Health Care Premium Increases

[dude]

Premiums for my employer's health insurance are going up 6.4% on average across all plans in the system.  The plan I'm in is going up 10.6%!  However, the new Self Plus One option will limit the increase for me to 8.3% (!).  I did some research for average annual premium increases across my employer's system over the past 11 years:

2006 -- 6.6%
2007 -- 1.8%
2008 -- 2.0%
2009 -- 7.9%
2010 -- 8.8%
2011 -- 7.3%
2012 -- 3.8%
2013 -- 3.4%
2014 -- 3.7%
2015 -- 3.2%
2016 -- 6.4%
 
That's a 5.0% average annual increase for each of the past 11 years. FAR greater than wage increases.  Far greater than inflation.
 
I also found this link, which touted the 2006 premium increase of 6.6% as "the smallest increase in nine years and continues a trend of four consecutive years of declining average premium hikes."
 
https://www.opm.gov/news/releases/2005/09/opm-announces-smallest-average-fehb-premium-increase-in-nine-years/
 
Of course, this only captures the premium increase, not the overall increase in cost to the employee (i.e., in the form of higher co-pays, lower reimbursement rates, higher prescription drug costs, etc.).

If I project out premiums based on a 5% increase year over year, my annual premium 10 years from now would be $6,954/yr; in 20 years, $11,327.

Anyone else getting hit with a big increase this year?

[Gumbo1978]

Hard to track mine because my employer switches plans frequently.  It certainly isn't cheap though and my company has shifted more and more of the responsibility for healthcare costs to the employee (despite record profits).

[Gone Fishing]

America is getting old and the machines fancier.  Don't expect it to slow down until the Boomers start dropping off in masses...

[Candace]

Not this year, but last year my Single plan went up 22%. That's not a typo.

[enigmaT120]

My premiums went up about 20% back during one of the W. Bush years.  That was the year I decided to drop dental and pay everything out of pocket. 

Kaiser P. now has a Self + 1 plan available, rather than just the self or self + family that I had before.  Unfortunately it's the same price as the self + family!  Crazy, unless it's because self + 1s are frequently older couples with health problems.  I'm disappointed.

[fattest_foot]

I was excited at first when I heard they were introducing the self plus one option. It didn't take but a minute for me to become pessimistic and assume that it'd just mean jacking up all the other rates so it "seems" like a good deal.

But yeah, I'll be hit with the same thing. It'll be a whopping (/sarcasm) $104 savings for the entire year by choosing self plus one over self plus family. Unfortunately, it's still a 7.5% rate increase from the 2015 self plus family premium (edit: fixed the rate increase amount).

With dental at least the self plus one premium for 2016 is the same as the 2015 self plus family, so that one's a wash. But it means self plus family get screwed big time (it went from like $24/pay-period to $36/pay-period, for a 33% rate hike!).

[Samala]

Absolutely.  I haven't been with my current non-profit very long but the premiums for a single person on our Aetna plan (EPO/HMO similar; no deductible or coinsurance, very reasonable copays and out-of-pocket max) have seen double-digit increases in both years. 

2013 to 2014 - 34% increase
2014 to 2015 - 15% increase
2015 to 2016 - not sure yet, but expecting at least 10%

For a family on that same plan:

2013 to 2014 - 19% increase
2014 to 2015 - 15% increase
 
I'd actually never noticed before that increases were not the same for all the different coverage levels.  (We have self, self + spouse, self + children, and self + family options.)

I know that starting in 2014 they started pushing for everyone to go from the Aetna HMO/EPO-like plans towards the HDHP + HSA plan.  In 2015 they really pushed it by sweetening the HDHP with extra matching funds for the companion HSA.

[justajane]

I don't know the percentage yet, but my husband just mentioned that our premium went up $30 a month this year.

[rantk81]

For the 2016 calendar year:

My plan is an HSA plan, with no co-pays.  (I just pay full cost until the deductible is met, and then I pay 20% co-insurance until out of pocket max is hit.)

- My payroll deduction for my employer sponsored plan went up about 25%
- My in-network deductible went up by $500
- My in-network out of pocket maximum went up $1500
- There was no mention of any coverage for any services that are 'accidentally' provided by an out-of-network provider (so I assume 0% coverage, no out of pocket max.)  Guess I just have to hope that I don't find myself at the mercy of others and taken to an out-of-network hospital while I'm unconscious!

[FIRE me]

America is getting old and the machines fancier.  Don't expect it to slow down until the Boomers start dropping off in masses...

I think you are mistaken about Boomers being the cause of higher health insurance rates.

