So mad - our health insurance copays are doubling next year!

[disney_5]

Not the copays for dr visits but for all the visits we do weekly (OT, PT, and speech). The copays are doubling from $20 to $40 per visit. This is going to cost us $60 per week! Has anyone else had their copays go up for 2012?

thanks, Jen.

 

[malibuconlee]

Everything is going up for us. They are also phasing out the PPO, we will only have it for 2012 and 2013 then it's to an HSA.

Our entire plan is being revamped.

We also had an extra benefit since my husband's job title has a "Senior" in front of it. With the healthcare reform it has been dubbed "Illegal".

Healthcare is just getting more expensive for everyone, employers, employees...

 

[tinkerbell615]

We switched insurance at work this past July and our deductibles went from $25 to $35 for regular physician and $65 for specialist . The specialist is where I make the majority of my visits! I have been told on two different occasions by my specialists' office, that I win the prize, because my co-pay is the highest they have ever seen. Oh... Thank you, but this is not a prize I want to win.

We are switching in January to my husband's high deductible plan. We weighed all of the pros and cons and it seems to be the best option. Hopefully, we are making the right choice.

I feel for you!!! Good luck!

 

[bettymae1121]

No changes in our plan, but our company drives a hard bargin, and often absorbes cost increases rather than pass it on to the employees. So I'm not sure if my company just negotiated really well or if they absorbed some of the increase.

 

[Robinrs]

Everything is going up for us, also.

 

[ancestry]

Ours isn't up for renewal until the end of March. For some reason the plan year is April 1 through March 31.

We didn't get any changes or increases last year but our health insurance costs us close to $15,000 per year! We barely even use 50% of that with a family of 7.

I'm holding my breath to see what is going to happen this year.

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

oohhh Lordy, I would faint if ours doubled

Ours did go up by $5 2 years ago, 25 for primary care and 35 for specialists, urgent/emergency room 75 inclusive.

 

[Disneychix]

Our co-pays went up this year by $10 each. They are staying at $30/$40 next year but our overall OOP bi-weekly expense went up about $10 this year so $240 more per year. Ugh.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Please dont complain, I wish I had insurance. There is no way I can even afford it.

 

[Leajess99]

I have no clue on next year's insurance for my kids as my POS ex refuses to provide me with the information. I do have insurance on them that will not change anything as it is federal but it is the secondary insurance.

 

[ccgirl]

Not the copays for dr visits but for all the visits we do weekly (OT, PT, and speech). The copays are doubling from $20 to $40 per visit. This is going to cost us $60 per week! Has anyone else had their copays go up for 2012?

thanks, Jen.

A lot of people don't realize that health insurance is just that, a type of insurance. Just like car insurance and homeowners, the more "claims" you make the more the insurance will typically rise. This includes the whole company. So if there are a few people really "using" the insurance often it will drive up the premium. Large companies can often barter with the insurance companies. If it is a small company, you are very lucky it is only the copays that were increased. That is one way that companies can keep the price down for those that don't use the insurance so often. I know often we don't have a choice as to how often we use it. Some need it more than others.

 

[ktlm]

Almost all the health insurance companies really jacked the rates up for 2012 to compensate for Obamacare (and before anyone flames me- this is true - I'm a democrat and I voted for the guy so I'm not some conservative republican just whining:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypi...insurance-premiums-this-year-blame-obamacare/

Obamacare may help the poor have better access to some type of care, but it is really going to hurt the average worker in terms of their private health care plans and the type/standard of care they are used to. My company did not have a bad claims year and our premiums still skyrocketed- I want to say we were going to have almost a 50% increase in premium if we kept the same deductible and co-pay (Studies claim the increases across the board were only about 9%, but I can tell you that definitely was NOT our experience. Our rate increase was MUCH higher). Even though the company absorbed some of the cost, the deductibles went up significantly and the co-pays had to be slightly raised. It was the co-pays and deductibles going up to get the premiums lowered back down somewhat or else the employees were going to be paying a chunk of the premiums themselves every month.

