Where to shop for health insurance?

[scbelleatheart]

I just got our renewal. For Myself, DH and 1 employee with a wife and child. $3,400 a month. That is with a $5000 deductible per family. I cannot afford it. How did you shop for a health insurance policy? Any insurance sales people out there?

 

[Marionnette]

I just got our renewal. For Myself, DH and 1 employee with a wife and child. $3,400 a month. That is with a $5000 deductible per family. I cannot afford it. How did you shop for a health insurance policy? Any insurance sales people out there?

We went through an independent insurance agency for our company. It's still expensive and there just is no way around the costs of health insurance now that it's mandated for people to carry it. Our costs rose 19% over last year's rates and they're projected to nearly double over the next 5 years.

 

[Ephany]

We found ours through Costco. It's actually Aetna, and there were a variety of plans to choose from. DH's work insurance is AWFUL and I'm a student so we didn't have many options at the time.

 

[mrsklamc]

It's so frustrating. What good is it to have health insurance when the deductibles have become so unreasonable?

 

[Marie17]

Would love to have more information too - premium shock for us. Employer pays some of the employee portion but none of the spouse/children portion. Our premiums now are a little over $1000 per month and we haven't received the new rates but have been informed they could go up by another 40%. YIKES!!!!

BUT - If we turn to individual/family policy aren't they sort of trying to faze out the HSAs in the next coming years and with all the projected costs of a family plan/policy to be in the range of $20000 on the exchange in 2014. It seems like the expensive employer plan would be a tad cheaper (but I still think its crazy expensive)... I see no Disney vacations for a long time unfortunately, and we havent had one in a long time as a family (almost 4 years)

I understand that you could possibly if you meet all sorts of scenarios get a subsidy but what exactly is a subsidy for a family of 5. And if you happen to have a college age full time student (under 22) can you count them in your family size so that you would be a family of 6?

 

[LaurLaur04]

Go to ehealthinsurance.com. A few years ago I got my own health insurance for 278 a month and it was a low deductible plus only office visit copays! It was through wellpath.

 

[frostedpink]

I'm not trying to start a political debate, I promise. But wasn't the idea with mandated health care that the cost would go down? I admit I don't pay attention to politics

 

[disney1990]

Insurance companies have to prove how much they are spending on "health care". If they overcharge, they are required to rebate the money.

 

[vacationer1954]

Many people may benefit from a HDHP plan (high-deductible health plan). (There are custodians who offer HSA accounts with fees of a few dollars a month.) One advantage is eligibility for HSA accounts which you can either use for current health care expenses or to save for retirement, getting a tax deduction for the contributions and earning interest tax free, as long as the money is eventually used for medical expenses.

Keep in mind that the health exchanges will be set up for many if not all states by October so finding health insurance will become a little easier. And next year they will be set up so that social services agencies and other assistance organizations will be able to sit down with you and work through the process of finding the best option for your family.

 

[Marionnette]

Insurance companies have to prove how much they are spending on "health care". If they overcharge, they are required to rebate the money.

Oh yeah! I got a $13 rebate from my health insurance company last year.

When the formerly "uninsurable" are added to the system, it drives the cost of providing coverage up. That, in turn, drives up the cost for everyone who buys insurance. Don't expect that little rule that requires the companies to prove their expenses to bend the cost curve for the consumer. There's a reason that my health insurance rose 19% over last year's rates (even though I'd gotten a refund for the previous year) when the usual increase was 5%-6% in the 5 previous years.

 

[GaPaige]

I second Aetna through Costco. I am 39 and am paying $130 per month. My only complaint about it is that they don't do paperless billing.

 

[Jasonkat]

Yes premiums are much higher under the PPACA. But that shouldn't impact any of us. Because we should never pay those premiums until we're very sick.

If something happens and you get very ill the health insurance companies are forced to take you because they can't exclude you for pre-existing conditions. So why buy insurance earlier? The insurance will be there for you when you need it.

It's like buying car insurance after you totaled your car. If you could buy it after you totaled your car why would you buy it before hand? If you could buy life insurance after your spouse died why would you buy it before hand? Why would you CHOOSE to waste money on premiums until you need the insurance?