The cause is greedy for profit insurance companies, greedy for profit hospitals, and greedy for profit drug companies. Countries that lack that unholy trinity have universal health care for a small fraction of the amount (both per capita and as a percentage of GDP) that the United States pays.

[FIRE me]

Premiums for my employer's health insurance are going up 6.4% on average across all plans in the system.  The plan I'm in is going up 10.6%!  However, the new Self Plus One option will limit the increase for me to 8.3% (!).  I did some research for average annual premium increases across my employer's system over the past 11 years:

2006 -- 6.6%
2007 -- 1.8%
2008 -- 2.0%
2009 -- 7.9%
2010 -- 8.8%
2011 -- 7.3%
2012 -- 3.8%
2013 -- 3.4%
2014 -- 3.7%
2015 -- 3.2%
2016 -- 6.4%
 
That's a 5.0% average annual increase for each of the past 11 years. FAR greater than wage increases.  Far greater than inflation.
 
I also found this link, which touted the 2006 premium increase of 6.6% as "the smallest increase in nine years and continues a trend of four consecutive years of declining average premium hikes."
 
https://www.opm.gov/news/releases/2005/09/opm-announces-smallest-average-fehb-premium-increase-in-nine-years/
 
Of course, this only captures the premium increase, not the overall increase in cost to the employee (i.e., in the form of higher co-pays, lower reimbursement rates, higher prescription drug costs, etc.).

If I project out premiums based on a 5% increase year over year, my annual premium 10 years from now would be $6,954/yr; in 20 years, $11,327.

Anyone else getting hit with a big increase this year?

My share of the premium will go up $8.60 per month, which is about 4.5%.

The company I work for changes insurance companies every few years. Health insurance companies have one thing in common with cable TV providers - their idea of rewarding a loyal customer is a big fat annual rate increase. Low prices and discounts are for new customers.

[protostache]

Our off-exchange premium is going up 6% this year, the out of pocket max is going up 33%, and they dropped our vision hardware allowance. Time to shop for a new plan, I guess.

[Tom Bri]

I work for an insurance company, and honestly, I think all health insurance is very close to a scam. Not an actual scam, because everything is right up front, but really.
The US made a huge mistake back in the WWII years in treating insurance differently from other income. People decided they HAD to have it, and that ignited the current problem.
By the way, in the US, insurance companies (just like other gambling establishments) are mandated by law to pay back a certain percentage of their income as benefits, it is about 80% a year. So, in this I partially disagree with Fire Me. Also, insurance companies are one of the few organizations keeping an eye on providers and trying to catch scammers.
The 20% that insurance companies are allowed by law to keep, for profit and to pay salaries/costs represents the drag on health care costs caused by everyone having insurance. The ACA simply increases the problem by mandating that everyone must buy into this weird system.

[BTDretire]

Premiums for my employer's health insurance are going up 6.4% on average across all plans in the system.  The plan I'm in is going up 10.6%!  However, the new Self Plus One option will limit the increase for me to 8.3% (!).  I did some research for average annual premium increases across my employer's system over the past 11 years:

2006 -- 6.6%
2007 -- 1.8%
2008 -- 2.0%
2009 -- 7.9%
2010 -- 8.8%
2011 -- 7.3%
2012 -- 3.8%
2013 -- 3.4%
2014 -- 3.7%
2015 -- 3.2%
2016 -- 6.4%
 
If I project out premiums based on a 5% increase year over year, my annual premium 10 years from now would be $6,954/yr; in 20 years, $11,327.

Anyone else getting hit with a big increase this year?

 I have a feeling your trolling because your increases are zip.
2010-7.7%, 2011-8.1% Obamacare regs start 2012-19.4%
2013-21%, 2014-18.8% 2015-9%.
I'm paying $8448 for a family of three.
I checked on a similar Obamacare policy today, $17,112,
the deductible is higher though at $13,700, mine is $10,000.
I did find an Obamacare policy with $0 deductible at $31,800!!

[FIRE me]

I work for an insurance company, and honestly, I think all health insurance is very close to a scam. Not an actual scam, because everything is right up front, but really.
The US made a huge mistake back in the WWII years in treating insurance differently from other income. People decided they HAD to have it, and that ignited the current problem.
By the way, in the US, insurance companies (just like other gambling establishments) are mandated by law to pay back a certain percentage of their income as benefits, it is about 80% a year. So, in this I partially disagree with Fire Me. Also, insurance companies are one of the few organizations keeping an eye on providers and trying to catch scammers.
The 20% that insurance companies are allowed by law to keep, for profit and to pay salaries/costs represents the drag on health care costs caused by everyone having insurance. The ACA simply increases the problem by mandating that everyone must buy into this weird system.

