurance I would want but for a young healthy individual making OK money it could provide the level of protection they want.

So, yes, the amount of increase depends on where you live. If you live in a state that already had a large amount of mandate on insurance you're increase was fairly small. If you live in a state with fewer insurance mandates complying with the new federal mandates increased your premium greatly.

 

[Free4Life11]

My insurance is through my employer and is going up by $0 next year. Absorbing the cost or not, I consider this part of my compensation AND this makes up for the lousy raises we have received the past few years.

 

[Lucky4me]

My niece and her husband are looking at paying over $13,000 for the birth of their baby due January 3rd, once their new plan kicks in on the 1st.

They are thinking about asking her doctor to induce a week early, or getting an exchange for one year and taking the tax penalty, as it will be a lot less than what they'd pay for the birth.
From what I've read, the penalty tax for switching to an exchange, rather than keeping an employer offered plan, is minimal.

I also know their company and several other large companies are raising premiums on their "Cadillac" plans by 400%, saying they'll be penalty taxed if they don't, when the tax doesn't even happen until 2018, if it even happens at all.

So, in essence, the company will be passing the entire cost of healthcare to their employees, while blaming the ACA.
Where will that money go? Into the pockets of the owners.
The fact that employees are believing what they are being told is ridiculous. They are getting angry at the wrong people.

Research on your own, do not take the word of your employer or biased news channels as the truth. Ask to see your companies costs on paper. Compare what they pay to what you pay and question why they are paying less and you are paying more.
Look at the exchanges, figure out what's best for your family and don't run around saying the sky is falling until you know all the facts.

 

[Robbi]

My niece and her husband are looking at paying over $13,000 for the birth of their baby due January 3rd, once their new plan kicks in on the 1st.

They are thinking about asking her doctor to induce a week early, or getting an exchange for one year and taking the tax penalty, as it will be a lot less than what they'd pay for the birth.
From what I've read, the penalty tax for switching to an exchange, rather than keeping an employer offered plan, is minimal.

I also know their company and several other large companies are raising premiums on their "Cadillac" plans by 400%, saying they'll be penalty taxed if they don't, when the tax doesn't even happen until 2018, if it even happens at all.

So, in essence, the company will be passing the entire cost of healthcare to their employees, while blaming the ACA.
Where will that money go? Into the pockets of the owners.
The fact that employees are believing what they are being told is ridiculous. They are getting angry at the wrong people.

Research on your own, do not take the word of your employer or biased news channels as the truth. Ask to see your companies costs on paper. Compare what they pay to what you pay and question why they are paying less and you are paying more.
Look at the exchanges, figure out what's best for your family and don't run around saying the sky is falling until you know all the facts.

My husband's business is family owned and we know the numbers. Our deductible would go from $5000 to over $12000. The sky is falling.

 

[deedisneydream97]

We are "retirement" bennies....and have not yet been informed of any changes. But DH works at a full time job although "retired". The only "health care perk" was the pre-tax thingie for out of pocket expenses (dental, eye stuff, etc.). I noticed this week when I signed up for the new year that our max out of pocket reiumbursement was cut in half!!!! So again...the working stiffs get hosed again.

 

[cfw213]

I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned an HSA. There are about 500 people in my company and this year they only offered a "low" PPO plan ($90/pay for single) or an HSA plan ($3/pay per single + employee contribution).

I am fortunate to be young & healthy, so I'm sticking with the HSA. I put $150 in the account every month. Once I reach $2,750 OOP, the rest of my medical expenses are covered for the year. After reading this thread, I realize I'm lucky to have this option! I haven't had a doctor visit in about 3 years so this option enables me to save a boatload of money.

 

[MrsPooh]

We won't find out for about a month yet but I am very worried.

Right now our family insurance is through my employer (dh is an independent contractor). Our portion of the policy cost is about $560/month for a family of four right now. The policy renewal was July 1st. At our HR meeting we were told that they were not able to find an insurance company to write a policy for us past Dec 31st. To renew the same policy would have been a 20% increase. They choose to increase our deductible to $5,000 per person and co-pays increased as well. This policy choose meant only a 15% increase. My employer kept our cost the same and covered the increase from July 1 - Dec 31 but warned us that they expect a large increase when a new policy begins in Jan and that the full increase will be passed along to us.

Right now just the premium cost is about 12% of our adjusted gross income for the family. When I try to check about the cost for a plan on the exchange I find that we are not eligible because it is offered through my employer.

I am very confused but we cannot afford any more increases in policy premiums or co-pays.

 

[shan136]

We have had to purchase our own insurance for years because my DH went to work for a company that offered a full coverage but expensive plan in which we would have to cover the full premium. We selected a "less expensive" plan that cost 654.00 per month (which has gone up to $800), covered nothing except a physical by an in-network DR every 2 years until we reach our yearly deductible of 5000.00. Our plan is attached to an HSA so in theory we save ahead of time for our OOP medical expenses.

It's okay. We don't go to the DR very often so it is actually in our best interest to pay for our occasional visits than to pay higher premiums for a plan that offers co-pays, prescription coverage and limited dental coverage (which is where all of our money goes anyway). For families who feel that their policies are more expensive than they can pay, shop around and really look at what you need from your insurance.

Right now the only winners are the insurance companies who have put some pretty pathetic offerings onto the healthcare exchange. Unfortunately, the ACA does fall short since it is full of partisan compromises. I agree with a PP who said that we would've been better off just going to single payer coverage and nationalizing the whole system.

 

[Jaime4004]

Ours is going up $23/month for a family of 5, pretty much the same it always increases... We have a high deductible plan with an HSA, preventative visits covered, everything else we pay 100% until the $5000 family deductible is hit. The company contributes $1000 annually to HSA, which is nice... Can't complain. But I too, would rather a universal system.

 

[tigercat]

Still confused how this is better than ours.
tigercat

 

[DebbieB]

Our 2014 plan came out on Monday. 5% increase in premium, $1 increase in copays, deductible increased from $500 to $550. Choice of BCBS or United. I will be paying $135 a month for single. It's a Fortune 500 company, non-union. From what the company put out, our plan was already ACA compliant. We haven't had retiree health care for about 10 years so that makes it hard to retire early.