Author Topic: Health Care Premium Increases  (Read 15598 times)

runningthroughFIRE

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #50 on: November 03, 2015, 12:37:45 PM »
My premiums are going up 85.7% for employee only coverage, and it's much worse for the other categories.  We're switching to an HDHP, and the dollar amounts are really low, though, so take that with a grain of salt =p

DocMcStuffins

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #51 on: November 03, 2015, 03:38:51 PM »
"big insurers" are the ones taking over medicare and would benefit also from a 1 payer system.  They are the ones who have "humana advantage" medicare replacement plans.  They love the idea of having more people insured as this increases their profits.  It would be a one payer system from your government but administratively run via these companies just like it is with "humana advantage" or others like it.  Please look at the stock prices of insurance companies since the implementation of ACA.  They increase our premiums and have more people paying premiums.  They are on FIRE.    FYI, I just got a letter that the Kentucky Health Coop which was looked at as a highly successful program with the ACA has now gone under and will close on dec 31.  They were given 250 million federal dollars to begin and increase competition in our state to reduce our premiums.  Well, they lasted 3 years and oh my premium as I have to switch to another carrier is going up from 800 to 1500 dollars (gold) but I will likely take the cheaper bronze version which is only 1000.  I would love to know the exact amount that the Ky Coop profited from this.  My thoughts are that with the premiums they brought in and the 250 million given to them that they created this business and payed out 150 million with profiting of the premiums and another 100 million from the feds.  I have absolutely no idea on the numbers but suspect they still made out with a significant profit for a 3 year business.

FYI, the only reason some drugs are preferred over others including life saving medications / chemo therapies are based on kickbacks from drug companies to insurers.  For example, a medication for rheumatoid arthritis called ENBREL cost 10,000 when in came out 15 years ago.  It now cost over 40,000 and that is without any further need for research and development.  The funny part is that medicare pays this amount because they don't negotiate prices but your private insurer does and the reason it becomes preferred is that they get rebates / incentives to choose this over others like humira or various other medications.  This is just one example.  I could go on about this forever.  A great read is "a bitter pill" which I think came out 1-2 years ago which describes the backward ways of the health care industry.  Again, I am unsure what the "fix" is but it is not what we have been forced into the past few years.
« Last Edit: November 03, 2015, 03:44:50 PM by DocMcStuffins »

RangerOne

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #52 on: November 03, 2015, 03:53:07 PM »
I work for a big company and even our HDHP premiums looks to be up about 42% over last year... Granted the premiums are tiny but still annoying to see such a large jump.

It is unclear if there is any added benefits to the 2015 plan though... maybe some piece of our coverage has improved.

RangerOne

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #53 on: November 03, 2015, 04:06:25 PM »
@DocMcStuffins

What you are describing is probably one of many examples of why the current system can result in such ridiculous pricing in health care...

I am sure there are many ways to fix our system or make it worse, but the next wave of health care reform needs to focus on ways to reduce medical costs. I think everyone is feeling the pain of increased health care costs this year.

I can't imagine how nasty the bill is for people not fortunate enough to work for a business with a good health plan or low enough income to get subsidies.

I do hate the idea of a corporation reaching record profits by in part by gaming the system and making our health care costs go up.

Maxman

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #54 on: November 03, 2015, 05:12:23 PM »
Our retiree health insurance premiums went up 53% in 2015. I can't wait to see what 2016 brings.

PathtoFIRE

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #55 on: November 04, 2015, 10:11:57 AM »
Naturally there is some tension between the two "missions" of the ACA: 1) decrease the number of uninsured/uncovered people, and 2) decrease or curb the increasing cost of healthcare. It is unequivocal that the ACA has achieved results under #1. The real question is whether it has had any impact on #2. I don't know the answer, and I'm curious if anyone has come across any research looking into this. The easy answer is to point to premium increases and say "no way", but we have to remember that before the ACA, medical care expenditures came from a variety of sources. You were not only paying for your own care through (lower) premiums, copays, etc., but you were in part paying for the uninsured through federal, state, and local taxes, charity, etc. So it is entirely possible that the average person is in total spending less, or at least seeing curbed increases, now than before, even if the explicit premiums/deductibles/copays have actually increased. But we don't know that, it would take some serious research and analysis.