The 80% requirement is recent. And 20% is too much. 1 out of 5 health care dollars to insurance companies. Ridiculous and inefficient. Then the hospitals and drug companies. Not much left for doctors and patients.

In short, you can opine all you like. The numbers say that the U.S. gets less care for more dollars than other developed countries. Nearly every procedure costs more in the US than other developed countries. That is fact, not opinion.

[Rural]

Our HDHP premiums are going up over 20% this year. The other plans are going up only about 7%. The HDHP is still by far the better choice,  though of course I don't like it a bit.


 Out-of-pocket max is dropping by $250 a year, though. Turns out we were illegal.

[Bateaux]

We're on track for health care to consume your entire paycheck.

[dude]

My premiums went up about 20% back during one of the W. Bush years.  That was the year I decided to drop dental and pay everything out of pocket. 

Kaiser P. now has a Self + 1 plan available, rather than just the self or self + family that I had before.  Unfortunately it's the same price as the self + family!  Crazy, unless it's because self + 1s are frequently older couples with health problems.  I'm disappointed.

Ha!  Yeah, our Self Plus One is only saving me $3.45/pay period ($90/year) over the Self + Family.  Hardly a windfall!

[dude]

For the 2016 calendar year:

My plan is an HSA plan, with no co-pays.  (I just pay full cost until the deductible is met, and then I pay 20% co-insurance until out of pocket max is hit.)

- My payroll deduction for my employer sponsored plan went up about 25%
- My in-network deductible went up by $500
- My in-network out of pocket maximum went up $1500
- There was no mention of any coverage for any services that are 'accidentally' provided by an out-of-network provider (so I assume 0% coverage, no out of pocket max.)  Guess I just have to hope that I don't find myself at the mercy of others and taken to an out-of-network hospital while I'm unconscious!

HOLY SHIT.

[dude]

We're on track for health care to consume your entire paycheck.

Yeah, seriously.

I don't want this thread getting political, but the folks blaming Obamacare I think have got it wrong.

[jzb11]

Effects of ACA on a healthy young single man with his own insurance plan:

2014 - PRE ACA Plan I was able to keep for the year - $100/mo

2015 - Post ACA - $275/mo for the least expensive PPO plan

Chosen Plan - $400/mo to match my pre ACA PPO coverage.

THANKS OBAMA.

Can't wait to see how much my premiums are going to increase for 2016.

[protostache]

Effects of ACA on a healthy young single man with his own insurance plan:

2014 - PRE ACA Plan I was able to keep for the year - $100/mo

2015 - Post ACA - $275/mo for the least expensive PPO plan

Chosen Plan - $400/mo to match my pre ACA PPO coverage.

THANKS OBAMA.

Can't wait to see how much my premiums are going to increase for 2016.

Out of curiosity, what were the yearly and lifetime caps on coverage on your pre-ACA PPO?

[Sibley]

Suggested solution. Put Congress on the same health care as the rest of us. They'll make it more reasonable, really fast.

[protostache]

Suggested solution. Put Congress on the same health care as the rest of us. They'll make it more reasonable, really fast.

They already are. Members of congress act like small businesses in a lot of ways, and one of the provisions of ACA says they can provide coverage for their staff via a SHOP plan purchased on the exchange. If they do, they and their staff get employer matching (i.e. the Federal government, their employer), up to 75% of the cost. One could argue that members themselves shouldn't get that match, I suppose.

https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43194.pdf

[dude]

Relevant blog article by the excellent Scott Burns at AssetBuilder.com:

http://assetbuilder.com/knowledge-center/articles/why-we-need-a-health-care-revolution

Clearly this is not something that would-be early retirees should just gloss over or ignore.

[FerrumB5]

My work-sponsored plan increased in premium by 30% this October... sigh

[dude]

Another relevant article re: health insurance costs:

http://www.retireearlyhomepage.com/healthplan_exp.html

[Malum Prohibitum]

Effects of ACA on a healthy young single man with his own insurance plan:

2014 - PRE ACA Plan I was able to keep for the year - $100/mo

2015 - Post ACA - $275/mo for the least expensive PPO plan

Chosen Plan - $400/mo to match my pre ACA PPO coverage.

THANKS OBAMA.

Can't wait to see how much my premiums are going to increase for 2016.

Same for a family:

2012 $450 monthly
2014 $1181 monthly (with higher deductibles)
2015 $1415 monthly, so we said, NO! and bought an HSA eligible HDHP

2015 $870.87 for HSA eligible plan ($6500/12,000 deductible)
2016 $1077 for the same HSA eligible plan

It just keeps getting worse.