 

[daughtersrus]

Our insurance is with the union that DH belongs to. They are "self-funded" and we just got a letter saying that the assets increased over $22M so I"m hoping that they don't increase (now we pay 20% of the bill after the BC/BS PPO discount and $25/month for name brand Rx and $6/month for generic Rx). Sometimes the 20% is cheaper than a copay for a doctor appointment but for everything else, it usually ends up to be more. In the past, they cut out things covered or put caps on certain services like therapies. All PT, OT and ST are added together with a yearly cap. That's fine if you only need one but when you have a child that gets all 3, you reach the cap quickly.
DH contract is up in 1 1/2 years but that doesn't stop them from changing coverage if they need/want to. The board of directors at the union makes those decisions.

 

[mickeysaver]

Be glad that is all they are doing to you, with notice. I got the shocker news when the cards came that our insurance changed to a larger copay and had a $1000 deductible that it had never had before. Plus, I found that since I am out of state, all of my providers are out of network and because they are, they don't have to pay any attention to those pesky contracted adjustments, so the if the docs office charges $200 for something, but the ins companies typically only allow for a charge of $85 then that $115 that they would normally adjust off is not adjusted off and is still mine to pay.

I hate our insurance!

 

[JoiseyMom]

My DH's plan doesn't cover DS's speech, and since it doesn't cover it, what I pay doesn't even go towards our high deductible. We have no co-pays, have to pay whatever inusance says is reasonable until we reach a 3k deductible. Fun times...but at least we have coverage.

We went 2 months without coverage this year.

 

[Patience]

I understand. My daughter had a broken wrist and wrist surgery in November. Our co-pays for specialists increased this year from $30 to $50. She currently goes to physical therapy 3 times per week at $50 per visit. Yup, $150 per week for physical therapy.

 

[leight]

we changed from copays to coinsurance 90/10 so I am very nervous how this will affect us. We get half the deductible ($800 for family- deposited in a HRA or HSA-so confused with these acronyms)so $400 paid by my company and can get $50 ea for the online health survey and $50 ea for annual physicals (unfortunately we had dh do his in august- but I may do an annual mid year for an extra $50) My physical is 1/6. I also get another $50 for mamography. So I will get the deductible paid off pretty quick. But 10% of an unknown amount scares me. I asked the insurance company for office visit contracted amts- they told me to ask the doctor's office who asked me to contact the insurance company. Methinks I see a problem and it does make me nervous.

 

[thewigs007]

You are correct....because of Obama Care we are all screwed. Just wait until 2014.



Obama Care may help the poor have better access to some type of care, but it is really going to hurt the average worker in terms of their private health care plans and the type/standard of care they are used to. My company did not have a bad claims year and our premiums still skyrocketed- I want to say we were going to have almost a 50% increase in premium if we kept the same deductible and co-pay (Studies claim the increases across the board were only about 9%, but I can tell you that definitely was NOT our experience. Our rate increase was MUCH higher). Even though the company absorbed some of the cost, the deductibles went up significantly and the co-pays had to be slightly raised. It was the co-pays and deductibles going up to get the premiums lowered back down somewhat or else the employees were going to be paying a chunk of the premiums themselves every month.[/QUOTE]

 

[mommy2twingles]

As someone who works in customer service I agree with those saying that the health care reform is making the premiums go up. Also providers are getting more high tech equipment and tests and charging a ton for the services. An average MRI runs around 2000 in eastern PA. Everything that we are being forced to add to insurance through the government mandates are making the premiums go up to compensate for the costs of the service. We are a company that takes anyone regardless of health conditions so get most of the people that the other companies turn down.

And yes my own premiums went up this year as well. When I first started at the company 16 years ago I got family insurance covered in full. Now my husband must take his plan offered from his employer and I must pay a portion of my premiums as well. The increases are hitting almost everyone.

 

[SondraC]

You are correct....because of Obama Care we are all screwed. Just wait until 2014.



Obama Care may help the poor have better access to some type of care, but it is really going to hurt the average worker in terms of their private health care plans and the type/standard of care they are used to. My company did not have a bad claims year and our premiums still skyrocketed- I want to say we were going to have almost a 50% increase in premium if we kept the same deductible and co-pay (Studies claim the increases across the board were only about 9%, but I can tell you that definitely was NOT our experience. Our rate increase was MUCH higher). Even though the company absorbed some of the cost, the deductibles went up significantly and the co-pays had to be slightly raised. It was the co-pays and deductibles going up to get the premiums lowered back down somewhat or else the employees were going to be paying a chunk of the premiums themselves every month.

[/QUOTE]

What happens in 2014?