BlueMR2

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #56 on: November 04, 2015, 10:18:56 AM »
My premiums are going up 85.7% for employee only coverage, and it's much worse for the other categories.  We're switching to an HDHP, and the dollar amounts are really low, though, so take that with a grain of salt =p

Ouch.  I'm afraid to see what ours will be.  Last year it went up 37%.  Overall, it's already tripled since ACA took effect and with the news of how many people are dropping out of ACA due to the cost (cheaper to take the penalty) makes it sound like this year will be even worse.

beltim

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #57 on: November 04, 2015, 10:29:43 AM »
Naturally there is some tension between the two "missions" of the ACA: 1) decrease the number of uninsured/uncovered people, and 2) decrease or curb the increasing cost of healthcare. It is unequivocal that the ACA has achieved results under #1. The real question is whether it has had any impact on #2. I don't know the answer, and I'm curious if anyone has come across any research looking into this.

Most evidence says that the ACA has reduced the growth of healthcare costs (bending the cost curve if you will).  The extent of the effect is still strongly debated.  Example:
Quote
Yet something appears to have changed. America is experiencing its slowest growth in health spending in five decades. In 2013 the share of GDP devoted to health care was the same as it was in 2009. Some of this is due to the recession and its aftermath—when Americans lose their jobs, they often lose their health insurance, too. But the Affordable Care Act of 2010, better known as Obamacare, may also have helped to curb costs. As the Supreme Court considers whether to strike down a crucial pillar of that law (see next article), economists are furiously debating how big that effect has been. By one estimate the economic downturn accounted for 77% of the dip in health-care inflation; by another, it was only 37%.
http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21645855-growth-americas-health-care-spending-slowing-will-obamacare-cut-costs

Also, the cost of implementing ACA has been lower than expected, and keeps getting revised downward:
Quote
The Congressional Budget Office announced on Monday that the Affordable Care Act will cost $142 billion, or 11 percent, less over the next 10 years, compared to what the agency had projected in January.

The nonpartisan agency said the Affordable Care Act will cost less for two essential reasons. The first, and most significant, is that health insurance premiums are rising more slowly, and thus requires less of a government subsidy.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/03/09/obamacares-cost-is-falling-as-fewer-receive-coverage-under-health-care-law-cbo-says/

OkieStache

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #58 on: November 04, 2015, 10:34:40 AM »
We're on track for health care to consume your entire paycheck.
We're up 11% this year to $1023/month.  $6k deductible, co-pays, no dental/vision, etc.
Seems to be about the same increase annually since ACA, except the year when I had no comparable because I got notice that my plan "couldn't" exist anymore to be compliant.

BTDretire

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #59 on: November 04, 2015, 11:30:27 AM »
Quote from: Paul der Krake link=topic=45751.msg857006#

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.

 I don't think you two are being realistic.
How much in total did your companies pay the insurance company for your plan?

I'm a red panda

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #60 on: November 04, 2015, 11:48:27 AM »
My monthly premium went up $0.60 this year.  I can handle that.
It's not a HDHP, and the premiums are really high compared to my last two jobs with nearly identical coverage.  I think it is because this company is less regional, so we are subsidizing people in the HCOL areas.

Our copays are going up though- the change is $5 per office visit; $10 per specialist visit. But neither the deductible nor out of pocket max changed.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2015, 11:52:23 AM by iowajes »

BTDretire

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #61 on: November 04, 2015, 12:20:59 PM »
Naturally there is some tension between the two "missions" of the ACA: 1) decrease the number of uninsured/uncovered people, and 2) decrease or curb the increasing cost of healthcare. It is unequivocal that the ACA has achieved results under #1.

   As best I can find as of 2015, 9 million people are covered by Obamacare, but,
about 3.5 million were kicked off their existing plans and, I don't know the how many million had insurance but bought Obamacare because they received a subsidy.
 I suspect we're near 4 million of those 30 to 40 million they said were uninsured.
  This is at a huge cost to people paying for their insurance and taxpayers who are subsidizing those on Obamacare.

MoonShadow

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #62 on: November 04, 2015, 12:21:50 PM »
Quote from: Paul der Krake link=topic=45751.msg857006#

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.

 I don't think you two are being realistic.
How much in total did your companies pay the insurance company for your plan?

I honestly don't know with an precision, but I do remember getting a letter from the company explaining that the jump in premiums was due to the fact that the plan had to cover some things it previously did not; such as prescription contraceptives for my underaged daughter, vaccines for my kids (which were just paid out of pocket before, not really a big deal), and some cancer & diabetes drugs.  So while I did get some of that money back when I had my kids vaccinated, it wasn't worth it.  At least not unless I turn out to have cancer soon.

beltim

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #63 on: November 04, 2015, 12:35:30 PM »
Naturally there is some tension between the two "missions" of the ACA: 1) decrease the number of uninsured/uncovered people, and 2) decrease or curb the increasing cost of healthcare. It is unequivocal that the ACA has achieved results under #1.