I am self employed, so all of this is on my own, no employer.

AND the service has gotten significantly worse, because the insurance companies know you can't fire them until the next enrollment window.

[Spork]

Our marketplace insurance is up over 30% for 2016.   And if you compare it to what we paid for very similar coverage in 2006... It's 2.5x what we paid then (but we're 10 years older, too).

While I'm not really a fan of the insurance companies...  Some of this is to be expected.  They're still sorting out how to handle ACA and it might be a few years before it stabilizes back to inflation.  The risk pools today are not the same as they were 10 years ago.  Nowadays everyone is pretty much in the same pools, regardless of pre-existing conditions.  And we have some amount of coverage we don't need now that we would have just not worried about in 2006.

[HeadedWest2029]

I might have everyone licked

2012-->2013: 19.5%
2013-->2014: 13.4%
2014-->2015: 39%
2015-->2016: 39.7%

I thought surely with another 40% increase there will be something better to jump to via the marketplace...nope.  Granted, I'm on a grandfathered HDHP (this is the last year it'll be an option) that will *only* be $492 per month for a family of 3 next year.  I checked into going back on my work plan for myself (partially subsidized by employer), plus 2 dependents on marketplace and it's a wash pretty much so I prefer the autonomy of keeping our separate family plan.  I also looked into outside the box alternatives like http://samaritanministries.org/
Interesting concept, but also produces similar costs when you factor in administrative costs, new member costs, and the loss of an HSA eligible account to limit taxes. 

[FiguringItOut]

Just got new 2016 benefit package for the open enrollment.  The premiums went up only $2 per paycheck ($4/month) for medical.  Dental and vision stayed the same.  Individual and family deductible also stayed the same, but max out of pocket went from $5K to $7K. 

Considering that in 2016 I fully expect to cover deductible and a good chunk on top of that, I'm not particularly happy about total max out of pocket increasing by so much.  But in the grand scheme of things, not bad compared to others.

[MustardTiger]

I pay 100$/month for myself for a pretty solid plan.  The problem comes in when I need to add my wife to plan jumps to 600$.  Family plan for same HDHP is almost 1k a month.  Thus my wife gets an Obamacare plan, that shows drastic price increase yearly.  This year we are expecting a baby and will pay somewhere around ~500$/month premium for a very high deductible plan with no subsidies.  Health care, even without an emergency, will cost more than our housing and be our highest category of spending even though we are young and healthy.

[Malum Prohibitum]

  Health care, even without an emergency, will cost more than our housing and be our highest category of spending even though we are young and healthy.

  Just health insurance, without any actual health care, is my largest monthly budget item, larger by far than housing.  It was not so just three years ago.   Health insurance monthly premiums were so low that I did not spend any time thinking about them back then.  Now it seems like an all consuming monster.

[HeadedWest2029]

Health care, even without an emergency, will cost more than our housing and be our highest category of spending even though we are young and healthy.

Bingo. Our biggest costs have quickly become in order: food, health care (mostly premiums), housing, with transportation a distant 4

[FerrumB5]

Housing -> Insurances (homeowners, car) -> Food -> Health Ins premiums -> ...
HMO (BCBSIL) for a family costs $304 bi-weekly (used to be 230 before October 2015), and that is an employer-sponsored plan! Well, deductible is zero and max OOP is $3k. PPO for the same plan is $514 bi-weekly

[Daisy]

Anyone else think these health insurance premiums can't keep going up at this rate? Something"s gotta give because people just won't be able to afford it.

[Malum Prohibitum]

Anyone else think these health insurance premiums can't keep going up at this rate? Something"s gotta give because people just won't be able to afford it.

Daisy, that is intentional.  It is a design feature.  Soon, the public will be clamoring for the government to go ahead and finish what it started.

[southernhippie]

my son had some significant health problems when he was born so we had a pretty expensive plan.  but its gong from $260 to over 350 a month.  Which is freakin insane.  Need less to say.  I will be finding a different plan for him now

[MoonShadow]

my son had some significant health problems when he was born so we had a pretty expensive plan.  but its gong from $260 to over 350 a month.  Which is freakin insane.  Need less to say.  I will be finding a different plan for him now

Please let us know if you succeed in finding one.

[DocMcStuffins]

Not to be political.  I live ACA everyday.  Hillary is funny and uninformed or I should say, she is ignorant and misinformed.  By far the biggest winners are big pharma, big insurers.  This was all a play to give you the biggest tax hike in the history of the US and to push us further into socialism with a single payer system............don't worry as your premiums go higher and higher, your great and wonderfully large government will sweep in to save you from the problem it created.  I don't have all the answers but gosh you really couldn't have screwed it up any worse than your government has.  Sorry for rant, won't comment further.