After 2014 if you don't have health insurance you have to pay a small penalty (like $200 per year). Much cheaper to pay the penalty than to buy insurance. Only a fool would buy health insurance. Why would you just throw your money away?

 

[Marionnette]

Yes premiums are much higher under the PPACA (hate when right wingers call it Obamacare). But that shouldn't impact any of us. Because we should never pay those premiums until we're very sick.

If you are smart you won't buy health insurance until something bad happens to you. Then if something happens and you get very ill the health insurance companies are forced to take you because they can't exclude you for pre-existing conditions.

It's like buying car insurance after you totaled your car. If you could buy it after you totaled your car why would you buy it before hand?

After 2014 if you don't have health insurance you have to pay a small penalty (like $200 per year). Much cheaper to pay the penalty than to buy insurance. Only a fool would buy health insurance. Why would you just throw your money away?

The penalty is closer to $95 in 2014 or 1% of your income, whichever is higher. It goes up to 2.5% of your income in 2015. If you're only making $20,000 to begin with (which is what your $200 figure would represent), you should qualify for government subsidized health insurance anyway.

And you cannot buy health insurance and expect to have it cover you "after the fact". So if you're in an accident, have a heart attack or develop a long-term illness, you can seek insurance and be insured for any treatment following the incident of illness but it will not retroactively cover you for what could be the most expensive part of your care. I would hate to have to pay out of pocket for a week in the CCU due to the lack of insurance coverage if my husband had a heart attack. That's not a risk I'm willing to take.

 

[Jeff_G]

$3400 per month is Over $40,000 per year !!!! At what point is it cheaper to just do without and pay out of pocket. I am finding that with many providers their cash prices are better then insurance prices.

I'd like to see a catastrophic / hospital only coverage policy and then just pay for everything else out of pocket.

 

[scbelleatheart]

So far prices are all over the place!Cheapest being around $1200 a month up to $5500. it looks like it will be cheaper to buy two seperate policies because the employee's rate will worse than ours. We'll just pay them both.
I would hate to have to pay OOP. Our (DH, me & son) was $15000 last year because we had a $5000 deductable pp so how much more would it have been.
Costco isn't available in our state. Tryiing NFIB now.
We have been told to expect a 40-100% hike next year.

 

[Marionnette]

$3400 per month is Over $40,000 per year !!!! At what point is it cheaper to just do without and pay out of pocket. I am finding that with many providers their cash prices are better then insurance prices.

I'd like to see a catastrophic / hospital only coverage policy and then just pay for everything else out of pocket.

Only persons under the age of 30 are eligible for catastrophic insurance plans. Once you hit 30, you're permitted to finish out the coverage year and then you must seek full insurance coverage.

 

[vacationer1954]

When the formerly "uninsurable" are added to the system, it drives the cost of providing coverage up.

But it doesn't drive the overall cost of health care up unless those formerly "uninsurable" folks should not receive the health care they need.

 

[Marionnette]

But it doesn't drive the overall cost of health care up unless those formerly "uninsurable" folks should not receive the health care they need.

You're putting words in my mouth. Not once did I say anything about those people not deserving treatment. I resent your implication.

The formerly "uninsurable" people could not obtain insurance for a reason. The cost of providing them with the care they need exceeded what the insurance companies could afford without raising the rates on everyone. Now that they cannot exclude people for pre-existing conditions, they have to raise the rates on healthier people to cover those costs.

Nothing in life is free. Somebody has to pay for the cost of adding these people to the health insurance rolls. That's what is driving up the costs.

 

[mrsklamc]

Everyone deserves healthcare. But some of us who could afford it previously are getting to where they cannot now- and that is not right either.

 

[Kellydelly]

Only persons under the age of 30 are eligible for catastrophic insurance plans. Once you hit 30, you're permitted to finish out the coverage year and then you must seek full insurance coverage.

I would think a high deductible plan with low premiums would work for someone that doesn't think they "need" health insurance. Not familiar with plans that are actually called "catastrophic."