   As best I can find as of 2015, 9 million people are covered by Obamacare, but,
about 3.5 million were kicked off their existing plans and, I don't know the how many million had insurance but bought Obamacare because they received a subsidy.
 I suspect we're near 4 million of those 30 to 40 million they said were uninsured.

The biggest impact of the ACA in terms of increasing health care coverage is clearly the expansion on Medicaid, which has covered ~15 million more people:
http://kff.org/health-reform/state-indicator/total-monthly-medicaid-and-chip-enrollment/

beltim

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #64 on: November 04, 2015, 12:51:05 PM »
This study estimated ~17 million more Americans had health insurance in February 2015 compared to September 2013:
http://www.rand.org/news/press/2015/05/06.html

A different approach by Goldman Sachs used a different method to estimate a net gain of 17-18 million insured:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottgottlieb/2015/05/14/how-many-people-has-obamacare-really-insured/

N.B.  The Medicaid numbers in my last post were "raw numbers," that is, they showed the number of people enrolled in Medicaid, not the number of previously uninsured people who enrolled in Medicaid, which apparently is closer to 6 million according the the RAND study.

Paul der Krake

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #65 on: November 04, 2015, 03:02:24 PM »
Quote from: Paul der Krake link=topic=45751.msg857006#

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.

 I don't think you two are being realistic.
How much in total did your companies pay the insurance company for your plan?
Oh, I'm well aware of the subsidy. The real price of my plan is about 8 times what I pay.

sstants

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #66 on: November 04, 2015, 04:03:12 PM »

- 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!

Read your plan docs! Out of network care is covered when you have an emergency. If it isn't billed that way, call them and get it corrected.

sstants

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #67 on: November 04, 2015, 04:13:14 PM »
Here's an aspect of American health care that people don't often talk about: End-of-life care.

I will admit that pharma is out of control and eating up too much of our budget. Let's regulate that shit right this time and get on with our lives. There will forever be conditions and illnesses that cost a lot to treat. Rare genetic disorders, cancer, etc. Let's talk about the things we can easily address at this point.

The remaining and growing issue will be hospital care at end-of-life. If you think about the fact that "According to one study (Banarto, McClellan, Kagy and Garber, 2004), 30% of all Medicare expenditures are attributed to the 5% of beneficiaries that die each year, with 1/3 of that cost occurring in the last month of life." (http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelbell/2013/01/10/why-5-of-patients-create-50-of-health-care-costs/). America loves to treat and medicate and resuscitate during the last few months of our loved ones' lives because we never had conversations with them or their doctors about how to die. A lesson we can learn from other cultures and countries is hospice care and home nursing at end-of-life. Not only is it MUCH cheaper, patients are happier and in less pain AND LIVE LONGER than they would if they were poked and prodded in the hospital.

Read Atul Gawande's latest book (Being Mortal) for the source of the last statement, and just a mind-blowing discussion of this issue.

Samala

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #68 on: November 04, 2015, 07:03:32 PM »
Dr. Gawande also worked with Frontline to generate this doc, which touched briefly on the expense aspect but more heavily on the emotional toll: http://video.pbs.org/video/2365422384


heitzrun

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #69 on: November 05, 2015, 10:25:42 AM »
2015- Employer sponsored family of 3 BCBS $6300 deductible HSA.  Monthly premium: 642.50. 
2016- Employer sponsored family of 4 BCBS $6300 deductible HSA. Monthly premium: 963.00. $50% increase


I looked into exchanges, but my family only qualifies for $9/mo in premium support.  So we're going with a Christian Health Sharing account.  I don't see another option.  This is a terrible value for my family. As a consumer, where is my market?  Where are my choices?

2016 - Medi-share for family of 4 $10k annual household portion, Monthly premium $149.00.  We have 10k in savings for healthcare. 

Also the penalty for my family will be $2k (2.5% of 80k) to go without insurance. 



Better Change

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Re: Health Care Premium Increases
« Reply #70 on: November 05, 2015, 10:59:45 AM »
I just checked my 2016 plan information.  Only a small increase in my premium ($12 to $14 a month, 17%) and no change in my deductible ($2000) or out-of-pocket max ($4000). 

I didn't realize how cheap my plan was until I started reading this thread.  :/

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!