[MayDay]

Ours is only up ~3% this year, no increases to dental and vision, and the OOP max changed from being per family to per person- so the total OOP Mac is 10k, but it's also a max of 2.5k per person, which should help us a little. 

I can't get all het up about it.  I am so thrilled that we can even get insurance, because previously we were uninsurable due to preexisting conditions, that I just don't care how expensive it is. 

Actually I do care, but I mean the bottom line is we have to either ration care, or go to a national system that can negotiate better pricing, or both.  I'm in favor of both, but if others aren't, fine, pay the true costs of the care we as a society are using. 

Either way, I'm happy to have insurance at the end of the day.

[Paul der Krake]

My HDHP is going up a whopping 15% even though the company-wide email boasted of no premium increases... except that they switched the formula that was applicable to determine my share of the premium. So much for "no changes", HR punks.

It's still cheap as chips, $700 for per year for two adults.

[MoonShadow]

It's still cheap as chips, $700 for per year for two adults.

That's funny, because before the ACA, my HDHP for two adults and 5 kids was $260 per year.

[powskier]

You guys are lucky you are not in Alaska. 23k/year for a bronze plan 11.5k deductible for 2 healthy mid 40's early 50's adults.

I was pro ACA until the opt in public option got axed. As soon as it was obvious insurance companies would run the show it was clear the middle class was going to get screwed.
Single payer is the only solution IMO . So far the US health care ranking worldwide is somewhere around 34. Abysmal fro the money.

[MoonShadow]

You guys are lucky you are not in Alaska. 23k/year for a bronze plan 11.5k deductible for 2 healthy mid 40's early 50's adults.

I was pro ACA until the opt in public option got axed. As soon as it was obvious insurance companies would run the show it was clear the middle class was going to get screwed.
Single payer is the only solution IMO . So far the US health care ranking worldwide is somewhere around 34. Abysmal fro the money.

Funny you should bring that up, just today I was listening to a podcast that sort-of examined the single payer system in Norway.  Which, according to the guest, who is from Norway (and taught sociology as a guest prof at UC Berkley, I think); Norway has the most expensive (per capita) health care system in the world.  While at the same time, some of the worst per-capita outcomes for that money, including average wait times for critical care so long, that in a nation of about 5 million, the government says that about 2500 people die each year as a direct result of wait times.  You will only want single payer health care until you actually need it, because that's exactly how the VA works, and I have walked back into a VA hospital exactly once since leaving the service.

[DocMcStuffins]

Ding Ding Ding !!!!!!

[2lazy2retire]

Not to be political.  I live ACA everyday.  Hillary is funny and uninformed or I should say, she is ignorant and misinformed.  By far the biggest winners are big pharma, big insurers.  This was all a play to give you the biggest tax hike in the history of the US and to push us further into socialism with a single payer system............don't worry as your premiums go higher and higher, your great and wonderfully large government will sweep in to save you from the problem it created.  I don't have all the answers but gosh you really couldn't have screwed it up any worse than your government has.  Sorry for rant, won't comment further.

I'm curious as to how "big insurers" feel about this been a stepping stone to a single payer system.

[Proud Foot]

There needs to be something done about it.  From my point of view, the ACA created an insurance monopoly where the insurance companies are able to charge whatever they want.  There is not any incentive for them to lower premium costs when everyone is required to have insurance.  Hopefully premiums will level off and start decreasing (when compared to inflation) once all aspects of ACA are implemented.

[jorjor]

Mine went down a little for 2016. There was no change last year. No changes to designs. No changes to HSA employer seed.

Dental and vision were no change. They might have went up at some point while I was here. I can't remember.

[The_path_less_taken]

Suggested solution. Put Congress on the same health care as the rest of us. They'll make it more reasonable, really fast.

111% agree!

I'm fine with insurance companies or any company making a profit.

My problem is that if you mandate something and FINE people who don't choose---or can't afford--- to participate, I believe your ethical obligation is to get that service at the best possible price.

It would be simple to do: act like Costco, which is ruthless in saying to companies "no, we don't like that...you have to package it into a 12 pack to be COST EFFECTIVE FOR US TO USE".

And they all do. Because Costco has the clout and everybody wants to showcase their products there.

My solution if we persist with this crap: the government says it will now shop for pharmacies and hospitals and docs. But not just somebody with an online degree now doing your brain surgery: legit operations like the Mayo clinic or whomever choosing to handle those poor suckers (oh wait: we call them taxpayers) who are required to purchase the service.

Exiting thread because the entire bs scheme just pisses me off too much....